my child has no critical thinking skills

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How to Teach Your Child to Be a Critical Thinker

Blue Planet Studio / iStockphoto

What Is Critical Thinking?

• Importance of Critical Thinking

Benefits of Critical Thinking Skills

• Teach Kids to Be Critical Thinkers

Every day kids are bombarded with messages, information, and images. Whether they are at school, online, or talking to their friends, they need to know how to evaluate what they are hearing and seeing in order to form their own opinions and beliefs. Critical thinking skills are the foundation of education as well as an important life skill. Without the ability to think critically, kids will struggle academically, especially as they get older.

In fact, no matter what your child plans to do professionally someday, they will need to know how to think critically, solve problems, and make decisions. As a parent, it's important that you ensure that your kids can think for themselves and have developed a healthy critical mindset before they leave the nest.

Doing so will help them succeed both academically and professionally as well as benefit their future relationships. Here is what you need to know about critical thinking, including how to teach your kids to be critical thinkers.

Critical thinking skills are the ability to imagine, analyze, and evaluate information in order to determine its integrity and validity, such as what is factual and what isn't. These skills help people form opinions and ideas as well as help them know who is being a good friend and who isn't.

"Critical thinking also can involve taking a complex problem and developing clear solutions," says Amy Morin, LCSW, a psychotherapist and author of the best-selling books "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do" and "13 Things Mentally Strong Parents Don't Do."

In fact, critical thinking is an essential part of problem-solving, decision-making, and goal-setting . It also is the basis of education, especially when combined with reading comprehension . These two skills together allow kids to master information.

Why Critical Thinking Skills Are Important

According to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which evaluated 15-year-old children in 44 different countries, more than one in six students in the United States are unable to solve critical thinking problems. What's more, research indicates that kids who lack critical thinking skills face a higher risk of behavioral problems.

If kids are not being critical thinkers, then they are not thinking carefully, says Amanda Pickerill, Ph.D. Pickerill is licensed with the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Board of Psychology and is in practice at the Ohio State School for the Blind in Columbus, Ohio.

"Not thinking carefully [and critically] can lead to information being misconstrued; [and] misconstrued information can lead to problems in school, work, and relationships," she says.

Critical thinking also allows kids to gain a deeper understanding of the world including how they see themselves in that world. Additionally, kids who learn to think critically tend to be observant and open-minded.

Amy Morin, LCSW

Critical thinking skills can help someone better understand themselves, other people, and the world around them. [They] can assist in everyday problem-solving, creativity, and productivity.

There are many ways critical thinking skills can benefit your child, Dr. Pickerill says. From being able to solve complex problems in school and determining how they feel about particular issues to building relationships and dealing with peer pressure, critical thinking skills equip your child to deal with life's challenges and obstacles.

"Critical thinking skills [are beneficial] in solving a math problem, in comparing and contrasting [things], and when forming an argument," Dr. Pickerill says. "As a psychologist, I find critical thinking skills also to be helpful in self-reflection. When an individual is struggling to reach a personal goal or to maintain a satisfactory relationship it is very helpful to apply critical thinking."

Critical thinking also fosters independence, enhances creativity, and encourages curiosity. Kids who are taught to use critical thinking skills ask a lot of questions and never just take things at face value—they want to know the "why" behind things.

"Good critical thinking skills also can lead to better relationships, reduced distress, and improved life satisfaction," says Morin. "Someone who can solve everyday problems is likely to feel more confident in their ability to handle whatever challenges life throws their way."

How to Teach Kids to Be Critical Thinkers

Teaching kids to think critically is an important part of parenting. In fact, when we teach kids to be critical thinkers, we are also teaching them to be independent . They learn to form their own opinions and come to their own conclusions without a lot of outside influence. Here are some ways that you can teach your kids to become critical thinkers.

Be a Good Role Model

Sometimes the best way to teach your kids an important life skill is to model it in your own life. After all, kids tend to copy the behaviors they see in their parents. Be sure you are modeling critical thinking in your own life by researching things that sound untrue and challenging statements that seem unethical or unfair.

"Parents, being the critical thinkers that they are, can begin modeling critical thinking from day one by verbalizing their thinking skills," Dr. Pickerill says. "It’s great for children to hear how parents critically think things through. This modeling of critical thinking allows children to observe their parents' thought processes and that modeling lends itself to the child imitating what [they have] observed."

Play With Them

Children are constantly learning by trial and error and play is a great trial and error activity, says Dr, Pickerill. In fact, regularly playing with your child at a very young age is setting the foundation for critical thinking and the depth of their critical thinking skills will advance as they develop, she says.

"You will find your child’s thinking will be more on a concrete level in the earlier years and as they advance in age it will become more abstract," Dr. Pickerill says. "Peer play is also helpful in developing critical thinking skills but parents need to be available to assist when conflicts arise or when bantering takes a turn for the worse."

As your kids get older, you can play board games together or simply spend time talking about something of interest to them. The key is that you are spending quality time together that allows you the opportunity to discuss things on a deeper level and to examine issues critically.

Teach Them to Solve Problems

Morin says one way to teach kids to think critically is to teach them how to solve problems. For instance, ask them to brainstorm at least five different ways to solve a particular problem, she says.

"You might challenge them to move an object from one side of the room to the other without using their hands," she says. "At first, they might think it’s impossible. But with a little support from you, they might see there are dozens of solutions (like using their feet or putting on gloves). Help them brainstorm a variety of solutions to the same problem and then pick one to see if it works."

Over time, you can help your kids see that there are many ways to view and solve the same problem, Morin says.

Encourage Them to Ask Questions

As exhausting as it can be at times to answer a constant barrage of questions, it's important that you encourage your child to question things. Asking questions is the basis of critical thinking and the time you invest in answering your child's questions—or finding the answers together— will pay off in the end.

Your child will learn not only learn how to articulate themselves, but they also will get better and better at identifying untrue or misleading information or statements from others. You also can model this type of questioning behavior by allowing your child to see you question things as well.

Practice Making Choices

Like everything in life, your child will often learn through trial and error. And, part of learning to be a critical thinker involves making decisions. One way that you can get your child thinking about and making choices is to give them a say in how they want to spend their time.

Allow them to say no thank-you to playdates or party invitations if they want. You also can give them an allowance and allow them to make some choices about what to do with the money. Either of these scenarios requires your child to think critically about their choices and the potential consequences before they make a decision.

As they get older, talk to them about how to deal with issues like bullying and peer pressure . And coach them on how to make healthy choices regarding social media use . All of these situations require critical thinking on your child's part.

Encourage Open-Mindedness

Although teaching open-mindedness can be a challenging concept to teach at times, it is an important one. Part of becoming a critical thinker is the ability to be objective and evaluate ideas without bias.

Teach your kids that in order to look at things with an open mind, they need leave their own judgments and assumptions aside. Some concepts you should be talking about that encourage open-mindedness include diversity , inclusiveness , and fairness.

A Word From Verywell

Developing a critical mindset is one of the most important life skills you can impart to your kids. In fact, in today's information-saturated world, they need these skills in order to thrive and survive. These skills will help them make better decisions, form healthy relationships, and determine what they value and believe.

Plus, when you teach your kids to critically examine the world around them, you are giving them an advantage that will serve them for years to come—one that will benefit them academically, professionally, and relationally. In the end, they will not only be able to think for themselves, but they also will become more capable adults someday.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA): Results from PISA 2012 problem-solving .

Sun RC, Hui EK. Cognitive competence as a positive youth development construct: a conceptual review .  ScientificWorldJournal . 2012;2012:210953. doi:10.1100/2012/210953

Ghazivakili Z, Norouzi Nia R, Panahi F, Karimi M, Gholsorkhi H, Ahmadi Z. The role of critical thinking skills and learning styles of university students in their academic performance .  J Adv Med Educ Prof . 2014;2(3):95-102. PMID:25512928

Schmaltz RM, Jansen E, Wenckowski N. Redefining critical thinking: teaching students to think like scientists .  Front Psychol . 2017;8:459. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00459

By Sherri Gordon Sherri Gordon, CLC is a published author, certified professional life coach, and bullying prevention expert. 

How Parents Can Teach Kids Critical Thinking

A research-based guide to help highlight the importance of critical thinking..

Posted February 21, 2020

Recent controversy over the role of social media “ swarms ” in the 2020 election have served as a new reminder — as if we needed one — that public discourse is in bad disrepair. In the last few years have seen countless incidents of people — including many who should know better — weighing in on issues prematurely with little nuance and unhelpful vitriol, being duped by badly biased information or outright fake news , and automatically attributing the worst intentions to their opponents.

Liberal democracies have always relied on flawed sources to inform the public, but not until now have we been confronted with an online medium seemingly designed to play on our biases and emotions; encourage knee-jerk reactions, groupthink , and superficiality; and distract us from deeper thinking.

Better critical thinking skills are needed to help us confront these challenges. Nevertheless, we still don’t have a good handle on what it is and, especially, how best to foster it among children of all ages.

The stakes are now higher than ever.

To address this deficit, Reboot Foundation recently put out a Parents’ Guide to critical thinking. I work for Reboot and helped on the guide that attempts to give parents and other adults the tools and understanding they need to help their kids cope with technological upheaval, acquire the skills they need to navigate an ever more complicated and information-rich world, and overcome the pitfalls of biased and emotional reasoning.

1. Starting Young

As researchers have noted for some time now, critical thinking can’t be cleanly separated from cognitive development more generally. So, although many people still think of critical thinking as something that is appropriate to teach only in college or late high school, parents and educators should actually devote attention to developing critical thinking skills at a young age.

Of course, it’s not necessary or even possible to start teaching 4-year-olds high-level logic . But there’s a lot parents can do to open up their children’s minds to the world around them. The most important thing to foster at this young age is what researchers call metacognition : awareness of one’s own thinking and thought processes.

It’s only with metacognition that children will learn to think more strategically, identify errors in their thinking patterns, and recognize their own limitations and the value of others’ perspectives. Here are some good ways to foster these habits of mind.

• Encourage kids’ curiosity by asking them lots of questions about why they think what they think. Parents should also not dismiss children’s speculative questions, but encourage them to think those questions through.
• Encourage active reading by discussing and reflecting on books and asking children to analyze different characters’ thoughts and attitudes. Emphasize and embrace ambiguity.
• Expose them as much as possible to children from different backgrounds — whether cultural, geographical, or socio-economic. These experiences are invaluable.
• Bring children into adult conversations , within appropriate limits of course, and don’t just dismiss their contributions. Even if their contributions are unsophisticated or mistaken, engage with children and help them improve.

2. Putting Emotions in Perspective

Just as children need to learn how to step back from their thought processes, they must also learn how to step back from their emotions. As we’ve seen time and again in our public discourse, emotion is often the enemy of thinking. It can lead us to dismiss legitimate evidence; to shortchange perspectives that would otherwise be valuable; and to say and do things we later regret.

When children are young (ages 5 to 9), fostering emotional management should center around learning to take on new challenges and cope with setbacks. It’s important children be encouraged to try new things and not be protected from failure. These can include both intellectual challenges like learning a new language or musical instrument and physical ones like trying out rock-climbing or running a race.

When children fail — as they will — the adults around them should help them see that failing does not make them failures. Quite the opposite: it’s the only way to become successful.

As they get older, during puberty and adolescence , emotional management skills can help them deal better with confusing physical and social changes and maintain focus on their studies and long-term goals . Critical thinking, in this sense, need not — and should not — be dry or academic. It can have a significant impact on children’s and young adults’ emotional lives and their success beyond the classroom .

3. Learning How to Be Online

Finally, critical thinking development in these challenging times must involve an online component. Good citizenship requires being able to take advantage of the wealth of information the internet offers and knowing how to avoid its many pitfalls.

Parental controls can be useful, especially for younger children, and help them steer clear of inappropriate content. But instilling kids with healthy online habits is ultimately more useful — and durable. Parents should spend time practicing web searches with their kids, teaching them how to evaluate sources and, especially, how to avoid distractions and keep focused on the task at hand.

We’ve all experienced the way the internet can pull us off task and down a rabbit hole of unproductive browsing. These forces can be especially hard for children to resist, and they can have long-term negative effects on their cognitive development.

As they get older, children should learn more robust online research skills , especially in how to identify different types of deceptive information and misinformation . Familiarizing themselves with various fact-checking sites and methods can be especially useful. A recent Reboot study found that schools are still not doing nearly enough to teach media literacy to students.

As kids routinely conduct more and more of their social lives online it’s also vital that they learn to differentiate between the overheated discourse on social media and genuine debate.

The barriers to critical thinking are not insurmountable. But if our public discourse is to come through the current upheaval intact, children, beginning at a young age, must learn the skills to navigate their world thoughtfully and critically.

Ulrich Boser is the founder of The Learning Agency and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. He is the author of Learn Better, which Amazon called “the best science book of the year.”

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5 Critical Thinking Skills Every Kid Needs To Learn (And How To Teach Them)

Teach them to thoughtfully question the world around them.

Little kids love to ask questions. “Why is the sky blue?” “Where does the sun go at night?” Their innate curiosity helps them learn more about the world, and it’s key to their development. As they grow older, it’s important to encourage them to keep asking questions and to teach them the right kinds of questions to ask. We call these “critical thinking skills,” and they help kids become thoughtful adults who are able to make informed decisions as they grow older.

What is critical thinking?

Critical thinking allows us to examine a subject and develop an informed opinion about it. First, we need to be able to simply understand the information, then we build on that by analyzing, comparing, evaluating, reflecting, and more. Critical thinking is about asking questions, then looking closely at the answers to form conclusions that are backed by provable facts, not just “gut feelings” and opinion.

Critical thinkers tend to question everything, and that can drive teachers and parents a little crazy. The temptation to reply, “Because I said so!” is strong, but when you can, try to provide the reasons behind your answers. We want to raise children who take an active role in the world around them and who nurture curiosity throughout their entire lives.

Key Critical Thinking Skills

So, what are critical thinking skills? There’s no official list, but many people use Bloom’s Taxonomy to help lay out the skills kids should develop as they grow up.

Source: Vanderbilt University

Bloom’s Taxonomy is laid out as a pyramid, with foundational skills at the bottom providing a base for more advanced skills higher up. The lowest phase, “Remember,” doesn’t require much critical thinking. These are the skills kids use when they memorize math facts or world capitals or practice their spelling words. Critical thinking doesn’t begin to creep in until the next steps.

Understanding requires more than memorization. It’s the difference between a child reciting by rote “one times four is four, two times four is eight, three times four is twelve,” versus recognizing that multiplication is the same as adding a number to itself a certain number of times. Schools focus more these days on understanding concepts than they used to; pure memorization has its place, but when a student understands the concept behind something, they can then move on to the next phase.

Application opens up whole worlds to students. Once you realize you can use a concept you’ve already mastered and apply it to other examples, you’ve expanded your learning exponentially. It’s easy to see this in math or science, but it works in all subjects. Kids may memorize sight words to speed up their reading mastery, but it’s learning to apply phonics and other reading skills that allows them to tackle any new word that comes their way.

Analysis is the real leap into advanced critical thinking for most kids. When we analyze something, we don’t take it at face value. Analysis requires us to find facts that stand up to inquiry, even if we don’t like what those facts might mean. We put aside personal feelings or beliefs and explore, examine, research, compare and contrast, draw correlations, organize, experiment, and so much more. We learn to identify primary sources for information, and check into the validity of those sources. Analysis is a skill successful adults must use every day, so it’s something we must help kids learn as early as possible.

Almost at the top of Bloom’s pyramid, evaluation skills let us synthesize all the information we’ve learned, understood, applied, and analyzed, and to use it to support our opinions and decisions. Now we can reflect on the data we’ve gathered and use it to make choices, cast votes, or offer informed opinions. We can evaluate the statements of others too, using these same skills. True evaluation requires us to put aside our own biases and accept that there may be other valid points of view, even if we don’t necessarily agree with them.

In the final phase, we use every one of those previous skills to create something new. This could be a proposal, an essay, a theory, a plan—anything a person assembles that’s unique.

Note: Bloom’s original taxonomy included “synthesis” as opposed to “create,” and it was located between “apply” and “evaluate.” When you synthesize, you put various parts of different ideas together to form a new whole. In 2001, a group of cognitive psychologists removed that term from the taxonomy , replacing it with “create,” but it’s part of the same concept.

How To Teach Critical Thinking

Using critical thinking in your own life is vital, but passing it along to the next generation is just as important. Be sure to focus on analyzing and evaluating, two multifaceted sets of skills that take lots and lots of practice. Start with these 10 Tips for Teaching Kids To Be Awesome Critical Thinkers . Then try these critical thinking activities and games. Finally, try to incorporate some of these 100+ Critical Thinking Questions for Students into your lessons. They’ll help your students develop the skills they need to navigate a world full of conflicting facts and provocative opinions.

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other

This classic Sesame Street activity is terrific for introducing the ideas of classifying, sorting, and finding relationships. All you need are several different objects (or pictures of objects). Lay them out in front of students, and ask them to decide which one doesn’t belong to the group. Let them be creative: The answer they come up with might not be the one you envisioned, and that’s OK!

The Answer Is …

Post an “answer” and ask kids to come up with the question. For instance, if you’re reading the book Charlotte’s Web , the answer might be “Templeton.” Students could say, “Who helped save Wilbur even though he didn’t really like him?” or “What’s the name of the rat that lived in the barn?” Backwards thinking encourages creativity and requires a good understanding of the subject matter.

Forced Analogies

Practice making connections and seeing relationships with this fun game. Kids write four random words in the corners of a Frayer Model and one more in the middle. The challenge? To link the center word to one of the others by making an analogy. The more far out the analogies, the better!

