how to improve problem solving skills in toddlers

Discovery Play with Littles

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15 Powerful Problem Solving Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers

I looked over to her table and she’s crying. Again. While everyone else is happily working away, she sat there, unable to move, just crying. 

Not asking for help.

Not trying to solve her problem.

Just crying.

I took a deep breath before heading over. We’ve already been at this for several months…isn’t it about time the problem-solving has kicked in yet?

One glance and I could tell what her problem was. She didn’t have her pencil.

Know how I knew?

It laid on the floor beside her. In plain sight.

As a kindergarten teacher, I don’t jump right in and solve problems for kids. It’s good for them to try to solve the problem themselves. This is something she struggled with. 

I reminded myself of the need for patience and empathy as I walked up to her. “What’s wrong, Amanda?” 

“I…can’t…find…my…pencil….” she sputtered out between sobs. 

“Ok, that’s a problem we can solve. What have you tried?” 

“I don’t know.” 

After a long time trying to first, calm her down, and second, come up with some strategies she could try, she finally found her pencil. At that point, everyone else had finished the project. 

What is Problem Solving?

Problem-solving is the process of finding a solution to your problem . This can be quite tricky for some young children, especially those with little experience in finding more than one way to solve a problem.

Why is Problem Solving Important? 

Problem-solving skills are used throughout childhood into adulthood. As adults, we solve problems on a daily basis. Some problems we solve without thinking much- I wanted to make tacos for dinner but forgot to buy the ground beef. What are we going to have for dinner now?

Other problems are significantly more complicated. 

Problems for kiddos can be problems with friendships, the inability to find something that’s needed, or even what to do when things don’t go your way. 

Kids who lack problem-solving skills struggle to maintain friendships or even begin to attempt to solve their own problems. 

Children who lack problem-solving skills are at a higher risk for depression as well.

What Are Problem-Solving Skills?

Problem-solving skills are:

• Breaking Down a Problem into Smaller Parts
• Communication
• Decision-making
• Logical Reasoning
• Perseverance

That’s a big list to teach toddlers and preschoolers. Where do you begin?

The Problem-Solving Steps

Sometimes kids are so overwhelmed with frustration that it affects their ability to solve problems.

Kids feel safe in routines, and routines help them learn and grow. After a few times of repeating this routine, you’ll find your kiddo starts to do this on their own. 

It’s important not to skip straight to solving the problem , because your kiddo needs to be in a calm state of mind to solve the problem, and also they need to know their feelings are valid. 

• The first thing to do when your kiddo is struggling with problem-solving is to validate their emotions.

In doing this, they will feel more understood and learn that their emotions are okay. There are no bad feelings, and we must learn how to manage our emotions. 

This might sound something like “Oh, I can see you are really frustrated that the block won’t fit on there right. Let’s take some deep breaths to help us calm down before we think about what to do next.”

• Next, work through your calm-down process . This may be taking some deep breaths together, hugging a stuffie, or giving your kiddo some quiet time to calm down their heart and mind.
• Identify the problem . This sounds like something you may have already done (before the meltdown) but it’s important to be very clear on the problem you’re solving. Have the child tell you their problem out loud.
• Move on to solution-finding . When your kiddo is ready, talk about what the problem is and three possible solutions. When possible, let your kiddo do all of the talking. This allows him to practice his problem-solving skills. It’s important to remind him that the first thing he tries may not work, and that’s ok. There’s always another way to solve the problem. If he’s prepared for this, solutions that don’t work won’t be such a frustrating experience. 
• After you’ve done that, test your solutions one by one. See what works. If you haven’t found a solution yet, go back and think of different ways you might be able to solve your problem and try again.

Are you tired of hearing “It’s TOO HARD!” followed by a meltdown?

Using this one simple phrase you’ll get in this powerful lesson, you’ll not only be able to help your kiddo not give up but you’ll:

>Activate their superpower of perseverance so that they can turn around a meltdown and keep trying

>Inspire them to use perseverance …even when it’s hard

>Teach them to recognize the warning signs of giving up , and how to turn it around by taking control of their choices.

