In this cross-cultural comparison study, three cohorts of children aged 2 to 4 years (two cohorts from China and one cohort from the Netherlands) were tested on their exploration of novel objects and their self-regulation and executive functions. The goal of this study was three-folded:(1) We aim to abstract and to describe the exploration patterns, or in other words, the dynamic processes that children of 2 to 4 years of age undergo to exhibit original, creative actions within the exploration task (i.e., the Usual Box task, UBT). (2) We aim to investigate whether culture as the context in large exerts influences on children’s exploratory processes and the related creative outcomes. To achieve this aim, a comparison will be conducted on the exploratory behaviors of children from China and the Netherlands, one as a typical Eastern country and the other as a typical Western country. (3) We aim to test the role of children’s self-regulation capacity, as a mediator and/or as a moderator, in connecting culture ...