Learn more: Forced Analogies at The Owl Teacher

Primary Sources

Tired of hearing “I found it on Wikipedia!” when you ask kids where they got their answer? It’s time to take a closer look at primary sources. Show students how to follow a fact back to its original source, whether online or in print. We’ve got 10 terrific American history–based primary source activities to try here.

Science Experiments

Hands-on science experiments and STEM challenges are a surefire way to engage students, and they involve all sorts of critical thinking skills. We’ve got hundreds of experiment ideas for all ages on our STEM pages , starting with 50 Stem Activities To Help Kids Think Outside the Box .

Not the Answer

Multiple-choice questions can be a great way to work on critical thinking. Turn the questions into discussions, asking kids to eliminate wrong answers one by one. This gives them practice analyzing and evaluating, allowing them to make considered choices.

Learn more: Teaching in the Fast Lane

Correlation Tic-Tac-Toe

Here’s a fun way to work on correlation, which is a part of analysis. Show kids a 3 x 3 grid with nine pictures, and ask them to find a way to link three in a row together to get tic-tac-toe. For instance, in the pictures above, you might link together the cracked ground, the landslide, and the tsunami as things that might happen after an earthquake. Take things a step further and discuss the fact that there are other ways those things might have happened (a landslide can be caused by heavy rain, for instance), so correlation doesn’t necessarily prove causation.

Learn more: Critical Thinking Tic-Tac-Toe at The Owl Teacher

Inventions That Changed the World

Explore the chain of cause and effect with this fun thought exercise. Start it off by asking one student to name an invention they believe changed the world. Each student then follows by explaining an effect that invention had on the world and their own lives. Challenge each student to come up with something different.

Learn more: Teaching With a Mountain View

Critical Thinking Games

There are so many board games that help kids learn to question, analyze, examine, make judgments, and more. In fact, pretty much any game that doesn’t leave things entirely up to chance (Sorry, Candy Land) requires players to use critical thinking skills. See one teacher’s favorites at the link below.

Learn more: Miss DeCarbo

This is one of those classic critical thinking activities that really prepares kids for the real world. Assign a topic (or let them choose one). Then give kids time to do some research to find good sources that support their point of view. Finally, let the debate begin! Check out 100 Middle School Debate Topics , 100 High School Debate Topics , and 60 Funny Debate Topics for Kids of All Ages .

How do you teach critical thinking skills in your classroom? Come share your ideas and ask for advice in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

Plus, check out 38 simple ways to integrate social-emotional learning throughout the day ..

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Critical thinking is a 21st-century essential — here’s how to help kids learn it

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If we want children to thrive in our complicated world, we need to teach them how to think, says educator Brian Oshiro. And we can do it with 4 simple questions.

This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from someone in the TED community; browse through all the posts here.

We all want the young people in our lives to thrive, but there’s no clear consensus about what will best put them on the path to future success. Should every child be taught to code? Attain fluency in Mandarin, Spanish, Hindi and English?

Those are great, but they’re not enough, says educator and teacher trainer Brian Oshiro . If we want our children to have flexible minds that can readily absorb new information and respond to complex problems, he says, we need to develop their critical thinking skills.

In adult life, “we all have to deal with questions that are a lot more complicated than those found on a multiple-choice test,” he says in a TEDxXiguan talk. “We need to give students an opportunity to grapple with questions that don’t necessarily have one correct answer. This is more realistic of the types of situations that they’re likely to face when they get outside the classroom.”

How can we encourage kids to think critically from an early age? Through an activity that every child is already an expert at — asking questions.

1. Go beyond “what?” — and ask “how?” and “why?”

Let’s say your child is learning about climate change in school. Their teacher may ask them a question like “What are the main causes of climate change?” Oshiro says there are two problems with this question — it can be answered with a quick web search, and being able to answer it gives people a false sense of security; it makes them feel like they know a topic, but their knowledge is superficial.

At home, prompt your kid to answer questions such as “ How exactly does X cause climate change?” and “ Why should we worry about it?” To answer, they’ll need to go beyond the bare facts and really think about a subject.

Other great questions: “ How will climate change affect where we live?” or “ Why should our town in particular worry about climate change?” Localizing questions gives kids, says Oshiro, “an opportunity to connect whatever knowledge they have to something personal in their lives.”

2. Follow it up with “How do you know this?”

Oshiro says, “They have to provide some sort of evidence and be able to defend their answer against some logical attack.” Answering this question requires kids to reflect on their previous statements and assess where they’re getting their information from.

3. Prompt them to think about how their perspective may differ from other people’s.

Ask a question like “How will climate change affect people living in X country or X city?” or “Why should people living in X country or X city worry about it?” Kids will be pushed to think about the priorities and concerns of others, says Oshiro, and to try to understand their perspectives — essential elements of creative problem-solving.

4. Finally, ask them how to solve this problem.

But be sure to focus the question. For example, rather than ask “How can we solve climate change?” — which is too big for anyone to wrap their mind around — ask “How could we address and solve cause X of climate change?” Answering this question will require kids to synthesize their knowledge. Nudge them to come up with a variety of approaches: What scientific solution could address cause X? What’s a financial solution? Political solution?

You can start this project any time on any topic; you don’t have to be an expert on what your kids are studying. This is about teaching them to think for themselves. Your role is to direct their questions, listen and respond. Meanwhile, your kids “have to think about how they’re going to put this into digestible pieces for you to understand it,” says Oshiro. “It’s a great way to consolidate learning.”

Critical thinking isn’t just for the young, of course. He says, “If you’re a lifelong learner, ask yourself these types of questions in order to test your assumptions about what you think you already know.” As he adds, “We can all improve and support critical thinking by asking a few extra questions each day.”

Watch his TEDxXiguan talk now:

About the author

Mary Halton is a science journalist based in the Pacific Northwest. You can find her on Twitter at @maryhalton

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Critical thinking is a 21st-century essential — here’s how to help kids learn it

By Mary Halton on May 9, 2019 in News + Updates

Jordan Awan

If we want children to thrive in our complicated world, we need to teach them how to think, says educator Brian Oshiro. And we can do it with 4 simple questions.

We all want the young people in our lives to thrive, but there’s no clear consensus about what will best put them on the path to future success. Should every child be taught to code? Attain fluency in Mandarin, Spanish, Hindi and English?

Those are great, but they’re not enough, says educator and teacher trainer  Brian Oshiro . If we want our children to have flexible minds that can readily absorb new information and respond to complex problems, he says, we need to develop their critical thinking skills.

In adult life, “we all have to deal with questions that are a lot more complicated than those found on a multiple-choice test,”  he says  in a TEDxXiguan talk. “We need to give students an opportunity to grapple with questions that don’t necessarily have one correct answer. This is more realistic of the types of situations that they’re likely to face when they get outside the classroom.”

How can we encourage kids to think critically from an early age? Through an activity that every child is already an expert at — asking questions.

1. Go beyond “what?” — and ask “how?” and “why?”

Let’s say your child is learning about climate change in school. Their teacher may ask them a question like “What are the main causes of climate change?” Oshiro says there are two problems with this question — it can be answered with a quick web search, and being able to answer it gives people a false sense of security; it makes them feel like they know a topic, but their knowledge is superficial.

At home, prompt your kid to answer questions such as “ How  exactly does X cause climate change?” and “ Why  should we worry about it?” To answer, they’ll need to go beyond the bare facts and really think about a subject.

Other great questions: “ How  will climate change affect where we live?” or “ Why should our town in particular worry about climate change?” Localizing questions gives kids, says Oshiro, “an opportunity to connect whatever knowledge they have to something personal in their lives.”

2. Follow it up with “How do you know this?”

Oshiro says, “They have to provide some sort of evidence and be able to defend their answer against some logical attack.” Answering this question requires kids to reflect on their previous statements and assess where they’re getting their information from.

3. Prompt them to think about how their perspective may differ from other people’s.

Ask a question like “How will climate change affect people living in X country or X city?” or “Why should people living in X country or X city worry about it?” Kids will be pushed to think about the priorities and concerns of others, says Oshiro, and to try to understand their perspectives — essential elements of creative problem-solving.

4. Finally, ask them how to solve this problem.

But be sure to focus the question. For example, rather than ask “How can we solve climate change?” — which is too big for anyone to wrap their mind around — ask “How could we address and solve cause X of climate change?” Answering this question will require kids to synthesize their knowledge. Nudge them to come up with a variety of approaches: What scientific solution could address cause X? What’s a financial solution? Political solution?

You can start this project any time on any topic; you don’t have to be an expert on what your kids are studying. This is about teaching them to think for themselves. Your role is to direct their questions, listen and respond. Meanwhile, your kids “have to think about how they’re going to put this into digestible pieces for you to understand it,” says Oshiro. “It’s a great way to consolidate learning.”

Critical thinking isn’t just for the young, of course. He says, “If you’re a lifelong learner, ask yourself these types of questions in order to test your assumptions about what you think you already know.” As he adds, “We can all improve and support critical thinking by asking a few extra questions each day.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mary Halton  is Assistant Ideas Editor at TED, and a science journalist based in the Pacific Northwest.

This post was originally published on TED Ideas . It’s part of the “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from someone in the TED community;  browse through  all the posts here.

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What if Kids Never Build Critical Thinking Skills?

What Are Critical Thinking Skills? Here’s How to Help Your Kids Develop Them

It's no secret that critical thinking skills are essential for success in life, but how can parents help their children develop these important abilities? Critical thinking doesn't happen naturally; it must be taught and nurtured.

Play. Learn. Thrive.™ only endorses products we authentically love and use. Some of the product links in this post may be affiliate links. That means that if you click them and make a purchase, this site makes a commission. Play. Learn. Thrive.™ is also an Amazon Associate. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. It will have no impact on the price you pay or the experience of your purchase. 

This article will discuss the importance of developing critical thinking skills in children and provide strategies to encourage your child’s growth.

We'll also look at role play in fostering this skill set and the resources available for parents who want more information on teaching their kids problem-solving techniques.

So if you're looking for ways to help your little one grow into an independent thinker with strong decision-making capabilities, keep reading.

What are Critical Thinking Skills?

Critical thinking skills are thinking logically and rationally, analyzing information objectively, drawing conclusions based on evidence, and solving problems. It is an important life skill that can help you make better decisions in all aspects of your life.

Definition of Critical Thinking:

Critical thinking involves using logic and reasoning to evaluate arguments or ideas. It requires a person to be able to identify facts from opinions, recognize assumptions being made, understand different points of view, and consider alternative solutions before making a decision.

Benefits of Critical Thinking:

Developing strong critical thinking skills can help people become more effective problem solvers. It also helps them make better decisions by considering all possible outcomes before taking action. Additionally, it allows people to develop their unique perspectives on various topics, which can lead to creative solutions for difficult problems.

Critical thinking skills are an important part of a child's development . They help them to think flexibly, analyze situations, and make informed decisions. Here are some reasons why Critical thinking is so important for children:

• It helps children to learn how to make sense of the world around them
• It encourages problem-solving and creative thinking.
• It helps children become better communicators and more resilient in the face of change.
• It allows children to go beyond memorizing facts and develop a deeper understanding.
• It promotes scientific inquiry and collaboration with others.

Parents can help foster these skills by encouraging creative problem-solving, open-ended questions, and discussion, as well as introducing new experiences and challenges. Let's look at how to develop critical thinking skills in children next.

How to Develop Critical Thinking Skills in Children?

Developing critical thinking skills in children is an important part of their overall development. Critical thinking involves analyzing information, evaluating evidence, and making informed decisions. Parents can help foster these skills by encouraging creative problem-solving, promoting open-ended questions and discussion, and introducing new experiences and challenges.

Encouraging Creative Problem Solving:

Creative problem-solving helps children learn how to think outside the box when faced with a challenge or difficult situation. Parents can encourage this thinking by providing opportunities for their children to develop unique solutions to problems they encounter throughout the day. This could be as simple as asking them “how else” they could approach a task or giving them multiple options for completing it.

Promoting Open-Ended Questions and Discussion:

Asking open-ended questions encourages kids to think more deeply about topics that interest them while also helping develop their critical thinking skills.

These questions require more than a yes/no answer; instead, they prompt your child to explain why something happened or how they feel about it.

You can also engage in meaningful conversations with your child by discussing current events or books you have read together – this will help build their understanding of different perspectives on various issues, which is essential for developing critical thinking abilities.

Introducing new experiences allows kids to explore unfamiliar situations, which requires them to use higher-order reasoning skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, all of which are necessary components of critical thinking processes.

Taking trips together (even if virtual), and trying out different activities like cooking classes or art projects are great ways for parents to introduce new experiences that will challenge their child's cognitive abilities while still being fun.

By providing children with opportunities to explore, think critically, and problem-solve through play, parents can help develop their child's critical thinking skills. Moving on to the importance of play in developing these skills…

The Importance of Play in Developing Critical Thinking Skills

Play is an essential part of a child’s development and growth. It not only helps children learn about the world around them, but it also encourages critical thinking skills. Children can explore their environment, develop problem-solving strategies, practice communication skills, and build relationships with others through play.

Role of Play in Cognitive Development:

Play provides opportunities for children to use their imaginations and express themselves creatively. They develop cognitive abilities such as memory recall and problem-solving as they engage in different play activities, such as building blocks or playing pretend games. They are also learning how to make decisions based on what they observe in their environment. This type of learning helps them develop the ability to think critically later on in life.

Benefits of Play for Learning and Development:

Through play, children can learn important lessons about collaboration and cooperation with others while having fun at the same time. Playing together teaches kids how to share ideas and work together towards a common goal which will help them succeed both academically and socially throughout life. Additionally, engaging in imaginative play can help improve language skills by allowing kids to practice speaking out loud using new words that may have been learned during school or from books read at home.

Many types of play can foster critical thinking skills, such as board games like chess or checkers; puzzles; role-playing activities; outdoor sports like soccer or basketball; creative arts like drawing or painting; science experiments; cooking projects, etc. All these activities require some level of planning which develops analytical thinking skills needed for problem-solving later on down the road.

By providing ample opportunities for playful exploration within a safe environment filled with love and support, parents can ensure their child has all the tools necessary to become successful thinkers and doers when they grow up.

Playing is an essential part of a child's development and can help them to build the critical thinking skills they need to succeed. With the right strategies, parents can create stimulating environments for their children that foster learning and exploration.

Key Takeaway: Through play, children can develop critical thinking skills such as problem-solving, decision-making, and collaboration. Benefits include improved language skills, analytical thinking, and the ability to work towards a common goal.

Strategies for Teaching Critical Thinking Skills at Home

Creating a stimulating environment for learning:.

Parents can create an environment that encourages critical thinking by providing stimulating activities and materials. This could include puzzles, books, games, art supplies , blocks, and other open-ended toys. These items should be accessible to children so they can explore them freely. Providing time for unstructured play is also important, as this helps foster creativity and problem-solving skills.

Modeling Good Problem-Solving Techniques:

Children learn best when they observe adults modeling the behavior they want them to adopt. When faced with a problem or challenge, parents should demonstrate how to approach it calmly, using logical reasoning skills, such as breaking down the issue into smaller parts or looking at it from different perspectives.

Parents can help their children develop critical thinking skills by encouraging curiosity through conversation and exploring new topics or experiences.

They can also ask open-ended questions that require more than one-word answers, which will help stimulate deeper thought processes in their child’s mind.

Parents are creating an environment that encourages critical thinking by providing stimulating activities and materials such as puzzles, books, games, art supplies , blocks, and other open-ended toys for children to explore freely and allowing time for unstructured play.

Additionally, modeling good problem-solving techniques when faced with a challenge is important so that children learn how to approach it calmly while using logical reasoning skills such as breaking down the issue into smaller parts or looking at it from different perspectives.

Parents can teach their children critical thinking skills at home by understanding the importance of creating a stimulating environment, modeling good problem-solving techniques, and encouraging exploration and curiosity. See the next heading for more resources on developing these skills in children.

Resources for Parents on Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Children

Parents looking to understand better critical thinking skills and how to develop them in their children can find a wealth of resources in books. You can see a list of my favorites in my Amazon shop here .

These books provide an overview of critical thinking and offer practical strategies for helping children hone their skills.

FAQs about What Are Critical Thinking Skills

What is meant by critical thinking skills.

It involves using logic and reasoning to identify arguments' strengths and weaknesses, recognize assumptions, assess underlying motives, and consider alternative solutions or perspectives. Critical thinking also involves questioning one’s beliefs to better understand an issue or situation. Ultimately it is about making informed decisions based on facts rather than emotions or opinions.

What is an example of critical thinking skills?

Critical thinking skills involve analyzing and evaluating information, drawing conclusions, and making evidence-based decisions. It involves thinking objectively and rationally about a situation or problem to develop an informed solution. Critical thinking also requires identifying assumptions, recognizing logical fallacies, and distinguishing between facts and opinions. Furthermore, it involves creative problem-solving techniques such as brainstorming or mind mapping to generate new ideas or solutions.

Here is a list of other important thinking skills that are important to develop.

• Analytical Thinking: the ability to break down complex problems into smaller parts and analyze them to understand their underlying causes.
• Logical Thinking: the ability to reason logically and draw valid conclusions from given information.
• Creative Thinking: the capacity for generating new ideas, solutions, or approaches to problems by combining existing knowledge in novel ways.
• Critical Thinking: the skill of evaluating arguments and evidence objectively to form sound judgments and reach well-supported conclusions.
• Problem-Solving: the process of identifying a problem, gathering relevant data, analyzing it systematically, forming hypotheses, testing those hypotheses against reality, and developing solutions that address the issue at hand.
• Decision Making: The process of weighing options before selecting one is based on evaluating its potential outcomes relative to other alternatives available at that period or contextually speaking.
• Reflective Thinking: The ability to pause and consider how our thoughts influence our actions; this includes being able to reflect on past experiences as well as considering future implications when making decisions or solving problems

What is critical thinking in simple words?

