What sorts of learning activities teach children problem-solving and critical thinking?

My children are young yet and will go to public school, but I'm wondering what I can do to help them develop, on the side and on vacations, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. What sorts of games and activities encourage this?

Anonymous2007-03-24T17:47:27Z

Favorite Answer

Reading. Reading is everything. Give them time to read, encourage them to read, model reading being enjoyable by reading in front of them. Reading. It expands their vocabulary, keeps their imagination active, and lets them see plenty of well-written sentences. As a former high school and now university instructor, I get plenty of students who arrive unable to spell, can't decode words, have a severely limited vocab, and a crippled imagination. All they know is what they see and hear on their iPods.

If you want loosely to highly structured activities, work on things that involve metacognition. Google "inquiry learning activities".

tchrnmommy2007-03-23T10:08:51Z

Doing "authentic" type activities like cooking something and having the child help to "double" or "triple" the recipie. Give the child 17 cookies and have them "Share" them with 5 people and then decide what to do with the "odd" cookies...Many things you do don't have to be some elaborately planned activities and problem solving and critical thinking skills can be made real with everyday activities.

bandit2007-03-23T09:32:20Z

Reading books and discussing the actions of the characters such as : "Did the Little Red Hen make the right decision when she didn't share the bread?' Will help to build critical thinking skills. Kudos for recognizing this crucial skill!

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