**Background:** Executive functions (EFs) — inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, working memory, and goal-setting — are typically studied using standardized tasks that rely on verbal instructions and segmented object properties (e.g., color, shape). Researchers increasingly question the ecological validity of these tasks for infants under 2 years, arguing that they fail to capture self-initiated challenges in everyday contexts. Piaget and Luria both emphasized action and the material world in early cognitive control, but language has remained hegemonic in EF research. Recent work suggests that private gestures (self-directed ostensive, pointing, symbolic) and object uses in natural settings may reveal early EF manifestations. This study aimed to investigate whether a child sets his own challenges in a nursery school classroom, what those goals consist of and how they develop, what means (gestures, object uses) he employs and how they evolve, and the role of the teacher's educational action.
**Methods:** A longitudinal, non-participant natural observational study was conducted at the nursery school "La Cigüeña María" (Madrid). One male infant (Ils) was video-recorded once monthly from age 8 months 7 days (T1) to 17 months (T10) during morning activities (excluding meals and T7 when absent). The teacher (M) planned educational situations but never suggested activities. Seven significant sequences meeting five criteria (child sets own goal, attention to objective, cognitive flexibility, inhibition, and/or planning) were selected and transcribed using ELAN software. Categories included attention (ON/OFF), uses of objects/instruments (non-canonical, protocanonical, canonical, rhythmic-sonorous canonical, symbolic), gestures (private ostensive, private pointing, private symbolic; other-directed ostensive, pointing, symbolic), and vocalizations/speech. Inter-judge agreement Kappa indices ranged from 0.82 to 1.0 (substantial to almost perfect).
**Key Results:** (1) From 8 months, Ils set himself significant goals involving cultural uses of objects. Goals evolved from rhythmic-sonorous canonical uses (ringing a bell at T1, age 0;8,7) to canonical functional uses (placing balls into a device at T6, age 1;1,14) and finally to symbolic uses ("eating" and "feeding" the teacher at T10, age 1;4,28). (2) Attention ON ranged from 48.60% (T1b, reaching a plastic coin) to 100% (T6 and T8b). Inhibition of attention distractors occurred 2–10 times per sequence; inhibition of non-relevant uses occurred only in T1 (5 times). (3) Cognitive flexibility increased from 6 changes in T1 to 14 in T6 and 23 in T10, involving shifts between use types, from use to gesture, and gesture to use. (4) Private gestures were prominent: private ostensive gestures appeared first (T1, T4), private pointing at T4, and private symbolic gestures (self-applause) at T6. By T10, all gestures were other-directed (ostensive, pointing, symbolic). (5) Planning emerged only at T10 (17 months), when Ils collected and organized utensils before performing symbolic actions. (6) The teacher (M) primarily placed materials within reach, gave time, and intervened only when the child involved her; her most frequent semiotic system was speech (evaluation, commentary), but she never gave instructions.
**Clinical Implications:** This study challenges the ecological validity of standardized EF tasks for infants and supports a "pragmatic turn" toward studying self-initiated challenges in natural settings. The findings suggest that early EF components (goal-setting, attention, flexibility, inhibition, planning) can be identified through object uses and private gestures from 8 months of age. For early childhood education, the results imply that teachers should provide culturally meaningful materials with appropriate difficulty, step back to allow children to set their own goals, and respond to children's initiatives rather than directing tasks. This approach may be particularly beneficial for supporting self-regulation in children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The study also highlights that private ostensive gestures — not just pointing — are key early self-regulatory tools, and that symbolic play at 17 months involves planning and other-directed regulation. Limitations include the single-case design, monthly sampling (which may miss rapid developmental changes), and the specific school context.