Critical thinking is the ability to analyze information objectively and make informed decisions based on evidence. It involves using logic, questioning assumptions, and examining different perspectives to reach a reasoned conclusion. Critical thinking also requires an open mind and the willingness to consider alternative solutions or ideas that may not be immediately obvious. Ultimately, it helps us become better problem solvers and more effective communicators.

Critical thinking skills are essential for children to develop. Parents play an important role in helping their children learn and practice these skills. By providing opportunities for creative play, engaging in meaningful conversations, and teaching strategies such as questioning and problem-solving, parents can help their children build strong critical thinking skills. With the right guidance and resources, parents can ensure their child develops the necessary critical thinking skills to succeed.

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How to Improve Your Child’s Critical Thinking Skills

Oxford Languages defines critical thinking as “the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment.” It is the ability to interpret a question or situation and come up with the best-fitting solution. Children need critical thinking skills to interact with the world around them, but many children have experienced delayed skill development because of the pandemic.

The guide below explains why critical thinking is at a standstill and what you can do to boost your child’s analytical abilities.

Critical Thinking Has Plummeted Since the Pandemic

Do you feel like your children can’t think for themselves? Do you find yourself explaining every step of a task, even with instructions available?

Parents and teachers around the world have reported a sharp shift in children’s critical thinking skills since the start of the pandemic. This year has been particularly eye-opening because many students are back in school in person for the first time in two years.

There are several reasons why critical thinking skill development came to a halt during the pandemic. Here are some of the most common causes:

• Online schooling forced many parents to become one-on-one tutors. Children now rely on constant prompting to complete tasks because they did not have social examples to follow in 2020.
• Children expect to be given the right answer, even if they choose the wrong one initially. This is what happens on many online learning platforms, so children have developed a habit of picking an answer – any answer – just to complete the task. They know they’ll receive the right answer eventually, so they do not have to think about it for too long.
• Teacher feedback has been minimal in the last two years, so students don’t have the same question-and-answer rhythm that they had before. Instead, they either rush through assignments or ask questions without actually reading the assignment.
• Elementary students did not receive sufficient socialization during the pandemic, so they do not know how to interact with peers now. This creates feelings of anxiety, loneliness, frustration, and confusion, all of which may affect critical thinking abilities.
• Students care more about getting the right answer than understanding why that is the answer. With online schooling, they got a boost of dopamine by clicking correct answers and completing assignments quickly. Their brains were conditioned to think that was the goal. It’s difficult to break that cycle.
• Mental health struggles make learning difficult. Most children experienced trauma in 2020. They left their friends and teachers for the last time without warning and were thrust into an entirely new environment. Their brains aren’t developed enough to fully process that.

You know how much 2020 and the years that followed impacted your life as an adult. Layer those struggles with growth spurts, hormone changes, and the everyday obstacles growing children face. It’s easy to see why so many now have problems with critical thinking.

Do not rely on the school to teach your child critical thinking skills. They will certainly pick up some skills from school, but you need to further develop those abilities at home. Listed below are some ways you can help your child become a better critical thinker.

Do Not Automatically Intervene When Your Child Has a Problem

Kids learn through trial and error. They’re going to struggle at first but will only get better if you let them learn. Resist the urge to step in when your child is frustrated, confused, or discouraged. Encourage them to find their own solution before you take over the situation. They may still need you to provide the answer, but give them a chance to think on their own first.

Create an Environment of Imagination

Imagination is a cousin of critical thinking. Children learn to look at the world from unique perspectives when they use their imagination. Play make-believe with your kids. Hold a fort-building session every week with a new theme, or use building blocks to create new worlds night after night. The more you engage with them, the more they’ll learn.

Have Discussions about Books You’ve Read

Learning doesn’t have to end when the book closes. You could talk about some of the lessons within the book or ask your child about their favorite part. Use hypothetical questions to make them think critically. “What do you think would have happened if this had gone a different way?” You can prompt them with small suggestions, but let their growing mind take control of the conversation.

Narrate Your Own Problem Solving

Children are sponges. They absorb everything they see you do – good and bad. If you’re using your critical thinking skills, show that to your child. “I didn’t have the right tool to open this, but I figured out how to do it with a different tool.” You may even ask your child to help you solve a problem after you’ve found an appropriate solution. Let them participate in the process and celebrate the victory with you.

Ask Open-Ended Questions That Help Them Think in New Ways

Yes or no questions limit critical thinking. Your children will benefit from open-ended questions that allow them to tap into past experiences and learn something new. Try prompts like, “Let’s think of all the possible outcomes in this scenario” or “What would happen if we tried this instead?” They may not have the right answer or best answer right away, but they’re thinking. That is what is most important.

Ask Them about Things They Love

Children are told that they are wrong all day long. They rarely get to feel knowledgeable. Giving them a small boost of confidence will make a tremendous impact on their critical thinking development.

Ask them about topics they love to discuss, like their favorite movie or video game. “Have you found any cool new items in your game?” “What do the Stormtroopers do?” You may know the answers already, but the point here is that your child feels empowered by knowledge. They’ll be driven by that feeling moving forward.

Don’t Ignore Mental Health Struggles

If your child is facing mental health challenges, don’t ignore them. Mental health will affect academic performance, no matter how smart or talented your child is. Your child needs to know how to regulate emotions and process feelings in order to effectively employ their critical thinking skills.

The same can be said for your own mental health. If you’re struggling in any way, reach out for support. Lean on your loved ones and confide in people you trust. Work with a licensed therapist to find personalized coping strategies. The specialists here at CNLD Testing & Therapy would be happy to help you.

Reach out to (734) 994-9466 if you’d like to meet with one of our mental healthcare providers. We work with parents, children, teens, families, caregivers, and everyone in between.

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11 ways to help your child develop critical thinking skills

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Every parent wants to see their child succeed. And the groundwork you put in with them at a young age has a huge impact on where they get to later in life.

Problem is, it’s hard to know exactly what a child needs, to grow into the very best version of themselves.

Should they learn another language? Pick up an instrument? Play sports, or master chess, or learn how to code? Sure, these skills will certainly give them an edge, but it won’t be enough unless they learn the essential life skill that is critical thinking .

What is critical thinking?

Critical thinking is not just seeing the world around you, but taking the time to process, analyze, and question situations in order to form a judgment. It’s a deeper form of thinking — one that’s a necessary part of everyday life in our complex world.

By teaching critical thinking to young children, you’re giving them the skills they’ll need in their teen years and adulthood. Critical thinking helps to expand their minds so they can absorb new information and quickly solve difficult problems.

It all sounds a bit abstract . But critical thinking is about learning how to approach issues with perspective. It’s about learning that not all questions have multiple-choice options — in fact, some questions have no definite answers at all.

Critical thinking skills develop over time — it’s not something your child can sit down and study in a textbook.

Instead, here’s what you need to do…

Don’t answer every question they have off the bat

Kids are full of questions, aren’t they? And most of them are extremely random and/or out of left-field. Rather than trying to answer all of your little one’s queries, you could respond with another question: “What do you think?.

This encourages your children to come up with a solution on their own. Even if they’re completely wrong, they’re developing critical thinking skills by trying to figure it out. Then together, you can go online to research and find the correct answer.

Dive further into questions

You can also take a moment to further explore any questions your children come to you with. Instead of just asking “what”, encourage them to discover the “how” and “why” as well. For example, if they ask what clouds are, you could then explore how clouds are formed and why we need them .

Give them time to answer

Some children will take a long time to digest information and form a response. If you ask them a probing question, allow them to take their time in coming up with an answer.

Again, once they’ve responded, leave another period of silence. This will give them time to reflect on what they’ve said, in case they want to amend their gut reply.

Encourage them to think of others’ experiences

It’s understandable for young kids to assume their own experience is the same as everyone else’s. But as they grow up, it’s important for them to acknowledge the perspectives of others and look beyond their own point of view.

You can encourage this by reading books and talking about how the characters might be feeling. Identify their emotions and the reasons behind their feelings. You can also check out our senses and feelings worksheet pack to help learn how to differentiate the two.

Give them opportunities to explore

Toddlers are constantly building critical thinking skills: they love to wander around, play with stuff, and learn cause and effect. They’ll drop their spoon off a high chair repeatedly just to see what will happen — annoying as it is, that’s their critical thinking on display!

As your child ages, continue to give them indoor and outdoor space to experience the world and exercise their natural curiosity.

Ask them to build hypotheses

While playing with your child, ask them what they think will happen as the result of an action. Try asking something like, “If we do this, what do you think will happen?” or “Let’s predict what we think will happen next”.

It could be pushing a Slinky down the stairs, or mixing paint colors together.

Encourage children to form opinions

Learning how to form well-reasoned opinions is an important part of critical thinking practice. Start out by making sure they know the difference between fact and opinion , then encourage them to list some opinions that are important to them.

You could even stage a mini-debate and ask them to come up with a convincing fact-based argument for their opinion.

Give them a journal

While some kids might be opposed to it, keeping a daily journal is a great way to flex critical thinking skills. Even capturing one page a night will make children reflect on their day, on situations that arose, and learn how to analyze what happened.

They can keep the diary private, which may help them be more honest with the thoughts they share. If your child isn’t keen on writing, drawing pictures is also a good tool to work through a situation in their head.

Talk about current affairs

This one varies with the age of your children, and how much you want to expose them to the news cycle.

There are some great news sources for young kids — like KidNuz , a daily five-minute podcast with headlines suitable for children from 5-8 years old. Use this as a jumping-off point for discussions that’ll help broaden their understanding of the world. You can put news stories in context, then ask questions like “What do you think about these events?”,  “How do you think these things happen?”.

Here’s some more insight on how to talk about the news with kids .

Find similarities and differences

This is a great one for toddlers. Pick up two similar items — like a fork and a spoon — and ask your child what makes them similar and what makes them different.

Having to distinguish two similar items but identify why they’re not the same will help build a basis of their critical thinking skills.

Play 20 Questions

This is a simple and fun game — excellent for long car rides. One player thinks of a person, place, or thing, and the other competitors must ask fewer than 20 questions to figure out what it is. It’s an educational exercise in processing information and analyzing it to narrow down options.

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Parents' Guide

Developing critical thinking in teens, introduction.

For children aged 13 and older, the development of critical thinking continues to build from the skills acquired and the challenges faced in the first two developmental stages. These skills must continue to be reinforced as the child matures.  

The four basic aspects of critical thinking we examined in the first part of this guide, concerning children aged five to nine , remain relevant, therefore. To review, these were:

Critical thinking based on arguing a point.

Developing self-esteem, the foundation of critical thinking.

Emotional management, a prerequisite for critical thinking.

The social norm of critical thinking.

We also saw new elements come into play between ages 10 and 12 in the acquisition of critical thinking and reasoning skills. These are likewise still important in considering the development of critical thinking in young teenagers:

The development of reasoning skills beyond argument.

Puberty and its implications in terms of interests, self-esteem, and emotional management.

The digital world, via gaming, the internet, and a burgeoning social or pseudo-social life (on social media targeted at young people).

To these concerns are added new set of factors come into play in later adolescence as the cognitive system matures and social life changes. These factors will hugely increase the critical potential of 13 to 15 year olds, while at the same time limiting it in certain respects. These factors are:

The development of formal logic, allowing for more and more complex and abstract lines of reasoning.

New social pressures, including heightened peer pressure and anxieties over social integration. The influences of groups and gangs, which tend to critique the established social order, can also lead to a conformity in attitudes and ways of thinking within the group.

Critical analysis of sources of information and the strengthening of interpretive skills.

Critical thinking in group projects, and as an element of citizenship and social progress .

Beginning at age 13, adolescents can begin to acquire and apply formal logical rules and processes. The rudimentary logic learned at previous stages can now be refined by teaching adolescents some more advanced logical notation and vocabulary, which are outlined in the coming sections. It is important to keep in mind, again, that critical thinking extends far beyond logic, offering tools to apply more broadly to arguments and information encountered in the everyday world.

In the teenage years, social pressures accelerate, and with the internet and social media, these pressures move faster and with more force than ever. As outlined in section two below, critical thinking can prove a valuable resource for teenagers to help cope with these pressures and resist the groupthink that easily emerges in social cliques both online and offline. Critical thinking can also play a role in helping young adults choose and pursue emerging goals, by constructing long-term plans and methods. Finally, critical thinking is an indispensable tool in helping young people understand and analyze the wealth of information sources now bombarding them.

1. Formal Logic

At the age of 13 and older, children can begin to learn the rules of formal logic and further hone their critical thinking skills. whether or not their children are learning these skills in school, parents can help by discussing how to analyze concepts and arguments..

From ages 11 to 12, there gradually develops what Piaget called the formal operational stage . New capabilities at this stage, like deductive (if-then) reasoning and establishing abstract relationships, are generally mastered around ages 15 to 16.

As we saw, by the end of this stage, teenagers, like adults, can use both formal and abstract logic—but only if they have learned the language of logic (“if,” “then,” “therefore,” etc.) and have repeatedly put it to use. Under these circumstances, children learn to extrapolate and make generalizations based on real-life situations. 

Thus, from ages 10 to 12, by stimulating children intellectually—urging them to reflect and establish lines of reasoning—they gradually become able to move beyond a situational logic based on action and observation onto a logic based on rules of deduction independent of the situation at hand.

This ability to manipulate abstract symbols consolidates by around age 15, provided that one has been versed in formal logic.

A and B are two logical propositions, such that A is the opposite of B. From this, we may formally deduce (without reference to  anything concrete) that the proposition P, which states “A or B,” is always true. There are no alternatives, so P fulfills all possibilities. We may also deduce that the proposition P 1 , “A and B,” is always false.  Here, two contradictory propositions cannot both be true. If one is true, the other is false.

These formal operations require both a mature central nervous system and a mature cognitive system. But, since such examples of formal reasoning are detached from everyday life, they require deliberate practice. Even an adult who is out of practice can struggle with formal reasoning.

After working through several examples, parents can help children extract the logical rules behind those examples.

We can present these two rules of logic using more concrete examples, which makes formal reasoning at once more accessible and less intimidating. In concrete form, however, the reasoning will be less easily applied to new situations. 

If proposition A is: “this salmon is farmed,” proposition B (the opposite of A) will be: “this salmon is not farmed.” B could also be expressed  as: “this salmon is wild.” It is easy in this concrete context to see that P, “A or B,” is always true. A salmon must either be farmed or wild. It is also easy to conceive that P 1 , “A and B,” is always false because a salmon cannot be both farmed and wild.

Moving away from situational lines of reasoning allows teens to extrapolate and apply logic to the ever more complex challenges and life events they might encounter as they mature into their young adult years. Without formal logic, young teens and young adults won’t be able to define their formal reasoning abilities to extend past situational deductions and personal life experiences or form larger connections with their surroundings and the human experiences that occur around them everyday.

Once they learn to abstract from concrete examples and express these rules in formal logic, children can form and manipulate logical notation and apply it to a multitude of situations. 

How can we help children from age 13 and older improve their formal logical deduction skills?

We must start by working on these two rules through concrete examples like that of the salmon. After working through several examples, parents can help children extract the logical rules behind those examples. This is the inductive phase: from concrete examples, we extract the common features and express them in a formal rule. 

Next, it will be necessary to prove this rule solely by logical deduction. If we do not do this, we cannot be certain that the rule is valid in every context. Extracting the common features only results in rules which, at this stage, remain merely hypothetical. Only reasoning allows for the generalization of a rule.

Once students have mastered a collection of formal rules, they can be trained to recognize, within a problem or a given context, what rule is applicable. That is, they can take an initial claim (a hypothesis), apply a rule of deduction to it, and arrive at a conclusion.

2. Faulty Reasoning

One important way teenagers can improve their logic and reasoning skills is by using formal definitions. these are necessary for more precise and universal reasoning and can help children identify faulty reasoning., integrating these topic into family discussions can be enormously productive., extension vs. intension.

One idea in formal logic that can be valuable to learn at this age has to do with how concepts are defined. For very young children, categories or concepts are defined according to how they are encountered in everyday life. For example, the general concept of color is determined by all the examples of colors children have come across or imagined. The concept covers all these different experiences. This is called the concept’s “ extension .”

But it is important that children from the age of around 13 start to learn to define concepts not merely according to their extension, but in a formal, scientific manner.

For example, instead of using a definition drawn from experience, students can explain that a color is a perception that our eye, linked to the brain, produces when an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency hits our retina. This definition according to the formal, internal qualities of the concept is called the concept’s “intension.” 

Definition by intension is more complicated, but it allows for the use of the concept in formal reasoning. Therefore, definition by intension gears the child’s mind towards higher-level abstract reasoning. 

For example, if we have to determine whether or not a given entity is a color or not, the intensional definition will offer us formal criteria for making a judgment.

Here’s another example. The prime numbers can be defined formally by intension: they are “the numbers that are only divisible by themselves and one.” If we were to learn only the extension of the term “prime number,” on the other hand, we would only have a list of the numbers that we know are prime.

It is clear that if we only have this definition by extension and we encounter a new, very large number — higher than the largest number on the list we’ve learned—we will have no criteria for knowing whether it’s prime. But if we have the formal definition by intension, we will, with the help of a calculator, be able to determine whether it is only divisible by one and itself and, therefore, prime.

