4 Tips for Developing Critical Thinking in Children

As adults, we use our critical thinking skills so often and so automatically we usually don’t notice it. As a Michigan State University Extension article notes, these crucial skills show up in a wide variety of situations, from assembling a puzzle to determining the most efficient route to work, taking variables like time of day and construction patterns into consideration. It’d be tough to make useful decisions in our personal lives — let alone thrive in school or at work — without this ability.

Critical thinking skills begin to develop very young, far before we’re aware of them. Kids are unknowingly forging new connections between neural pathways all the time. With that in mind, here are four tips parents, teachers and caregivers can use to help develop critical thinking in children.

Give Children Time & Space to Think Through Problems

It’s only natural to want to help kids when we see them struggling to complete a task or answer a question. However, in doing so, adults may inadvertently quash what could have been an opportunity for a child to employ independent reasoning. Practice makes perfect. When kids have to exercise critical thinking they get better over time.

Instead of acting upon your urge to intervene — which can cross over into the territory of micromanaging when it encroaches on a youngster’s autonomy or fixes a problem for them — step back and give the child the time and space they need to keep thinking through problems. They may not take a linear path to reach a solution, but the journey is valuable all the same.

Ask Open-Ended, Guiding Questions Along the Way

Children may need help getting on the right track once in a while – in which case rather than solving the problem for them, it’s beneficial to ask guiding questions that encourage them to keep reasoning through.

Asking an open-ended question about the problem/process at hand is also a great way to get kids to really think about their decisions and conclusions. These questions can range from hypotheticals — “What do you think would happen if X? Would you change anything about Y for next time?” — to encouraging them to drill down into their most creative impulses — “What are some ideas you have right now? What are you thinking about Z?”

The key here is avoiding questions that force young thinkers onto a narrow path toward a “right” answer. Use questions crafted to unstick their minds, encourage them to look at an old situation from new angles and promote thinking outside the box.

Incorporate Critical Thinking into Fun Games

Tell a group of kids you’re going to do a critical thinking exercise, they’ll probably groan — or at least lose focus shortly thereafter — depending on their age. Tell a group of kids you’re going to play a problem-solving game; the reaction is decidedly more enthusiastic.

Experts encourage a curriculum based on explorative play for childhood development. A good example of this is one of the critical thinking games for kids outlined on the Tinkergarten website:

• Stack Stone Towers: Have kids gather smooth, flat stones and sort them according to their different characteristics. Demonstrate what you mean by stacking the stones in different configurations until the learners follow your lead. Encourage participants to rebuild when a tower falls over. The idea is to get kids to think strategically about their structures to get them to stand, as well as categorize different rocks as they go.

What successful learning games typically have in common are their beginning parameters, followed by a chance for kids to hypothesize, experiment and retry ideas freely.

Encourage Kids to Classify Objects & Categorize Them

Expanding on our last point, if it’s not possible to play a full-fledged learning game, it’s still a useful activity to have kids classify and categorize objects. Why? Because it helps kids become more confident picking out similarities and dissimilarities, as well as applying rules to situations.

In order for children to solve the problems life will surely throw at them, they’ll need strong critical thinking skills. Luckily, there are lots of simple and fun ways to develop them!