A key factor in a child's healthy development is resilience, which allows a child to have an adaptive response to hardships even when exposed to a toxic environment or adversity. Resilience is the interplay between a child's positive environment and adaptive and coping skills outweighing risk factors and adverse experiences to create a positive outcome. Executive functions strengthens a child's resilience, creating a suit of armor to triumphantly face the challenges of everyday life. A child is not born with executive functions. The potential to gain executive functions and promote resilience is present from infancy. However, many children lack the environment and experiences during these early years to foster executive functions resulting in a thin suit of armor against challenging situations. Executive functions can increase through learning experiences that include teacher instruction and modeling, followed by opportunities for guided and independent practice (Diamond, 2013). Contextual influences that enhance executive functions and build resiliency are secure attachments, positive guidance, autonomy, school and family support system, creativity, physical exercise, mindfulness, and emotional understanding. Additionally, visual aids, private speech, dramatic play, advanced planning and goal setting benefit children's development of executive functions (Obrodavic et al, 2012).