We can’t productively critique the arguments of others if we don’t share their definitions of concepts.

When we are young, we learn about the world through definitions by extension during the course of our interactions with objects and other people. Our brain defines concepts by extension and then extracts the common features to produce a working definition. 

But these definitions are subjective since they depend on our history of encounters with relevant examples. Thus, all of the concepts we have created do not match other people’s concepts precisely, despite being identically named. They depend on the particular experiences we have had.

Yet, towards the ages of 13 to 15, with mathematical and formal logic, it becomes possible to define concepts by intension and, therefore, to share objective meaning with others. Teenagers can enter a world  of shared and precise meanings. This is a prerequisite for the application of precise and formal critical thinking. We can’t productively critique the arguments of others if we don’t share their definitions of concepts.

The formal approach for children aged 13 and up should, then be twofold: formalize the definition of the concepts used and formalize the logical deduction itself. This comes with practice and enhances both children’s capacity to communicate and their critical faculties.

The Concepts of Intension and Extension​

Recognizing faulty reasoning.

As has been discussed in previous sections, developing critical reasoning requires more than simply knowing how to reason formally and contextually. It is also necessary to learn how to recognize flaws in the reasoning of other people who may wish to convince us of their way of thinking, either for narcissistic reasons or to lead us to act to their own advantage.

Such flaws can occur on several levels:

Erroneous rules of logic, leading to false reasoning based on reliable hypotheses.

False hypotheses (starting points for reasoning): even if the reasoning is valid, the conclusion may be false. Certain politicians use this strategy very frequently.

Using a formal rule in a situation to which it does not apply. This often occurs in over-simplified mathematical modeling of complex material, for example when an essay in the humanities is interpreted using only the tools of formal logic. 

These three types of flaws can be worked into family discussions, with the goal of training children to counter weak or manipulative lines of argument. School should not be too heavily relied upon to provide this kind of practice for your children. Already between the ages of 13 and 15, they are able to construct brilliant lines of reasoning, which will prevent them from being tricked by manipulative or intellectually limited people.

Flawed Reasoning​

3. individuation, teenagers have a natural impulse to try to separate themselves from their parents and their backgrounds. a good critical thinking foundation can help ease the transition toward individuality and adulthood. better reasoning can help teenagers cope with their emerging independence and avoid an unthinking rejection of their background., what is individuation.

Individuating and the stages of individuation are concepts developed by renowned analytical psychologist Carl Jung . Jung founded analytic psychology and the concepts of extraverted and introverted personalities, archetypes, and the collective unconscious were also developed by Jung along with the theory of individuation.

In adolescence,  the individuation process heralds the initial stages that a child takes toward  becoming a unique individual, something more than just your parents’ offspring, is a psychological necessity. 

Part of differentiating yourself from the world around you is developing a self-image. It is the only way to avoid fading completely into your surroundings—and ending up in utter conformity, or worse.

Individuation adolescence

Individuation is indispensable to society. In order to sustain itself, society needs diversity. Cultures lacking the social norm of individuation are more fragile. They produce citizens who have identical self-images and behavioral patterns, whereas adapting to change requires diversity, creativity, evolution, and, therefore, critical thinking.

Only very rarely (or not at all) have individuals in these cultures of weak individuation experienced the feelings of crisis and malaise we associate with adolescence. The transition from childhood to adulthood unfolds instead according to so-called “rites of passage.” 

Our civilization has undergone a long and profound evolution through philosophy, science, psychoanalysis, and politics, leading us to a social norm that rejects the idea that the individual in the family, the social group, or the nation, is like a mere cell in an organ. Indeed, everyone has the right and even the “duty” to be reborn by deviating from their origins. 

This is an immense challenge because this act of individuation, this self-creation, arises at a moment when children are not yet able to achieve this “rebirth” autonomously, as they enter an unknown world without even knowing what it will be like. We call this period “adolescence” or even “kidulthood” when it lasts a long time—a growing phenomenon.

Experiencing society predominantly through school or family simultaneously generates pressure to conform and to individualize. It comes as no surprise that this causes some problems.

The desire to be free and independent generates psychological conflict.

What is the process of individuation.

Children have not fully matured intellectually or cognitively when they are confronted with this contradiction. They are, therefore, unable to conceptualize it. This is why, in their behavior and attitudes, children can sometimes bear a closer resemblance to skittish animals than calm self-creators responsible for their own gradual reinvention.

Although unaware of it, children embark upon adolescence through “second-degree” conformity through culture, since adolescence is a societal construct rather than a psycho-behavioral component of puberty. 

Paradoxically, children aged 13 to 15 or older may not experience teenage angst at all, thanks to their critical faculties. In fact, if they feel that their life is fulfilling and stable, they will be able to avoid getting sucked into an alternative world by other children their age. Their youth may pass without them having experienced teen crisis. Instead, they construct their identity reflectively and without drama.  

This, of course, is not typical. The desire to be free and independent generates psychological conflict. The fear and the anxiety associated with this moment of struggle incites rationalizations, thoughts which retrospectively come to explain dissatisfaction, malaise, and rebellion. Every situation that is not comfortable or does not come off successfully, we tend to attribute to our external environment and other people. Consequently, if things are not going well for us—if we are not happy—we tend to blame it on an unjust world.

Parents of teenagers are very familiar with the result: sweeping criticism of everything teens encounter. To the teenager, everyone sucks: parents, teachers, politicians, journalists, and so on. This reaction can generate conflict, but, as is explained in the next section, it also presents a good opportunity for deepening critical faculties.

4. Teenage Negativity

The need to become an individual can often manifest itself in negative and unyielding attitudes. though teenagers’ criticisms and complaints can be unsophisticated, parents should still engage with them. critical reasoning can help make the process of becoming an individual less painful and more productive..

It can be difficult to know how to react to teenagers’ negativity. On the one hand, their attitudes may seem too extreme and unsophisticated to take seriously. On the other, they can be exasperating and even hurtful when directed against the parents themselves. But parents should do their best to avoid being either dismissive or defensive. 

The teenager’s emotional negativity is an extreme version of something we are all prone to indulge in from time to time, no matter how highly we may prize our calmness and understanding. Parents should remind themselves that this negativity is part of a bid to become a fully-fledged autonomous individual with an opinion deserving of recognition and respect. 

Parents can help them reach this goal by taking their teens’ complaints seriously. This doesn’t mean telling them they’re right when they aren’t, but treating them as conversation partners worthy of engagement. Parents can ask their children to substantiate and defend their claims using argument and evidence; challenge their children when they fail to argue well; and compliment them when make good points.

This can be a good opportunity for parents themselves to refresh their ability to put aside emotions and handle a topic fairly and dispassionately. By modeling these kinds of intellectual virtues parents make it more likely that their children will adopt them.

Arguing with teenagers can be fun, especially if they begin to experience the kind of satisfaction that comes out of reasoned debate over complicated issues.

Of course these arguments will not always go smoothly, but over time parents can help bring their children into the critical community. Arguing with teenagers can be fun, especially if they begin to experience the kind of satisfaction that comes out of reasoned debate over complicated issues.

The quest for individuality also manifests itself in a need to create or to win over a new group, a group that can become one’s ideal family. The phenomenon of teenage cliques or gangs—and even radical organizations—arises from this fact. Not being understood or accepted is stifling. We need an escape valve, and so, as social animals, we create or join a group that meets our needs.

Individuation and Belonging

5. sense of belonging in a community, although they may relentlessly criticize society, in so doing teenagers are really showing that they belong to it. parents should help teenagers learn to articulate their dissatisfaction and develop a sense of belonging. . critical thinking can help them reconcile their desire for independence with the value of tradition and belonging to society., what it means to belong.

Belonging means acceptance into a larger whole, society, community, or organization. It’s a fairly common experience that occurs at many levels of life from the familial unit, to work, to school, to the society as a whole.

From the age of 12 to 13, in order for children to be able to articulate their disagreements with the status quo, they must develop their critical reasoning skills. As adults, we must, again, engage with these critiques if they are well-founded. This shows children that rejecting their endeavors is not the automatic response. This makes them feel valued and capable of exercising autonomous thought which can, moreover, influence adults.

In this way, critical thinking also — perhaps unexpectedly — makes it easier for children to accept at least a part of the cultural heritage that is offered to or imposed on them by language, upbringing, and custom. 

Allowing a teenager to convince others through argument and logical inference makes them feel more able to become an individual without breaking away from the group—a rebellion-free evolution. If they are allowed to articulate their dissent, they may even find school or home life less stifling than social life in a peer group where they are constantly pressured to conform. Encouraging this kind of critical thinking also protects them from negative influences (cults, crime, etc.), since their critical toolkit allows them to stay lucid when faced with wild, dangerous speech and behavior (alcohol, drugs, etc.).

From as early an age as possible, learning how to argue and reason critically using one’s capacities for inference allows for a balance in adolescence between individualization and an acceptance of heritage. 

Indeed, the need to distinguish oneself and to proclaim one’s individuality is always met by membership in a group — now often with the help of social media. This need is only met if these groups are not as prescriptive and stifling as the society from which the child is trying to escape and if they do not cause harm. 

Part of critical reasoning is the development of the capacity to question environmental, familial, and social norms and prescriptions. But this requires competence in a universal language made up of inferential logic and the art of arguing,  which comes from the critiqued society. Critical reasoning itself thus serves as lasting proof that one remains a part of that society. In the very act of distinguishing themselves from the pack, teenagers show they belong.

Critical reasoning anchors children in reality, allowing them to achieve individuality in their own unique way. Parents can help by supporting their children’s projects and encouraging them to engage with the world around them.

Building a sense of belonging.

Cultural heritage—including language, law, food, art, manners and customs, traditions, and scientific knowledge—represents an incredible resource that is at once imposed and offered. Teaching children critical thinking and reasoning means that they will not simply dismiss this priceless treasure in its entirety even though they will partially free themselves from it. Critical reasoning makes the process of individualization less violent and painful for both children and parents, thanks to the balance between the assimilation of culture and a healthy questioning of it.

In other words, critical reasoning—expressed through argumentative and logical know-how and rooted in self-esteem and love—anchors children in reality, allowing them to achieve individuality in their own unique way. Parents can help by supporting their children’s projects and encouraging them to engage with the world around them.

Cognitive faculties participate, in this way, in the psychological make-up of children. Critical reasoning has a twofold power: it is both integrator and liberator. It alerts us to the ways our culture forms us and helps us partly to overcome it. It is a fundamental pillar of our citizenship, on a national and global scale. 

Benefits of sense of belonging

Critical reasoning serves as proof to children that they are listened to and that they are the primary drivers of their own destinies. Subsequently, they are predisposed to put their faith in the future and in others. They become psychologically and intellectually equipped to imagine a future with other people, in which they undertake communal projects and attain important goals.

6. Analyzing Sources

Teenagers need support  to cope with and analyze disinformation and deception online. they should work on developing critical reading and browsing habits and learn to identify different kinds of deceptive reasoning. families can practice analyzing false or misleading information together. .

By the age of 13, young people likely already have significant experience navigating the internet. They have all made extensive use of a variety of websites in order to find answers to their questions or to help with papers and schoolwork.

The internet has democratized the transmission of information, allowing anyone and everyone to put forward their ideas, opinions, or hypotheses on multiple online platforms. People usually post things online in an affirmative style which presents any given statement, no matter how dubious or speculative, as a well-known fact.  

People’s personal blogs, companies’ promotional lifestyle websites, and free encyclopedias all feature articles on complex subjects, almost always with content that has not been vetted by any experts,  whose critical thinking skills and reasoning would be invaluable.

It seems that everyone—or almost everyone—has the tendency to grant at least some level of truth to everything they find online, especially if the site looks credible and its language is elegant. The same gullibility often applies to what we see on television or read in newspapers.

It is important to make young people aware of the phenomenon of “fake news” and to give them concrete proof of the great deal of false—even outrageous—information online. 

For example, it is possible to find videos claiming to prove that NASA’s moon landing was staged . Debunking these types of conspiracy theories, with the help of parents and educators, can be a useful exercise for students. As can discussing what makes certain sources reliable or unreliable.

For example, students could be shown a factual documentary on the moon landing and a video claiming the moon landing was faked and then asked to work out which one is false

In order to do this, they must use their logical knowledge to see if any false presumptions have been made. They must also ask themselves who made and commented in the videos. What is this person’s reputation? What are their professional qualifications? Has the document’s credibility been discussed in any forums?

Debunking these types of conspiracy theories, with the help of parents and educators, can be a useful exercise for students.

In analyzing these and similar sources, we will arrive at one of five possible situations:

An author has good intentions but his or her reasoning is flawed. The author draws unsubstantiated conclusions from trustworthy information. For example, we have proof that certain particles came out of thin air and did not evolve from anything. Some wrongly conclude that this proves the existence of God, since only God could create something from nothing. This information is true, but the reasoning is false, and the conclusion therefore does not follow. The solution involves the relationship between energy and mass in the equation E = mc 2 . In empty space, even the smallest amount of heat can cause spontaneous conversions of pure energy into matter.

An author has good intentions and reasons well, but uses false information. Here, the author can come to false conclusions, even if he or she reasons impeccably. For example, one could conclude that the acceleration of an object, induced by gravitational force, is dependent on its mass because if one drops a rock and a feather from a balcony, the rock will hit the ground before the feather. Here, the problem lies with the initial information, which is erroneous because it does not take the role of air resistance into account. The observation on which the argument is based is thus incorrect in this case, as is the conclusion. In reality, in a vacuum, the feather and the rock would reach the ground at exactly the same time.

It could be that the hypotheses and baseline observations, as well as the arguments drawn from it, are all incorrect. A false conclusion is likely to result.

Authors could be giving out false information intentionally with the aim of selling a product; harming another individual, group, or country; spreading a rumor to make themselves feel important; or sadistically causing mental anguish to others for their own enjoyment.

An author intends to get a point across by using an argument which appears to comply with logical reasoning but which actually contains one or more inferential leaps , deliberately introduced in order to prove that the conclusion is objective because it stems from rigorous thinking. Sophistry and paralogisms arise from this sort of trickery.

It is very important to expose adolescents to these five possible kinds of lies or deception, as well as to reflect on how to identify them by analyzing authors’ arguments and questioning the hypotheses or observations at the root of their arguments and their likely intentions, given the message’s context. For example, in an advertising context, we can understand that car manufacturers might benefit from lying about the amount of pollution produced by the vehicle they sell.

Nasreddin’s Sophisms

Paralogisms, 7. the critical mind, genuine critical thinking requires background knowledge. parents should help their children acquire broad and deep knowledge so they have the confidence and ability to call sources into question and avoid an unreflective acceptance of authority..

General knowledge is also a powerful tool for staying critical and skeptical in the face of this influx of information. It allows one to reconcile information and to check whether new data seems consistent with what they already know.

For example, if one were trying to evaluate arguments about how to address the recession caused by the 2008 global financial crisis, it would be useful to know the history of efforts to boost economic growth through government spending,  especially those undertaken during the Great Depression of the 1930s . Citizens versed in this history will be far better equipped to evaluate and criticize the proposals put forward by politicians and economists in their own time.

Having general knowledge also means that one does not hold even the most reliable sources sacred, knowing that careful thought often undermines received wisdom.

For example, Einstein’s theory of general relativity called Newton’s law of universal gravitation into question, even though Newton’s law had apparently been confirmed by a wealth of experiments and observations. Einstein’s general knowledge and his independent way of thinking allowed him to postulate that gravity was not simply a force but a warping of space-time in the vicinity of stars. Since then, independent observational astronomical predictions have always supported the theory of general relativity.

Treating certain sources as sacred can be as dangerous as uncritically accepting everything that comes from the internet or elsewhere. The same phenomenon is involved when religious texts are interpreted as legitimizing violence or intolerance.

The interpretation—as well as the cultural, social, geographical, and historical contextualization—of a piece of information is indispensable to the formation of a critical mind. But critical thinking is difficult. It takes training, as well as background knowledge, to determine the reliability of a source, and this determination can never be definitive or certain.

These examples show that if we are responsible for educating adolescents on the verification of sources, we must be careful not to give permanent, definitive credit to any piece of information or knowledge, even if it comes from a seemingly very reliable source. Critical thinking, provided that it does not lead to permanent doubt or paranoia, is truly a way of life, facilitating progress and freedom.

Fact-Checking

Verifying sources, 8. critical thinking and progress, critical thinking can help children not only learn to analyze the world around them, but act to try to change it. good critical thinking can foster productive interests, deeper engagement with social problems, and the attitudes of good citizenship. in this way critical thinking is vital to social progress..

A goal (or a project or “dream”) is the meeting of, on the one hand, an idea born out of a need or desire and, on the other, a method—an “algorithm” for bringing the idea into reality. But these two dimensions to every goal are, in fact, two sides of the same coin, two facets of creativity. 

As we have seen, the spark for critical thinking comes from self-esteem and unconditional love. This energy is indispensable to living with both a sense of joy and, at the same time, a continual dissatisfaction with the status quo. Taking joy in life is necessary to prevent this dissatisfaction from degenerating into depression or other pathologies. This joy provides the energy needed to turn dissatisfaction into ideas and dreams of change. 

But in order for an idea to turn into a project capable of changing the world, both a methodology and logical, communicative rigor are required. These allow a large number of people to understand a problem in the same terms and gear themselves toward the same objectives. Without these tools, efforts at problem-solving tend to devolve into emotionalism or factionalism.

Methodological rigor is rooted in critical reasoning. 