Grab your powerful FREE video lesson to teach your kiddo one of the most powerful keys to perseverance.

Powerful Activities that Teach Problem-Solving Skills to Toddlers & Preschoolers

These activities below may look simple, but don’t let that deter you from trying them. A lot happens in little developing brains and these powerful activities help toddlers and preschoolers make connections and develop {many} essential skills-more than just problem-solving.

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Puzzles are fun and a great way to encourage cognitive development in children. They are great for spacial reasoning and strengthening problem-solving skills. They also develop memory skills, critical thinking, and the ability to plan and execute the plan. Toddlers will enjoy the simple puzzles, and preschoolers will do great with floor puzzles with larger puzzle pieces.

Doing Simple Chores

Doing simple chores is a great way to teach children problem-solving skills, and it strengthens responsibility and perseverance as well. 

During the toddler years , you may start with just picking up their toys, or helping you put their dirty clothes in the hamper. 

Preschoolers can take their dirty dishes to the sink (or load them in the dishwasher), collect the trash, dust, wipe baseboards, and do their own personal care items like making their bed, taking care of their dirty clothes, and putting clean clothes away.

Stacking Rings

When watching a toddler play with stacking rings it doesn’t look like much is happening, but playing with these toys is full of ways to encourage development. It helps with visual and spacial perception and planning ahead, but it also with balance control, crossing the midline, creative play, and gross motor skills. Not to mention it’s a great opportunity to practice problem-solving. 

Playing Hide-and-Seek

Hide and seek has many surprising benefits for kids. Playing hide and seek is like a treasure hunt that helps develop gross motor skills and encourages physical development, as well as problem-solving skills. It also helps young children develop visual tracking, working memory, and social-emotional skills.

Imaginative Play

Imaginative play (also called role-play) builds important skills. Through pretending to be in different situations, kids develop social skills, emotional skills, better communication, and problem-solving skills. Imaginative play is a great idea for young toddlers all the way to older children.

Free Play 

Many young children don’t have {enough} time for free play. Free play is important for healthy brain development , not only developing imagination, cooperation, physical skills, and independence but also providing a great opportunity to strengthen problem-solving skills. 

Playing with Wooden Blocks

Building blocks are a fun way for children to develop creative thinking, imagination, problem-solving, fine motor skills, and if working with others, cooperation, communication, and friendship.

Playing Memory

Memory games improve attention, focus, visual recognition, and concentration. It helps children recognize details and of course, strengthens problem-solving skills. 

Ask Questions

When I see my son struggling with something, my first instinct is to give him choices or at least lead him in the right direction. The better thing to do is to ask very open-ended questions that lead his process, not his thoughts.

Questions like “What’s one way to solve your problem?” are much more effective in teaching problem-solving skills than “Well, where did you last see your stuffy?” 

Read Books and Social Stories

Reading books is one of my favorite ways to teach any skill. It’s extremely effective at teaching, and it’s also an amazing bonding time with kids.

When we read stories, our brain reacts as if we’re living in the story. This is why reading books about skills such as problem-solving is so effective. 

Kids of all ages learn from the people they love . (Yes, even those older kids who you don’t think are paying attention.) Often as adults, we’re too busy going through our daily routine to think about talking about the way we solved the problem at work that day.

Talking about how you use skills such as problem-solving, perseverance, and integrity is a great way to set an example, and an expectation that this is how we do things, and it will provide encouragement for your kiddo to do the same.

Scavenger Hunts

Scavenger hunts are a great group activity that can strengthen your child’s logical thinking and problem-solving skills.

When Your Kiddo is Ready, Add These Activities

Preschoolers would benefit from all of the fun activities on the list above and when they’re ready, feel free to add in the following activities.   

