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• Cross-cultural differences in the facilitating effect of parental instructions on children's learning were explored. • Chinese caregivers tended to describe the puzzle task's content while teaching children. • Chinese and American parents displayed similar instructions regarding question, right/wrong feedbacks and commanding. • Culture moderated the commanding instructions–children's learning relationship. • Commanding instructions influenced children's learning only in the Chinese group. This study examines cultural differences in the amount and types of parental instructions and their effects on children's independent performance when working with a puzzle task. Thirty-six Chinese and 36 American children aged 3−4 years and their parents participated in this study. Between the two groups, both similarities and differences were found in the different types of parental instructions. Specifically, no significant difference was found between the two groups regarding the proportion of right/wrong feedback, commanding, and questioning instructions. However, compared to their American peers, Chinese caregivers used more content instructions to instruct their children. Furthermore, culture moderated the relationship between commanding instructions and the children's learning outcomes. The parents' commanding instructions were significantly effective in predicting the children's independent learning outcomes. Such a facilitating effect of commanding instruction was not found in the American group. This study suggests that contemporary American and Chinese caregivers show different preferences regarding the use of different types of parental instructions, leading to different facilitating effects on the children's learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]