An education in critical thinking and reasoning is the best way to ensure a child can access goal-oriented thinking. A goal, much like the kind of formal logic we can exercise from the ages of 13 to 15, transforms the possible into the tangible. 

Goal-oriented thinking leads children in their adolescence to join or set up active groups or associations. Activity in such groups requires skills in both logic and communication, and it tends to support their further development. It pushes those undertaking such projects to strike a balance between asserting themselves and listening to others—between critiquing and taking what others say on board. 

In this sens e, critical thinking and the drive it inspires to undertake projects can be a kind of citizenship training. To rigorously and plainly critique a complex system (whether it be political, scientific, or philosophical, theological) is always to act as a citizen. It is beneficial to all.

Critical thinking not only enables students to reach their intellectual potential; it can also help them find purpose and, through purpose, happiness.

In this way critical thinking not only enables students to reach their intellectual potential; it can also help them find purpose and, through purpose, happiness. And, ultimately, it can help foster progress and social cohesion through cooperative action.

These links between critical thinking, undertaking projects, and citizenship should further encourage parents and educators to guide children toward this spirit of joyful dissatisfaction, as well as toward logical reasoning and the art of arguing.

If this mindset is acquired, teenagers won’t need pressure from above to take action as citizens or to participate in projects for social change that are bigger than themselves. There always lies the risk that when parents mandate this kind of participation as a kind of chore, children will reject it out of principle.

Instead of hoping their children will swallow whole what is offered them, parents should encourage them to seek the truth —to learn to reason and argue. Those around them, and society as a whole, will benefit from their skills, their independence, and their spirit.

Case Study 1

The concepts of intension and extension.

B eginning at around 13, students can begin formalizing their reasoning using intensional definitions. These formal definitions, which are internal to concepts themselves, rather than drawn from experience, can open up new avenues for reasoning and lead to new kinds of arguments. 

Consider the following scenario:

During a presidential election campaign, 14-year-old Lea defends a candidate who, in her eyes, is the only one worth voting for. She explains her candidate’s platform to her friends around the table at lunch in the school cafeteria and says how she wishes she already had the right to vote and that she begged her parents to vote on her behalf.

Lea’s arguments seem to have convinced her friends, but Anna, sitting at one end of the table, interjects: ″Who cares? As my parents say, all presidents are liars! I’m never going to vote.”

The other girls and boys present agree loudly. A surprised Lea tries to think of a comeback, but can’t think of what to say.

The bell rings. Everyone gets up to go back to class.

When she gets home after school, Lea tells her mother about the scene at lunch and asks her opinion: ″What would you have said to Anna?”

If you were Lea’s mother, how would you have replied? How can you use reason to respond to Anna’s argument, which seems to be an argument from authority ?

There are two ways to determine whether all presidents are liars or not:

Extensional method: Research the history of presidential elections, and compare the promises made by candidates to their actions after being elected. This method will allow you to determine whether all presidents over the course of history have lied. Perhaps they all have lied. But even in this case, Anna’s argument would be valid but only up to the present day , since one cannot predict the future and, therefore, what a new president will do. Perhaps Lea could then defend her favored candidate by arguing that, once elected, he or she will be different.

Intensional method: Research political science and show that the electoral system and certain institutions pressure candidates to lie in order to get elected and that this is considered the “rules of the game.” If this can be demonstrated, it would be a valid pattern for the past and the future. In this hypothesis, Anna’s argument will be valid for the present and the future (so long as the same institutions remain in effect). Notice, however, that this method gives Lea an opportunity for more subtle reasoning. All presidents may end up making false promises or misleading the public on certain points, but we can distinguish between deliberate, malicious lies and those that arise from the pressures of the office. This would allow her to poke holes in Anna’s rationale for not voting, since certain candidates may still be more honest than others.

Case Study 2

Flawed reasoning.

Use these examples of flawed reasoning to introduce logical vocabulary and help your children identify flawed reasoning  and how to identify flaws in an argument.. More definitions and basic concepts can be found here .

The examples are based on famous example of deductive reasoning attributed to Aristotle. In the exercises, Aristotle’s example is distorted in various ways, either using false information or faulty reasoning. Challenge your children to identify exactly why these arguments fail. 

Here are some definitions of the terms used below: 

Premises are the statements or information on which an argument is based (in these cases, the first two lines). 

The conclusion (the third line in these examples) is the statement drawn from the premises.

When an argument is valid , that means its conclusion follows logically from its premises.

When an argument is sound , that means it is both valid and based on premises that are true, meaning its conclusion is also true.

These examples can help students to break up reasoning into logical steps, make the logical steps of an argument explicit to themselves, and identify where reasoning breaks down. Critical thinking must enable us to detect logical errors and to recognize whether they lead us to false conclusions. Notice, however, that flawed reasoning does not guarantee a false conclusion. 

Aristotle’s Reasoning

“All human beings are mortal. Socrates is a human being. Therefore, Socrates is mortal.”

The premises are true, the reasoning is valid, and the conclusion is, as a result, true.

All human beings are women. Socrates is a human being. Therefore, Socrates is a woman.

One of the premises is false, the reasoning is valid, but the conclusion is false.

Half the human race is female. Socrates is a human being. Therefore, Socrates is female.

The premises are true, but the reasoning is invalid, and the conclusion is false.

Half the human race is male. Socrates is a human being. Therefore, Socrates is male.

The premises are true, the reasoning is invalid, but the conclusion is true.

Case Study 3

Peer pressure emerges in adolescent social groups as children attempt to assert independence from their parents and build their own identity through involvement in peer groups. This can lead to a number of paradoxical problems as children are pulled between an emerging sense of self and a need to belong. Even as their children seek to separate, parents can offer them help and support in working through some of these conflicts. 

Consider this scenario:

Twelve-year-old David has just entered sixth grade at a big middle school in the city. He is a bit lost and finds a group of boys his age to spend time with during class and at recess. They all get to know each other over the next few weeks.

At the end of October, one of the boys suggests that they draw a big skull and crossbones on their backpacks in permanent marker to show that they belong to the group. Within a few days, all of the boys in the group have proudly drawn a skull and crossbones onto the front of their backpacks— everyone, that is, except David. He really likes his backpack. He picked it out himself and his parents bought it for him for the new school year. Furthermore, he has never had an affinity for skeletons, and skulls and crossbones hold no special meaning for him.

When the group reunites in the playground one Friday morning, one of the boys goes over to David and threatens him, saying, “If you don’t draw a skull and crossbones on your backpack, you’re out of the group!” The other children back the mean kid up.

Over the weekend, David is faced with a dilemma. He can either keep his backpack the way he likes it, even if that means being excluded from the group, or draw a skull and crossbones on it to show that he belongs to the group.

On Sunday night, he decides to talk to his parents about the situation. If you were in their place, what advice would you give him?

At dinner, his father offers him some advice:

″David, you shouldn’t see this as a problem with only two solutions. Just tell your friends that you don’t like either option and that you have another idea.”

″That won’t work. They told me that it had to be one way or the other,” replies David.

″Well, you should at least give it a try,” suggests his mother. “Tell them that you really like being part of the group and that you like them as friends, but that you don’t want to ruin your new backpack by drawing on it. Tell them that, in a group, everyone should have their freedom and that you shouldn’t have to do the same thing as everyone else all the time. Ask them to let you stay in their group, which means a lot to you, without having to do something you don’t want to. That’s a third solution.”

In this situation, the group of boys want David to show he’s part of the group by adopting a common code. David is under pressure to comply and must make a decision. The easiest solution for David would be to succumb to peer pressure. He could also stand his ground and refuse, but this would probably cause him pain since he would have to deal with the group’s disapproval and possible exclusion.

The group does not tolerate non-conformity since it threatens its existence. Eventually, however, resisting peer pressure could play in David’s favor, as his show of independence could earn him the respect of the other group members and thereby bolster his self-esteem.

There is no ″right decision.” Everything depends on David’s level of self-esteem, which will determine his capacity to stand firm in the face of the consequences of his choices.

Case Study 4

Nasreddin, a very famous figure in the Arab Muslim world, was the author of often absurd stories. Families enjoy reading his stories together and refuting his biased reasoning, which is designed to sharpen our critical thinking skills and ability to foil sophistry. Identifying the flaws in Nasreddin’s reasoning is a useful logic game and a good way to introduce logical concepts. Challenge your children to show where Nasreddin goes wrong, and come up with equivalent examples from current events or everyday life that involve the same flawed reasoning.

Very early one morning, Nasreddin was up sowing salt all around his house.

“What on earth are you doing with all that salt, Nasreddin?” asked his neighbor.

“I’m putting it around my house to ward off tigers.”

“But there aren’t any tigers here.”

“Well then, that’s proof that the salt worked!”

The Moon and the Sun

One day, Nasreddin was asked:

“Tell us, Nasreddin, which is more important: the sun or the moon?”

“The moon, of course,” he replied immediately.

“Because the moon appears at night, and that’s when we need light most.”

The Power of Age

Nasreddin arrived at a café one day, looking proud and happy.

“Hey, Nasreddin,” his friends called to him. “You look as if you’ve just found treasure.”

“Even better, even better,” he replied. “I am 70 and I have just discovered that I am still as strong as I was when I was 20.”

“And how did you discover that?”

“Simple! You see that huge rock in front of my house? Well, when I was 20, I couldn’t move it.

“Today, I tried again and I still can’t move it, just like when I was 20.”

Case Study 5

Paralogisms are fallacious arguments that appeal to evidence that is misleading, partial, or irrelevant.  Below are some of the main strategies deployed in paralogisms. Ask you children to explain how the statements distort the facts or attempt to deceptively influence an audience. Use the paralogism examples as a starting point for discussing other examples in public life, advertising, or everyday conversation.

Paralogism Exercise #1

Spot the paralogisms in the following statements and explain why the reasoning is flawed. 

″If smoking were bad for your health, it would be banned. Smoking is not banned. Therefore, smoking is not bad for your health.”

″If I am sick, I go see the doctor. I am not going to see the doctor. Therefore, I am not sick.”

″Intensive farming allows us to feed all human beings. Organic farming is not intensive farming. Therefore, organic farming will not allow us to feed all human beings.”

Paralogism Exercise #2

Three false dilemmas are presented below. Why are these apparent dilemmas not real dilemmas?

A close friend who is going to jump into a freezing lake on New Year’s Eve says, “A real friend wouldn’t let me do this alone.”

The night before election day, a candidate for office says, “It’s me or chaos.”

A slogan in an advertisement for Sneakie sports shoes reads, “Cool people wear Sneakies.”

Paralogism Exercise #3

Often biased or flawed reasoning uses false generalizations. How can we contradict the following statements?

Upon hearing that a  politician is being investigated for tax fraud: “See? All politicians are corrupt.”

“Hypnosis works for giving up smoking. My brother managed to quit that way.”

“Social media is the best way to find love. Several of my friends met their partners that way.”

Paralogism Exercise #4

Beware of an “argument from authority,” especially those circulating online.

″Many scientists dispute the global warming phenomenon.” Who are these “scientists”? On which scientific studies have they based their opinions? Do they have personal, political, or economic connections with people or organizations that could benefit from challenging global warming? It is important to ask oneself all of these questions before accepting an argument.

Paralogism Exercise #5

Arguments based on numbers:

″This singer’s video already has 500,000 views online.”  What does this say about the quality of their music?

″X93 – the latest phone, already owned by 2,000,000 people worldwide.”  Does this mean that this device would suit my needs? Is this an indicator of its quality?

Paralogism Exercise #6

Arguments based on fear:

″You say that you’re against the death penalty, but murder will be much more common if we abolish it as a deterrent.”

Case Study 6

Several media companies offer fact-checking services. It is beneficial to consult them with teenagers and to pose questions about the ways in which media can distort the truth. These services can offer insight into the techniques various organizations and bad actors use to deceive audiences, as well as into the bias that can skew the information put out by various news organizations. Discussing these examples with your children get help raise awareness of the various ploys used to manipulate readers and viewers, and help them hone their analytical and critical skills.

Here are links to some trustworthy fact-checking sites: Politifact   |   Snopes  |    FactCheck.org  |    Poynter Institute

Examining the false stories fact-checked by these organization can be a helpful exercise. Here is an example of a false story fact-checked by Snopes:

Understanding examples like these can give students insight into techniques fake news sites use to hook and deceive an audience. Here, for example, the violent image may grab viewers’ attention and cause them to let their critical guard now. Attaching the fake story to a genuine news item (Samsung’s smartphone recall) also makes readers more likely to believe and share the false story, since it appears like a development in an ongoing story.

Student’s can also learn from the fact-checkers’ analysis. Here, they track down the original photos to show how the fake site has repurposed them, and they dig into the website reputation and background.

Researchers Sam Wineburg and Sarah McGrew recommend teaching students to navigate the internet more like fact-checkers. Students, they write, tend to “read vertically , evaluating online articles as if they were printed news stories.” Fact checkers, on the other hand, “read laterally , jumping off the original page, opening up a new tab, Googling the name of the organization or its president.”

Fact-checkers, Wineburg and McGrew write, are also less inclined to trust a website’s own description of its mission. They look for outside evidence from multiple sources to confirm or refute the website’s claims. And they don’t get hooked by enticing language or images, instead reading through a whole page of search results or information before deciding reflectively what links to follow or where else to look.

Finding good information online — and steering clear of bad information—are skills that can be taught and learned. They are increasingly vital at a time where multiple interests are leveraging the internet to attempt to monopolize our attention and shape our beliefs.

Case Study 7

Young people receive information from everywhere (social media, emails, texts, newspapers, television, online videos). Given the wealth of information coming in, much of it coming through or recommended by friends whose judgment and endorsement we are inclined to trust, it is easy to passively accept what we see or read. Young people should learn through examples how to resist this tendency and how to conduct thorough analyses of the media they are exposed to everyday.

It is important for parents to accompany them in conducting this sort of analysis so they can teach them how to critically evaluate these sources of information and how to avoid being misled. Below is a set of questions that you can apply to news sources with your children. They can be applied to any media source (the internet, printed media, TV/radio, etc.). We’ve divided these sets of questions into two sections: questioning the source and questioning the content.

1. Questioning the Source

• What is the source? Is it reliable? 

It is often possible to cast doubt on a source simply by looking at surface features. There are numerous fake news websites with unusual names or URLs (like, for example, worldnewsdailyreport.com) that should tip readers off to their unreliability. In addition, if a website looks poorly designed and managed, contains typos or formatting errors, this is also an important indicator that it is likely unreliable, if not intentionally false. Fake news also may also come under more plausible publication names, like, for example, the “Denver Guardian,” and with more convincing design. A simple internet search can usually bring up information from credible sources alerting the reader to the fraudulent nature of the source. Here is a list of unreliable news sources from Factcheck.org. With your child, practice determining the reliability of different kinds of information.

Who owns the source? Is the content sponsored?

When evaluating a source, it is also possible to do research into details about the source, such as who owns the source or who is funding the content or supporting it via advertising. It is often possible this way to identify potential biases or attempts to influence readers that may not be immediately clear at a first reading. Reliable sources may also sell space in their publications or websites to sponsors, who have obvious interests in what information is presented and the slant with which it is presented. See for example this “ China Daily ” paid post in the New York Times, which is placed on the Times website by Chinese state media. Exploring how and why information like this is presented can be a good learning experience. It is also useful to discuss how sponsored content is marked on this and other websites.

• Who is the author of the content? What are their credentials? What possible biases may they have?

In addition to asking questions about publications, it is important to know who has written a given article or op-ed , what their reasons for doing so may be, and what expertise they have in the given area. Doing so can help determine the reliability of the information offered, the possible slants or biases with which the information is presented, and any financial or other interest the writer may have in the matter discussed. Most reliable websites will offer at least some of an opinion writer’s background, but an internet search can often return more detailed information. It is also important to help students recognize that an editorial author’s potential biases do not necessarily render the content absolutely unreliable. Critical thinking should not lead to knee-jerk rejection of all potentially biased opinions. Rather, a fair-minded independent thinker takes potential bias into account in evaluating content, weighing it along with other factors, like the strength of the argument and the evidence put forward.

2. Questioning the Content

• What type of content is being offered? What is the issue under discussion?

Before we embark on an analysis of the content of a given source, it is important to identify what type of content is being offered. The way we approach analyzing an advertisement will be very different from the way we analyze a news story or an opinion piece. It’s also important that students be able to identify when a particular source is purposefully blurring the lines between categories. For example, so-called “advertorials” can disguise advertising or promotion in the guise of opinion pieces or feature articles. News stories may likewise present information in a particular misleading or biased manner, trying to persuade the reader of something, but without making it clear that they are actually offering an opinion, not simply news.

• What sources are drawn on for the information or argument given? Are they reliable?

Even when we are satisfied that a source we are reading is generally reliable, it is worthwhile to pay attention to its own sources of information. If a particular piece of content cites facts without providing sources there is good reason to question the information. Moreover, students should get in the habit of following links and citations to verify that the secondary information comes from a reliable source and that the original content is characterizing it accurately.

• What are the main arguments being offered? Are they strong and sound? Are they consistent with each other?

Media sources use a variety of means to try to convince the audience of a particular point or point of view. It is important to train ourselves to be conscious of what these means are and whether they are valid. If an article or video simply relies on emotional reactions or strong images to prove its point, without trying to put forward an argument, we should be skeptical. On the other hand, if there is an argument presented, we should begin training children to break it down and analyze it. Parents and their children can practice breaking down the argument into premises and conclusions, evaluating whether the evidence for the premises is strong and the conclusions follow rationally from them.

• How might one argue against the position put forward?

Another important exercise to carry out, even if you generally agree with a position put forward, is to ask how it might be opposed. This can help identify weak points in the argument and show where evidence, even if it’s reliable, may not fully support the point of view being put forward. To this end, it can be helpful to research articles with opposing points of view, but which rely on the same set of facts. Discuss the merits of each article and how you would argue for and against each of them. 

Complete the quiz to review important points in the guide.

• The stage when children start dressing more elegantly.
• The stage when children are able to study calculus and other college-level math.
• The stage when children begin arguing more persuasively.
• The stage when children can begin to grasp and manipulate abstract ideas.
• Parents can discuss logical fallacies in popular media or current events with their children.
• Parents can use everyday examples to demonstrate the meanings of terms like proposition, contradiction, and validity.
• Parents can go over children’s essays and other schoolwork closely and dispute their reasoning.
• Parents can enroll their children in college exam prep courses as early as possible.
• Parents can work on improving their own understanding of logic.
• The intension is how the concept is used; the extension is a formal definition of the concept.
• The intension is a narrow definition of the concept; the extension is a broader definition.
• The intension is the role a concept plays in logic; the extension is its role in everyday life.
• The intension is a formal definition of the concept; the extension is a group of examples coming under the concept.
• As crtical thinkers, they will be more likely to concentrate on their studies and ignore social life and their own individuality.
• Critical thinking gives them tools to show their superiority to their peers and gain social esteem.
• As critical thinkers, they will be better equipped to manipulate other people and make their way to the top of social circles.
• Critical thinking allows them to react thoughtfully to social pressure and assert their independence from friend groups when appropriate.
• Bring in a teacher or other adult authority figure to mediate. The parent-child relationship is too emotionally charged for productive arguments.
• Walk away. Teenagers need to learn that overheated opinions and conversations will get them nowhere.
• Get into shouting matches with them. They need to see that their mistakes have consequences.
• Engage them in arguments and challenge them to improve their criticisms (if they’re warranted). They’ll learn to argue with more moderation and subtlety.
• Was the author educated at a prestigious college?
• Is the content meant to be news or opinion?
• What do other reliable sources say about the issue under discussion?
• Does the content’s impact rely on emotional language or sensationalistic images?
• Who owns the source? Or who is supporting the content? What interests might they have?
• The study of planetary orbits
• The merging of two arguments into one
• A convincing counterargument
• A deceptive or misleading argument

Privacy Overview

Critical Thinking: How to Grow Your Child’s Mind

by Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD

Ability to seek and acquire new knowledge, skills, and ways of understanding the world.

Critical Thinking

Inquisitiveness, love of learning, open-mindedness.

Is critical thinking for kids? Absolutely! The art of critical thinking begins in childhood. What kind of thinker is your child?  Does he believe everything on TV?  Does she always figure out how to get what she wants? 

Does he ask questions?  Does she go along with what her friends suggest?  You can help develop your child’s critical thinking skills by learning a few key guidelines!

Whether your child is just starting summer vacation or in the midst of the school year, parents can help keep minds active in fun ways. Critical thinking skills don’t fully develop until adolescence, but the foundations for good thinking develop in younger children.

The nonprofit Foundation for Critical Thinking cultivates core intellectual virtues that lead to fair-minded thinking.  They have identified three ways K-6 children typically think.

• Naïve Nancy doesn’t believe she needs to think because her parents do it for her! She believes most things she hears on TV, doesn’t ask questions, and goes along with what her friends decide.
• Selfish Sam thinks a lot because it gets him what he wants. He believes whatever is necessary to achieve his goals, regardless of whether it hurts others. He figures out how to get other kids to do what he wants them to do. Sam is a clever manipulator of adults and other children.
• Fair-minded Fran thinks a lot because it helps her learn. She knows she can’t always believe what people say or what she sees and hears on TV. Fran thinks about others as well as herself.  She is motivated to understand other people’s situations and attempts to put herself in their shoes.

Critical Thinking for Kids

What is critical thinking? Critical thinking comprises a number of different skills that help us learn to make decisions. It is the ability to evaluate information to determine whether it is right or wrong.  To think critically about an issue or a problem means to be open-minded and consider alternative ways of looking at solutions. As children grow into pre-adolescents and teenagers, their critical thinking skills will help them make judgments independently of parents.

To be good at thinking, children must believe that thinking is fun and want to be good at it. Parents can make thinking fun throughout the academic year as well as during the summer and on vacations. Good thinkers practice thinking just like they practice basketball or soccer.

You can talk about these ways of thinking with your children by watching this video together. Afterwards, have a discussion about how they can practice being like Fair-Minded Fran.

5 Ways to Help Kids Think Critically

The Foundation for Critical Thinking developed a short series of five “Intellectual Standards,” ways of helping elementary-aged children learn to think better.  Teach these standards to your kids, and then interact with them in ways that reinforce the five standards.

• Invite them to BE CLEAR by asking for explanations and examples when they don’t understand something.  Let children know it is okay to be confused and ask questions.
• Urge kids to BE ACCURATE, to check to see if something is true by researching the facts.
• Encourage children to BE RELEVANT by discussing other topics that are pertinent to the discussion or problem at hand.  Help them stay on track by linking related and meaningful information to the question they are trying to answer or the topic they are learning about.
• Support your child’s ability to BE LOGICAL.  Help her see how things fit together.  Question how she came to her conclusions and whether her assumptions are correct.
• Set expectations that your child BE FAIR.  Promote empathy in his thinking processes.  Make sure he considers others when drawing conclusions.

An excellent video to share with your K-6 aged child reviews these five standards in ways that children can understand. Once parents and children speak a common language about the standards of critical thinking, employ them throughout the year and especially during the summer months!  Along with having fun, your child’s mind will learn to think critically about the world!

Photo Credit: JoeBenjamin

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(This article was originally published in 2011 and was updated with new content in 2018)

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Published: April 11, 2018

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About the author.

Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD, is founder of Roots of Action and author of Tomorrow's Change Makers: Reclaiming the Power of Citizenship for a New Generation . A developmental psychologist and researcher, she writes for Psychology Today and Edutopia on positive youth development, K-12 education, and family-school-community partnerships. Website // @DrPriceMitchell // Facebook

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Developing critical-thinking skills in your child, whatever their age

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Critical-thinking: what is it? What makes it so important?  

Critical-thinking is, well, it is a lot of things if we are being honest.  

We use critical-thinking skills every day. They are used more frequently than you may know. Each time we make a decision, we think about how the decision will affect us and the world we live in. What will work best? Will it suit everyone? Does it matter if it doesn’t? This process creates nuance, shaping our understanding to create an informed decision that best suits us and what we know. Critical-thinking then can be thought of as the process of seeking valid and reliable knowledge to help shape our values and beliefs.[1]  

It’s a complex topic, so let’s work with an example. Let’s pretend you read a story that said a large supermarket chain is making it compulsory for customers to wear fancy dress when they shop in-store. If you didn’t question this, you may simply tell everyone about it. If you put on your critical-thinking hat, you might wonder, “Why have they made this choice? Where did the information come from? Is this official information? How will that be enforced? Can it be enforced?” Thinking critically here has allowed us to glean more knowledge of a subject that we wouldn’t have had if we’d just accepted it. It’s a core skill that makes us, as humans, different from the world around us.  

Critical-thinking is an essential life skill

So how do we help children develop this fundamental skill? To help our children gain the ability to think critically we must embrace their natural curiosity.[2] Children naturally want to know how things work and want to figure it out by themselves. Then, when children learn new information, or figure out a solution to overcome a challenge, a new connection is formed in the brain. The more opportunity they have to solve a problem and experiment with different solutions, the more efficient those pathways become. Children are then able to make meaning of their own experiences, developing their critical-thinking.  

This doesn’t mean there’s never a time to step in as an adult, however. There may be times when emotions are running high, your child might get confused or frustrated when something isn’t going quite how they wish it to. Console your child first (as a good decision is rarely made when the mind is flustered), but do not solve their problem. When they are feeling calmer, more often than not, your child will be able to think about their problem and arrive at a solution without an adult needing to tell them. All these experiences build on the neural pathways involved in thinking critically and support your child to be able to think on a higher level.  

Critical-thinking in toddlers

Your toddler's ability to communicate freely will be greatly improving because of their increased understanding of words, making this an excellent age to start developing their critical-thinking skills. While they are playing, their imagination grows stronger, so there's no better time than now to encourage them to explore their own ideas.  

Toddlers are fascinating, we encourage you to take time out to watch them as they play. You yourself will start to think critically about what they are doing; you may wonder why on earth would they do that? The simple answer is, they are exploring and being open-minded, they may not know what to do and they are trying to find out... let them!  

Pretend play

Let’s use pretend play for our first idea. Pretend play is so open-ended and you can use the interests of your toddler to decide what their play will be. When you are in pretend play, let your toddler take the lead. By allowing this, your toddler has to think about what will happen in the story, having to guide and direct you to make connections in the story. Go along with whatever the play is and follow their lead. Try your best not to ask questions, your toddler needs time to develop their ideas and they may lose the flow of the play.  

If your toddler would like a prop to support their play and you do not have one, this is a brilliant time to get that critical-thinking cracking. Think together about what you could use instead, or even choose ridiculous things. The more fun it is, the more the thinking can happen.  

A great book to support imaginative play is Not a Box by Antionette Portis, which delights in the numerous ways the imagination can a turn a box into anything!  

To buy (via Amazon) : https://amzn.to/3zHbtuP  

Another idea could be building with blocks – yes, you know we love block play at MFFY!  

Blocks are a resource that can be used for a wide variety of learning. This is a really simple idea but the scope for critical-thinking is endless. Put out a selection of blocks of different sizes and colours. All you need to do now is watch your child play. Every move they make involves them making a decision. Observe to see how they use them. Are they sorting by colour, size, stacking them, lining them up or something else?   

The use of open-ended questions has its place in block play. Your toddler may wonder where a block should go, or if one will fit into a small space. Help them to think themselves by asking ”What ideas do you have?” or ”If you were to put it there, what do you think would happen?” Questions like this help prompt the use of prediction.  

Critical-thinking in pre-schoolers

By the time your child is a pre-schooler, their ability to think independently is increasing. They are getting better at generating their own ideas and their ability to adjust and adapt what they are doing is improving. By exploring their fascinations, they exercise their brains and create new neural connections, which helps their thoughts become more conscious.  

Who is this?

If you have physical photos, spend time with your child looking at them. Does your child recognise anyone? Prompt a conversation with questions like ”I wonder who these people are in this photo?”, and“‘Let’s think about who it could be, there is a Daddy, a Mummy, who might this be?” If their answer is not what you are expecting you might comment, ”I hadn’t thought about that, I wonder whether it could be their daughter?” You might have a photo with grandparents, you might say “Look at these two people, why is this photo in the album?”  

If you have photos on your phone, there are a few ideas you could use. Firstly, create an album in your phone with the photos you wish to use. If you have recent photos of your child and your family, zoom in and save copies of the photos with only eyes displayed, or someone’s mouth, see if your child can work out who they are looking at.   

Another idea could be to share photos and draw on your child’s memories. You may wish to ask, “Do you remember when…?”, “How would you do that now?” or “I wonder what you were thinking then?”     

I spy a journey on the horizon

The fascinating thing about this game is that can be played anywhere.   

Maps are slowly being phased out as we rely on sat nav to guide us everywhere, we simply do not have use our thinking skills to navigate anymore – but not in this game!  

Talk with your child about all the places they can walk to. We will use a park in this example. Find out about your child’s knowledge of how they get there. They may find it difficult to explain but through your comments you could support their minds to think. Use questions such as “What do we see when we walk to the park?”, ”Can you think of any anywhere we have to be careful?”, and “If we needed to cross a road, how would you cross it safely?”   

Why not go on that walk? You could make some binoculars and take them with you. While on the walk, play I spy – you can take it in turns to ‘spy’ different landmarks on your journey. For instance, you might see a postbox, stop and say, ”I spy with my little eye something red.” Encourage your child to find things to ‘spy’ and describe. Take the opportunity to discuss your journey and query why things might be in a certain place or wonder what other people may be doing on their journeys. If you wanted to take it further, you could take photos of the walk and try to sequence the images when you return home.  

Critical-thinking in primary schoolers

We find a significant development in children's thinking skills as they enter and progress through school. They begin to form their own thoughts as well as support the opinions of others. You can see how children have a better ability to think of ideas and make decisions about how they might approach a task in a different way. They develop their reasoning skills and gain the ability to predict outcomes and explain why they did so.  

Try this when it is time for homework

Ask your child what they have to do for their homework, and check to see if they understand what has been asked of them. Before they start, discuss what they are going to do. What initial ideas do they have? How will they start? Asking about their ideas and carefully discussing their thoughts really gets the critical-thinking skills going.  

If you have a different opinion from theirs, explain your own and discuss how it is fine to different views. You could use phrases and words such as:  

I think that... because  

How would you...  

What would happen if...  

What is your opinion of...  

How would you go about solving the problem?  

What other words might you use?    

To support children with thinking about ideas, you could read What Do You Do with an Idea by Kobi Yamada.  

To buy (via Amazon) : https://amzn.to/3G8NE1A  

A budding scientist

The weather is a fabulous resource! As you may already be aware, rain falls from the sky, and it is free for us to use. What you might not know is that it makes a fantastic resource to help your child’s mind blossom.  

There are all kinds of experiments that rain can be used for, and the weather naturally evokes critical-thinking. Place some containers outside, support your child to think where they will be placed and why. When it has rained, search for your containers. Investigate the water – what has happened? Why might one be fuller than another? Could they do anything differently next time? Is there any way of marking the container to record the rain fall? If so, could the containers be left out again? Should they be moved? Is there any other way to measure rainfall? Can any other type of weather be measured, or just rainfall? Why does rain fall from the sky? What are clouds? Where else do we find water? You may not know the answers to some of the questions and this is what makes it inspirational. Go with the flow and enjoy.  

Critical-thinking in daily life

Time doesn’t need to be set aside for critical-thinking, it can be encouraged all through the day. It might be that your child needs help to reach for a toy, can they think of a way to reach for it by themselves? When a meal is being prepared, ask questions out loud like ”I wonder what I might need to spread the butter on the bread?” If someone leaves the house, a narrative can be created such as ”When do you think they might be back?” or ”I wonder what they will see while they are out?” By making a few small changes in your thinking, you’ll find plenty of ways to exercise your child’s critical-thinking skills.   

There are some great books available to support critical-thinking.  

Some of our favourites are:  

Duck! Rabbit! - by Amy Krouse and Tom Lichtenheld

Going Places - by Peter and Paul Reynolds

To buy (via Amazon) : https://amzn.to/3q2HnP4

Round Like a Ball! - by Lisa Campbell Ernst

To buy (via Amazon) : https://amzn.to/3n7dWcO

Where, Oh Where is Rosie's Chick? - by Pat Hutchins

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References: 

[1] E. Galinsky (2010). Mind in the Making. Harper Collins  

[2] K. Rymanowicz (2016). The importance of critical thinking for young children. Michigan State University Extension. Available online at: The importance of critical thinking for young children - Early Childhood Development (msu.edu)  

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Home » Blog » Empowering Young Minds: Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Children and Teens

Empowering Young Minds: Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Children and Teens

• By Caroline Buzanko
• ADHD , Anxiety , Confidence , Parenting , Problem-solving , Resilience , School Success , Skill Building , Skill development

In a rapidly evolving world, the skills required for success go beyond memorizing facts and following instructions. One of the most vital skills we can nurture is critical thinking. Developing critical thinking skills is essential to empower children and teenagers to analyze information, think independently, and make informed decisions. In today’s information-driven world, it is essential for young minds to develop the ability to navigate through vast amounts of data, distinguish between fact and opinion, and form their own judgments.

Critical thinking is the ability to objectively analyze and evaluate information, ideas, or situations to form reasoned judgments or make informed decisions. It involves questioning assumptions, considering multiple perspectives, and using evidence to support conclusions. The modern world is saturated with information from various sources, and the ability to navigate this sea of information requires more than just passive absorption – it demands critical thinking.

By understanding the power of critical thinking and implementing effective techniques, we can equip the younger generation with a strong foundation for success in both their personal and academic lives.

Why Developing Critical Thinking is Important

Critical thinking is more than a cognitive skill; it is a mindset that encourages curiosity, open-mindedness, and the willingness to question assumptions. Children and teenagers who possess strong critical thinking skills are better equipped to solve problems, adapt to new situations, and communicate effectively. Here are some key reasons why developing critical thinking skills is crucial for children and teens:

Analytical Thinking

Critical thinking enables young minds to analyze complex information, break it down into manageable components, and draw well-reasoned conclusions. This skill is fundamental in academic subjects, problem-solving, and decision-making.

Problem-Solving Abilities

By encouraging critical thinking, we equip children and teens to tackle challenges with creativity and resourcefulness. They learn to approach problems from various angles, considering multiple solutions before arriving at the most effective one. Critical thinkers are adept at breaking down complex problems into manageable components. They can identify patterns, make connections, approach problems from various angles, and devise creative solutions that might not be immediately apparent.

Effective Decision-Making

 Life is rife with decisions – some trivial, others life-altering. Critical thinkers are less influenced by biases and emotions than others. They can make informed decisions by considering all available information, potential consequences, and personal values, leading to thoughtful and rational choices.

Resilience and Adaptability

Critical thinking nurtures resilience by teaching young minds to embrace setbacks as learning opportunities. They become more adaptable to change and view failures as stepping stones to success.

Strong Communication Skills

The ability to convey ideas clearly and logically is a hallmark of critical thinking. When children and teens can critically evaluate information, they can articulate their thoughts clearly, engage in meaningful discussions, and persuasively present their viewpoints. This skill is essential for effective communication and expressing ideas with confidence.

Emotion Regulation

Critical thinking skills enable individuals to objectively analyze and evaluate emotional responses, helping them to distinguish between rational and irrational beliefs or triggers. This cognitive process aids in implementing effective emotion regulation strategies, leading to more adaptive coping mechanisms and emotional well-being.

Resilience to Misinformation

In the digital age, misinformation and fake news spread like wildfire. Critical thinking equips children and teens with the tools to discern credible sources from unreliable ones, reducing the risk of falling victim to misinformation.

Lifelong Learning

Critical thinking is not limited to the classroom. Those who cultivate this skill are more likely to be curious and open-minded, leading to a habit of continuous learning throughout their lives.

Strategies to Foster Critical Thinking

Here are just a few ways to start with developing critical thinking skills for children and teens:

Encourage Open-Ended Discussions

Engage in meaningful conversations. Instead of providing immediate answers, ask thought-provoking questions that stimulate their critical thinking. Encourage them to share their perspectives, challenge assumptions, and explore various viewpoints.

Use open-ended questions to deeply think about their thoughts and assumptions.  For instance, if your child expresses an opinion about a book they read, ask questions like, “What made you feel that way?” or “What is another way to interpret that part?” This encourages them to analyze their thoughts and consider alternative perspectives.

Promote a Growth Mindset

Emphasize that intelligence and abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. A growth mindset fosters a willingness to take on challenges, embrace learning opportunities, and persist through obstacles. Celebrate the mistake of the day where everyone chats about their mistake of the day and what they learned from it.

Engage in Real-World Problem-Solving

Provide opportunities for children and teens to solve real-world problems. Engaging in debates, project-based learning, or community service allows them to apply critical thinking skills in practical situations, making learning more meaningful and impactful.

You could have them help with things like planning a family vacation within a budget. They need to consider transportation costs, accommodation options, activities, and food expenses. Encourage them to research, compare prices, and make informed decisions. This exercise develops their ability to analyze information, prioritize, and find creative solutions within constraints.

You can also present children and teens with age-appropriate challenges that require creative solutions. For example, provide your child with building blocks and ask them to create a structure that can hold the most weight. Encourage them to experiment with different designs and materials, fostering critical thinking through trial and error.

Expose Them to Diverse Perspectives

Encourage children and teens to explore diverse perspectives, cultures, and experiences through literature, media, and discussions. Exposure to various viewpoints fosters open-mindedness and empathy, crucial attributes of critical thinking. Discussing various perspectives encourages empathy and helps children understand that there can be multiple valid viewpoints.

For example, choose a topic that has various viewpoints, such as climate change. Have a family discussion where each member presents a different perspective. This encourages critical thinking as they need to consider and evaluate each viewpoint.

You could also choose a different country or culture to explore each month. Research the chosen culture’s history, traditions, and customs as a family. Discuss how these factors might shape people’s perspectives and values. This activity encourages critical thinking by highlighting how individuals’ backgrounds influence their viewpoints and the importance of understanding diverse perspectives.

Nurture Curiosity for Learning

Curiosity is the driving force behind critical thinking. Foster an environment where questions are welcomed, and curiosity is celebrated. Encourage young minds to ask questions like “Why” and “How,” explore new topics, and seek answers through research and investigation. Curious learners are more likely to engage deeply with the subject matter and develop stronger critical thinking abilities.

For example, if your child notices a bird building a nest outside the window and asks why the bird is doing that, don’t respond immediately. Instead, say, “That’s a great observation! Why do you think the bird is building a nest?” and discuss different ideas. Then, you can go research and find out together.

You could also set up experiments, like watering identical plants with various liquids (water, juice, milk, etc.). Ask them to predict and explain their expectations. As they observe and record the results over time, they engage in critical thinking by comparing data and drawing conclusions based on evidence.

Encourage Self-Reflection

Encourage your child to reflect on their day, including on their thoughts and actions. Ask them to consider what they have learned from a particular experience, what they could have done differently, and how they can apply their learnings to future situations. What challenges did they face? What did they learn? What could they have done differently? What can they do in the future? Regularly engaging in self-reflection helps them analyze their experiences, identify patterns, and consider strategies for improvement.

For instance, after a family outing, gather everyone and ask each member to share one thing they learned or found interesting. Then, ask them to reflect on why that was important to them, promoting analytical thinking.

Provide Opportunities for Collaborative Learning

Engage children and teens in group activities that require cooperation and teamwork. Collaborative learning allows them to consider different perspectives, exchange ideas, and build on each other’s strengths, enhancing their critical thinking abilities.

For example, organize a family project that requires teamwork. Choose a project, such as building a birdhouse or planning a themed dinner. Assign different roles and encourage each family member to contribute ideas and solutions. This exercise promotes critical thinking as they discuss and evaluate each other’s suggestions, negotiate compromises, and work towards a common goal.

Teach Information Evaluation

In the digital age, it is crucial to teach children and teens how to evaluate the reliability and credibility of information. Teach them to assess sources, look for evidence, and differentiate between fact and opinion.

For example, show your teen a news article from a reliable source and another from a less credible source. Discuss the differences between them, including the language used, the evidence presented, and potential biases. This helps them recognize the importance of reliable information.

You could do something structured, like research a historical figure online. Guide your child through the process of evaluating online sources. Ask them to consider the author’s credentials, the publication’s reputation, and the presence of biased language. This exercise equips them with skills to critically assess the reliability of the information they encounter online.

Discuss Values and Ethics

Engage children in discussions about ethical dilemmas. Encourage them to weigh different options and consider the ethical implications of their choices. This not only enhances critical thinking but also strengthens their moral compass.

For example, if your child faces a dilemma where they saw a classmate cheating on a test, engage in a conversation about honesty, the consequences of cheating, and what they believe is the right thing to do. This encourages them to weigh different options and consider ethical implications.

Developing critical thinking skills is a journey that requires continuous engagement and thoughtful guidance. These skills are not just nice to have; they’re a necessity. These skills empower our young generation to become lifelong learners and responsible decision-makers. These skills will help them navigate through life’s challenges with confidence. By fostering an environment that encourages curiosity, diverse perspectives, and reflective thinking, you’re providing them with invaluable tools to navigate a rapidly changing world filled with complexities, uncertainties, and opportunities.

Interested in learning about the importance of critical thinking and emotion regulation? Check out Dr. Buzanko’s podcast episode on Overpowering Emotions to see how you can help children and teens harness the power of critical thinking for emotional balance!

Need help? Reach out to any one of our experts at Koru today.

Koru Family Psychology is a family first practice focused on growth, strength and new beginnings. We provide a variety of psychological services to empower families to reclaim their confidence to effectively navigate life’s challenges and to enrich their quality of life. 

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MSU Extension Child & Family Development

The importance of critical thinking for young children.

Kylie Rymanowicz, Michigan State University Extension - May 03, 2016

Critical thinking is essential life skill. Learn why it is so important and how you can help children learn and practice these skills.

We use critical thinking skills every day. They help us to make good decisions, understand the consequences of our actions and solve problems. These incredibly important skills are used in everything from putting together puzzles to mapping out the best route to work. It’s the process of using focus and self-control to solve problems and set and follow through on goals. It utilizes other important life skills like making connections , perspective taking and communicating . Basically, critical thinking helps us make good, sound decisions.

Critical thinking

In her book, “Mind in the Making: The seven essential life skills every child needs,” author Ellen Galinsky explains the importance of teaching children critical thinking skills. A child’s natural curiosity helps lay the foundation for critical thinking. Critical thinking requires us to take in information, analyze it and make judgements about it, and that type of active engagement requires imagination and inquisitiveness. As children take in new information, they fill up a library of sorts within their brain. They have to think about how the new information fits in with what they already know, or if it changes any information we already hold to be true.

Supporting the development of critical thinking

Michigan State University Extension has some tips on helping your child learn and practice critical thinking.

• Encourage pursuits of curiosity . The dreaded “why” phase. Help them form and test theories, experiment and try to understand how the world works. Encourage children to explore, ask questions, test their theories, think critically about results and think about changes they could make or things they could do differently.
• Learn from others. Help children think more deeply about things by instilling a love for learning and a desire to understand how things work. Seek out the answers to all of your children’s “why” questions using books, the internet, friends, family or other experts.
• Help children evaluate information. We are often given lots of information at a time, and it is important we evaluate that information to determine if it is true, important and whether or not we should believe it. Help children learn these skills by teaching them to evaluate new information. Have them think about where or who the information is coming from, how it relates to what they already know and why it is or is not important.
• Promote children’s interests. When children are deeply vested in a topic or pursuit, they are more engaged and willing to experiment. The process of expanding their knowledge brings about a lot of opportunities for critical thinking, so to encourage this action helps your child invest in their interests. Whether it is learning about trucks and vehicles or a keen interest in insects, help your child follow their passion.
• Teach problem-solving skills. When dealing with problems or conflicts, it is necessary to use critical thinking skills to understand the problem and come up with possible solutions, so teach them the steps of problem-solving and they will use critical thinking in the process of finding solutions to problems.

For more articles on child development, academic success, parenting and life skill development, please visit the MSU Extension website.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension . For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu . To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters . To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts , or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).

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23 Activities to Develop Critical Thinking Skills in Children

Are you looking for ways to help your child become a better problem solver and decision maker?

Do you want to prepare them for success in the 21st century, where critical thinking skills are highly valued?

Look no further, because in this post we will share 23 engaging activities that can help your child develop critical thinking skills. From puzzles and games to real-life scenarios and creative challenges, these activities will not only enhance your child’s thinking abilities but also keep them entertained and curious. As a parent, it is important to give your child the tools they need to succeed, and critical thinking skills are a vital part of that toolkit.

So, let’s dive in and discover some fun and effective ways to help your child develop critical thinking skills!

Table of Contents

What is critical thinking skills?

Critical thinking is a cognitive process that involves analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing information to make informed decisions and solve problems effectively. It involves the ability to question assumptions, examine evidence, and consider multiple perspectives to arrive at logical and evidence-based conclusions.

For example, when playing a game of chess, a player must analyze the board, anticipate their opponent’s moves, and make strategic decisions based on the available information. Similarly, when conducting research, an individual must evaluate the credibility and reliability of sources and synthesize information to form a coherent argument.

Importance of developing critical thinking skills in children

Developing critical thinking skills in children is crucial for their overall cognitive and social-emotional development. Research has shown that children who possess strong critical thinking skills are better equipped to make sound decisions, solve complex problems, and communicate effectively with others.

One study conducted by the University of California, Los Angeles found that students who received training in critical thinking showed significant improvements in their reading and writing abilities. These students also demonstrated higher levels of creativity and were better able to understand and analyze complex issues.

In addition, developing critical thinking skills can help children become more independent and confident in their decision-making abilities. They learn to evaluate information and evidence, identify biases, and consider different perspectives before making a decision. This can lead to a greater sense of self-awareness and a better understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses.

Furthermore, critical thinking skills are essential in today’s rapidly changing world. As technology continues to advance and the job market evolves, individuals who possess strong critical thinking skills are more likely to succeed. They are better equipped to adapt to new challenges and to identify new opportunities.

Overall, the development of critical thinking skills is essential for children’s long-term success and well-being. By providing them with opportunities to practice critical thinking skills through various activities and experiences, parents and educators can help children become effective problem solvers, communicators, and decision-makers.

Recommended reading:  How To Teach Your Child To Think Out Of The Box

Recommended reading: 9 Fun Activities to Build Listening Skills in Children

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Activities to develop critical thinking skills in children

Critical thinking skills can be developed through various activities that require individuals to analyze and evaluate information, develop hypotheses, and test their ideas using evidence.

• Read Books Together: Reading books with children helps to develop their critical thinking skills. Encourage them to ask questions about the story, analyze the characters’ actions, and make predictions about the outcome.
• Board Games: Board games are a fun way to develop critical thinking skills in children. Games such as chess, checkers, and monopoly require children to think strategically and make decisions based on the outcome of their moves. Playing board games also encourages children to think creatively and come up with unique solutions to problems.
• Encourage Questions: Encourage children to ask questions about the world around them. This can help them to develop their analytical skills and learn how to evaluate information.
• Play “What If” Games: “What If” games encourage children to think creatively and critically. For example, ask them what they would do if they were stranded on a deserted island or if they could travel through time.
• Brainstorm Solutions: Encourage children to brainstorm solutions to problems they encounter. This can help them develop their problem-solving skills and learn how to think critically.
• Mind Mapping: Mind mapping is a great activity to improve critical thinking skills in children. It helps children to organize their ideas and think creatively. Give your child a topic and ask them to create a mind map by writing down all their thoughts and ideas related to the topic. This activity can help your child to improve their brainstorming skills and connect different ideas.
• Play Sudoku: Sudoku is a logic-based game that requires critical thinking skills. It requires children to think logically and use deductive reasoning to solve a problem. Sudoku puzzles can be found in many newspapers and online.
• Conduct Research: Encourage children to conduct research on a topic that interests them. This can help them develop their analytical skills and learn how to evaluate information.
• Watch Documentaries: Documentaries are a great way to develop critical thinking skills in children. Encourage them to ask questions about the information presented and analyze the content.
• Play “What’s Missing”: “What’s Missing” is a memory game that requires children to think critically and remember information. For example, lay out several objects and ask them to identify which one is missing.
• Play “I Spy”: “I Spy” is a game that requires children to think critically and observe their surroundings. It can help develop their analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Play Charades: Charades is a game that requires children to think creatively and critically. It helps develop their problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Play “20 Questions”: “20 Questions” is a game that requires children to ask questions and think critically. It can help them develop their analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Play “Would You Rather”: “Would You Rather” is a game that encourages children to think critically and make informed decisions. It helps them develop their problem-solving skills.
• Play “Spot the Differences”: “Spot the Differences” is a game that requires children to think critically and observe their surroundings. It helps develop their analytical skills.
• Play “Who Am I”: “Who Am I” is a game that requires children to think critically and ask questions. It helps develop their analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Write Stories: Encourage children to write stories that require critical thinking skills. For example, they could be asked to create a story that involves problem-solving, decision-making, or predicting an outcome. This activity encourages children to think creatively and come up with unique solutions to problems, helping them develop their critical thinking skills.
• Science Experiments: Science experiments are a fun way to develop critical thinking skills in children by encouraging them to ask questions, analyze data, and draw conclusions.. Encourage children to think about the scientific method and predict what will happen during an experiment. This encourages children to think about cause and effect and develops their critical thinking skills.
• Mystery Box: A mystery box is a great way to develop critical thinking skills in children. Place a number of items in a box and ask children to guess what the items are based on their shape, texture, and weight. This activity encourages children to think creatively and use deductive reasoning to solve a problem.
• Coding: Coding is a great way to develop critical thinking skills in children. It requires children to think logically and use deductive reasoning to solve problems. There are many online resources available that teach children how to code.
• Debate: Debating is a great way to develop critical thinking skills in children. It requires children to think critically and come up with logical arguments to support their position. Debating also helps children develop their communication skills and learn how to express their thoughts and opinions effectively.
• Brain Teasers: Brain teasers are a fun way to develop critical thinking skills in children. They require children to think creatively and use deductive reasoning to solve problems. Brain teasers can be found in many puzzle books and online.
• Puzzles: Puzzles are an excellent way to enhance critical thinking skills in children. Give your child puzzles that require them to use their logical reasoning, problem-solving, and spatial reasoning skills. Puzzles can be in the form of jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, or any other puzzle that requires critical thinking.

By incorporating these activities into your child’s daily routine, you can help them to develop critical thinking skills that will benefit them throughout their lives. These activities can be a fun and engaging way for children to learn and develop their cognitive skills.

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Helping Your Child Develop Their Critical Thinking Skills

by Rachel Wells

Critical thinking skills are a fundamental life skill, and are at the foundation of education. Without an ability to think critically kids will struggle academically and socially, especially as they get older.  When a child has a solid foundation of critical thinking skills they are more easily able to form their own opinions, build better relationships, have the skills needed to resist peer pressure, and are able to come up with creative solutions. Simply put, critical thinking skills equip your child to deal with life’s challenges and obstacles. If kids are not being critical thinkers, then they are not thinking carefully.

Building critical thinking skills in your child happens though everyday conversations, by asking open-ended questions, and by giving your child opportunities to experiment and solve problems on their own. There are things parents and teachers can do to help children form a healthy critical thinking mindset, and develop the desire to look for a deeper understanding for creative problem solving.

Check out some ways below:

Encourage Questions and Explain Everything

Young kids ask “why” a lot – don’t push those questions aside! Those questions are a critical first step in learning to think critically. Taking time to explain things from an early age teaches children how to ask questions, how to analyze information, and how to become adults who are confident in their own ability to answer questions with reason instead of with emotions. If you don’t know the answer to a question, try responding with “that’s a good question, let’s find out the answer together!” and actually take the time to do so.

Provide Opportunities for Play

Actives such as building with blocks, playing board games, or participating in dramatic play with others all help build critical thinking skills. You can ask questions during play such as “If we do this, what do you think will happen?” or “How would you solve this problem?” Remember that kids need challenges to grow – so give your child ample time to attempt a task, and wait and watch before you jump in to solve a problem yourself.

Ask Questions

During play and throughout the day ask plenty of open-ended questions. Give your child ample time to make a response so they have time to think through what they want to say, instead of responding with their first gut reaction.

Some great open-ended questions:

What ideas do you have?

What do you think is happening here?

That’s interesting, can you tell me why you think that?

What other ideas could we try?

Can you think of all the possible solutions?

Encourage Thinking in New Ways

Encouraging your child to think outside the box or in new and different ways allows them to practice their creative problem solving skills. Again, try not to step in too soon when your child is trying to solve something – giving them time to navigate their own problems is integral to the development of their critical thinking skills in the long run.

Be a Good Role Model

Kids tend to copy the behaviors of the adults they spend time with – so it’s important to model using critical thinking skills in your own life. Since children learn by observing, it can be hugely beneficial to verbalize your thoughts out loud the next time you are working through a decision making process. Your child will see how you are coming to a logical solution, which will lead them to imitating what they have observed.

Try Some Just-for-Fun Critical Thinking Questions for Kids

Don’t be afraid to have a little fun while helping your child develop their critical thinking skills too! During mealtimes, in the car, or whenever you have a few extra minutes, ask your child one of these fun critical thinking questions.

• What would you do for fun if there were no TVs, tablets, video games, or smartphones?
• Why do you think cartoon characters wear the same clothes every day?
• What makes you different from the kids in your class?
• How would your life be different if you had another brother or sister?
• If you could choose your own name, what name would you choose?
• Do you think Barbie could do all the jobs she does if she were a human?
• What do you think would happen if your best friend was in charge of ROBLOX?
• What would happen if it never rained?
• What are all the ways you could get money to buy a new toy?
• What do you think your teacher does when he/she isn’t at school?
• How could you become a Lego Master Builder?
• Someone gives you a penguin. If you can’t sell it or give it away, what do you do with it?
• What would it be like if people could fly?
• If animals could talk, what questions would you ask them?
• If you were ice cream, what flavor would you be and why?
• What could you invent that would help your family?
• If you could stay up all night, what would you do?
• Can you describe the tastes “salty” and “sweet” without using those words?
• What does it feel like to ride a rollercoaster?
• What would you do if you forgot to put your shoes on before leaving home?
• At what age do you think you stop being a kid?
• If you had springs in your legs, what would you be able to do?

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• July 6, 2016

8 Executive Functioning Skills: Why my Child Can’t Complete Tasks and Stay Organized in School

This article provides helpful information on executive functioning skills. Integrated Learning Strategies (ILS) is a learning and academic center. As a reminder, ILS is not a health care provider and none of our materials or services provide a diagnosis or treatment of a specific condition or learning challenge you may see in your child or student. If you seek a diagnosis or treatment for your child or student, please contact a trained professional who can provide an evaluation of the child.

Educators and professionals in the child development field frequently discuss the natural responses and skills that a child is born with. Some of these include primitive reflexes , which are responses and movements that help a child transition to a new skill or development phase. Other abilities such as utilizing sensory organs are also something a child innately holds, but like most things, sensory systems need to be exercised to flourish. There is one set of skills that a child is not born with, but rather born with the potential to develop. These skills are referred to as executive functioning skills. If the lower level functioning skills are not maturing in your child’s brain then the higher level learning or executive functioning skills can fail to evolve or remain stagnant.

What are Executive Functioning Skills?

Executive functioning skills are mental processes that allow all of us to plan, manage our time, organize and have self-control. These skills are important for everyone to have, but are especially essential in children. When children have opportunities to develop and enhance their self-regulation skills, not only do the children gain advantage in career development, but society as a whole benefits for years to come.

I like to look at executive functioning skills as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of your child’s brain. Just like a CEO of a company, your child’s executive function directs all parts of their classroom experience and productivity. If there is a breakdown in executive functioning skills, organization typically fails and gaps in learning present themselves in the classroom or they may experience emotional grounding issues, anxiety and meltdowns. The executive or CEO of your child’s brain has the final say on the path that a project follows. All other managers have to answer to the CEO. This example displays how executive functions, such as planning and prioritization, process and play out in the brain. Many brain functions must come together to achieve many of these tasks.

Cooperation is a must! As the child prioritizes his day, he or she must utilize critical thinking skills, working memory , long-term memory, visual integration , and other developmental tools to function in school. All of these skills come together and report to the CEO or in this case the brain. With direction and advice, the CEO (your child’s brain) makes the final decisions on daily operations and key decisions that affect the company, just as your child’s executive functioning decisions affect how they organize and operate in the classroom.

Executive Functioning in the Classroom

When a child utilizes their executive functioning skills, his or her brain goes through a series of steps to reach the outcome. First, they analyze the task to figure out what needs to be done, which leads to planning. Next, they need to stay organized by determining what objects and/or time they need to reach the goal by. In the middle of the doing the task, the child needs to self-analyze and be able to adjust their actions. Finally, they must finish the experience in the time frame allowed.

If your child’s executive function skills are functioning properly, tasks are usually simple to carry out. The brain goes through all these steps in a matter of seconds naturally without thinking about it. If your child has executive functioning issues, performing simple tasks, such as packing an overnight bag, organizing homework and completing projects assigned in school, can be extremely challenging. You may also find that your child has trouble with multiple-choice exams, can’t complete multiple tasks at once, has trouble with deadlines, can’t describe details, struggles to organize their thoughts on paper, begins tasks, but can’t complete them, and is frustrated when they can’t keep up with class discussions.

To help your child stay organized, they may need calendars, visual chore charts or visual task charts to complete their assignments. They may also benefit from multicolored folders for different subjects or topics to keep homework assignments separate.

8 Executive Functioning Skills Your Child Needs

There are eight executive function skills that every child needs to organize and act on the information that is provided within their environment. If your child struggles with any of these eight executive functioning skills and self-regulating processes, you may notice the following:

Organization

This skill helps your child keep things in order, both physical objects and mental thoughts. It allows the young person to keep track of things.

What it looks like if there are issues: Kids with weak organizational skills struggle with handling, storing and retrieving objects or thoughts in an effective way.

Task Initiation

Task initiation allows your child to begin a task in a timely fashion without excessive procrastination or stalling.

What it looks like if there are issues: A child with weak initiation know-how struggles with starting a project or assignment. They sometimes have no idea where or how to start, but can usually complete the task if they get started.

Impulse Control

Impulse control allows your child to think and process information before acting upon it.

What it looks like if there are issues: All children will have minor struggles with impulse control. However, kids who continuously blurt out inappropriate things or engage in risky or dangerous behavior may not have developed a well-functioning impulse control system.

Emotional Control

Your child’s emotional control allows them to control their feelings and emotions in an adaptive manner according to their environment and circumstances.

What it looks like if there are issues: A young person that struggles with emotional control may react strongly to criticism and cannot regroup when something negative occurs. The child will struggle regulating their emotions and usually overreacts. This could be a sign of an underdeveloped limbic system .

Working Memory

Working memory helps kids keep key pieces of information in their brain so they can utilize it immediately.

What it looks like if there are issues: When a child has working memory problems, they typically can’t remember numbers in a sequence, even for a short amount of time. They also seem to struggle with directions, even if the teacher has just explained the steps. The child simply can’t store and retrieve information quickly.

Flexible Thinking

Flexible thinking allows children to adjust, both cognitively and physically, to the unexpected. This is an extremely important real-world skill that young people must develop.

What it looks like if there are issues: Inflexible thinking is characterized by not being able to deal with change. The child is usually unable to see something from someone else’s point of view and is very “rigid” in their opinions and how to get something done.

Self-Monitoring

The ability to self-monitor gives the child the knowledge to evaluate how he or she is doing. Determining how well you are doing as you go along, whether it be a game, new skill, or reading a book, allows the person to adjust or change behaviors to increase the outcome.

What it looks like if there are issues: A child that has problems with self-monitoring is usually shocked when they receive constructive criticism or a bad grade. They do not recognize when they need to adjust the way they are completing a task or project at school.

Planning and Prioritization

This skill helps your child to set goals and the actions that must be done to achieve those goals. Goals need to range from daily functioning goals to larger personal achievements.

What it looks like if there are issues: A child may have problems with not understanding which parts of a plan are the most important or which tasks should be completed first. These children struggle with time management throughout the day and procrastinate getting a project done due to lack of planning.

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Integrated Learning Strategies is a Utah-based center dedicated to helping mainstream children and children with learning challenges achieve academic success. Our services provide kids with non-traditional tutoring programs within the Davis County, Kaysville, Layton, Syracuse, Farmington, and Centerville areas. Areas to find Integrated Learning Strategies include: Reading tutors in Kaysville, Math tutors in Kaysville, Common Core Tutors in Kaysville, Tutors in Utah, Utah Tutoring Programs

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15 Fun Decision Making Games for Kids

1. Online Decision Making Games 

3. connect four, 5. ticket to ride: first journey, 6. catan junior, 9. battleship, 10. guess who.

Making decisions is a big part of growing up. Learning to make good decisions early on is super important for kids. It helps them become more independent, confident, and ready to face the world. That’s where decision making games for kids come into play. These games teach kids how to think ahead, make choices, and understand what happens because of those choices—all while having a blast!

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In this blog, we’re going to dive into some fantastic games that do just that. From classic board games that have been around for years to new card games that will soon become favorites, we’ve got a list that will help any kid become a decision-making champ. 

Best for Which Ages: 3 years and up

Decision making games online are one of the best choice making activities for kids to sharpen their critical thinking, problem-solving, and strategic planning skills in a fun, interactive environment. Engaging with these games teaches children to make quick decisions, analyze outcomes, and adapt their strategies in real time. Here’s a look at some engaging online decision making games that are perfect for young minds:

• Challenge Two of a Kind Game

This game tests memory and attention to detail as players flip cards to find matching pairs. It’s about remembering what you saw and making strategic decisions on which cards to flip next. Perfect for developing concentration and memory recall, it’s a hit among kids looking to challenge their minds.

• Play Jumble Mania Game

Jumble Mania sharpens spelling and vocabulary by challenging players to rearrange jumbled letters to form words. This game enhances decision making by requiring players to choose the most logical order of letters, improving their language skills and quick thinking in a fun, engaging way.

• Challenge Match-Up Puzzles Game

Match-up puzzles take the challenge up by mixing memory skills with problem-solving. Players must match related items, not just identical ones, adding an extra layer of decision making. This game is excellent for kids who enjoy puzzles and are ready to think outside the box.

Best for Which Age: 3 years and up

Go Fish is a card game that sharpens memory and introduces kids to strategic thinking. Players ask each other for cards to make sets, using strategy to remember who holds which cards.

How to Play:

• Deal five cards to each player and place the rest in a “fish pond” in the center.
• Players ask others for specific cards to make sets of four.
• If the player has the card, they must hand it over; if not, they say “Go Fish,” and the asking player draws from the pond.
• The game ends when all sets are made, and the player with the most sets wins.

Buy here: Amazon

Best for Which Age: 6 years and up

Connect Four is all about strategic planning. Players aim to line up four discs in a row. This game challenges kids to think ahead and block their opponents, making it one of the most fun choice games for kids.

• Players choose a color and take turns dropping their colored discs into a vertically standing grid.
• The objective is to be the first to form a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line of four of one’s discs.
• Players must strategize to block their opponent’s moves while working towards their four-in-a-row.
• The game ends when one player achieves a Connect Four or the grid fills up, indicating a tie.

Price: $12.51

Buy Here: Amazon

Mancala is a classic game that requires players to strategically move pieces around the board to capture more stones than their opponent. It’s a brilliant choice among decision making games for kids, teaching them to plan ahead and predict their opponent’s moves.

• The board is set up with an equal number of pieces in small pits.
• Players take turns picking up all the pieces in one of their pits and distributing them one by one in subsequent pits.
• The goal is to capture more pieces than the opponent by strategic placement and captures.

Price:  $12

Ticket to Ride: First Journey simplifies the classic game for younger audiences, focusing on strategic thinking as players plan train routes across a map. This making choices game is perfect for introducing basic strategy and planning skills to kids.

• Players collect train cards that enable them to claim railway routes on a map.
• The aim is to connect distant cities through a network of trains.
• Strategic planning is required to block opponents and efficiently connect cities.

Price:  $27

Catan Junior takes the beloved strategy game and simplifies it for younger players, focusing on resource management and basic strategic planning. It’s an excellent choice among decision making activities for elementary students, teaching them the importance of resource allocation and strategy.

• Players collect resources like wood and gold to build their pirate lairs.
• Trading resources with other players is a key part of the game.
• The first player to build all their pirate lairs wins, requiring careful planning and resource management.

Price:  $24.99

Best for Which Age: 7 years and up

Uno is a popular card game that combines strategy with luck, requiring players to adapt their strategies based on the cards they have and the actions of their opponents. It’s one of the most fun and engaging decision making activities for children, teaching them adaptability and strategic thinking.

• Players aim to match a card in their hand with the current card shown on top of the deck either by color or number.
• Special action cards, like skips and reverses, add complexity.
• The first player to rid themselves of all their cards wins, requiring strategic decision-making and adaptability to changing game dynamics.

Price:  $11.16

Chess is one of the best decision making games, teaching players to think several moves ahead and consider the consequences of their actions. It’s a classic game of strategy and tactics where every move counts.

• Each player starts with 16 pieces that move in specific ways across the board.
• The objective is to checkmate the opponent’s king, meaning the king is in a position to be captured and cannot escape.
• Players must protect their own pieces while strategizing to capture their opponent’s king.

Price:  $14.99

Battleship is a game that combines strategic planning and deduction, making it a great choice among decision making board games. Players guess the locations of their opponent’s ships and aim to sink them, all based on logical deduction and strategic thinking.

• Each player places their ships secretly on a grid.
• Players take turns calling out grid coordinates to guess the location of the opponent’s ships.
• The first player to sink all of the opponent’s ships wins.

Best for Which Age: 5 years and up

Guess Who? is a fun decision making situations game that enhances logical thinking and decision-making. Players ask yes or no questions to deduce the identity of the opponent’s character, using logic and deduction at every turn.

• Each player chooses a character card and places it in front of them.
• Players take turns asking yes or no questions to narrow down the possible characters their opponent has chosen.
• The first player to correctly guess the opponent’s character wins.

11. Clue (Cluedo)

Best for Which Age: 8 years and up

Clue, or Cluedo, is a classic among group decision making games, where players solve a mystery by deducing who committed the crime, with what weapon, and in which room. It’s a fantastic game for developing deductive reasoning and decision-making skills.

• Players move around the game board, which represents the rooms of a mansion, to collect clues.
• Through a process of elimination and deduction based on the clues gathered, players try to solve the mystery.
• The first player to correctly accuse the murderer, the weapon, and the room wins the game.

Price:  $17.99

12. Tic-Tac-Toe (Noughts and Crosses)

Tic-Tac-Toe, also known as Noughts and Crosses, is a perfect introductory decision making game for kids. It teaches young children the basics of strategy and foresight by encouraging them to think about their moves and anticipate their opponent’s next step.

• Players take turns marking a space in a 3×3 grid with their symbol, either a nought or a cross.
• The aim is to be the first to get three of your symbols in a row, either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
• Players need to block their opponent’s moves while working towards their own line of three.

13. Checkers (Draughts)

Checkers, known as Draughts in some countries, simplifies strategy and decision-making, making it one of the easiest decision making games for kids. It teaches them to plan their moves and predict their opponent’s actions in a straightforward, engaging way.

• Players move their pieces diagonally across a checkerboard, with the aim of capturing the opponent’s pieces by jumping over them.
• The game encourages players to protect their own pieces while finding opportunities to capture their opponent’s.
• The player who captures all of the opponent’s pieces wins.

Price:  $15.99

14. Rat-a-Tat Cat

Rat-a-Tat Cat is a card game that boosts memory and strategy through the use of card swaps and peeks. It’s a fun and engaging way to enhance decision-making skills in kids, as they must remember the cards’ values and decide the best times to swap.

• Players are dealt cards that they can peek at but then must keep face down, trying to remember the values.
• The aim is to end up with the lowest score by swapping out high-value cards for lower ones.
• Strategic thinking is required to decide when to swap cards and when to stick with what you have.

Price:  $11.99

15. Memory Game

The Memory Game, also known as Concentration, is a fantastic choice for kids to boost their memory and focus. By matching pairs of cards, children practice attention to detail and improve their recall abilities, making it a great pick from games on decision making.

• Spread all cards face down on a table.
• Players take turns flipping over two cards at a time.
• If the cards match, they keep them and go again.
• If they don’t match, they turn them back over, and the next player goes.
• The game continues until all pairs are matched.

Price:  $9.99

Decision making games for kids offer fun and interactive ways to boost critical thinking and problem-solving skills. These games not only keep children engaged but also play a crucial role in their cognitive development. So, let’s encourage our kids to play more of these games and watch them grow smarter every day!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do you teach children decision-making.

Teaching children decision-making involves guiding them through the process of making choices, discussing possible outcomes, and allowing them to experience the consequences in a safe environment. Encouraging them to weigh options and think ahead helps build this skill.

What is a decision-making game?

Decision making games for kids are an interactive activities designed to simulate scenarios where players must make choices, often within a set of rules or constraints, to achieve a goal or solve a problem, thereby sharpening their decision-making skills.

What is decision-making icebreaker activity?

A decision-making icebreaker activity is a short, engaging task that encourages participants to make choices and share their reasoning. It’s often used to warm up a group, foster teamwork, and introduce the concept of decision-making in a fun way.

What are some fun decision-making questions?

Fun decision-making questions can range from hypothetical scenarios like “Would you rather have the ability to fly or be invisible?” to practical choices such as “If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?” These fun would you rather questions stimulate thinking and conversation.

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