Mazes are great for problem-solving and perseverance, but your kiddo will need to have decent fine motor skills to do these activities. Mazes are one of our favorite activities. We love to take our activity book of mazes in the car with us for road trips. 

Board Games  

Board games are a good way to strengthen problem-solving, teamwork, planning skills, patience, sportsmanship, and communication skills. They also strengthen family relationships by providing some intentional time of connection .

Any board game can also be turned into an academic game with just a deck of cards for whatever skill you’re working on. If you’re working on the alphabet, put one letter on each card. Before each player’s turn, they draw a letter card and say the letter’s name. (You may accidentally forget the name of a letter every now and then to see if your kiddo is really paying attention!) 

Allow Opportunities for Hands-On Investigations

Kids are tactile. They love to touch and explore things with their hands. This is a good activity for toddlers also, as long as they are out of the putting everything in their mouth stage. Hands-on exploration is great for language development, sensory exploration, and problem-solving.

Allowing kids to investigate with their hands allows them to see how the world works up close. It also gives them time and space to try to make things work…and problem-solve when it doesn’t go as they think it should.

The Most Difficult Way (and Most Important Way) To Strengthen Problem-Solving Skills

Watching our kids struggle is hard ! We don’t want to see them having a hard time…and most of the time we don’t want to deal with the impending meltdown. Standing back and giving our kids time and space to work through even simple problems is hard to do. It’s also the most important way to strengthen problem-solving skills. 

As parents, we’re like frogs in boiling water. When our kids are infants, they need us to recognize their needs and solve them immediately. As they get older, they can point to what they want, but we still have a lot of interpreting and problem-solving to do on our own. If we aren’t careful, we stay in this stage and don’t teach our kiddos the steps to problem-solving for themselves. 

The next most difficult thing? Allowing natural consequences to happen. (As long as your child is safe of course.) If your child saves their money for a long time to buy a new toy, but walks down the toy aisle and picks up something you know they’ll be disappointed with, let it happen. It will teach a valuable lesson that will last for years to come.

Another Essential Part of Problem-Solving

Perseverance is a big part of problem-solving. We are rarely able to solve problems the first time, and it’s essential that kids can find more than one solution to a problem. Studies have found that perseverance is actually the biggest predictor of success, even more than aptitude or raw talent. 

An entire module is dedicated to perseverance in our course for kids, Super Kid Adventures . Your kiddo will get 25 teacher-led lessons on character traits (perseverance, empathy, friendship, responsibility, and wellness) and activities that take their learning further. 

Want a free preview? Grab a FREE Perseverance video lesson that teaches your kiddo one of the most important secrets that help them use perseverance.

Want More? 

If you like this, you’ll love: 

The Ultimate List of Books that Teach Perseverance

7 Simple Ways to Encourage Independence in Young Children

How to Help Your Child Develop Self-Help Skills

Your Turn 

What are your favorite ways to teach problem-solving skills?

About Elizabeth

Elizabeth is a mama of two boys, a former teacher, and the founder of Discovery Play with Littles. Her mission is to make raising kids with character simple and fun. Join us for our best learning through play ideas, character growth activities, and family connection ideas so you can watch your child thrive.

Reader Interactions

As a SLP trying to guide parents as I work with their child. I would like to know what toys to recommend to my parents as I assist in guiding their child’s development in cognition and expressive language.

Perseverance is the biggest predictor of success, even more than raw talent or aptitude.

Grab a FREE lesson to teach your kiddo one of the keys to perseverance...which is how we talk to our brains.

They'll learn what to say when they encounter something difficult, and why it's so important.

PLAY is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood. -Mr. Rogers

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Home • Toddler • Play And Activities

13 Problem-Solving Activities For Toddlers And Preschoolers

Intriguing ideas to boost their analytical and rational thinking skills.

Elisabeth Daly is a state-certified high school English teacher. Over her two decade career, she has taught students in grades 9-12 at both public and private high schools, and worked as an adjunct professor at her local community college. ... read full bio

Kavita has a diverse background in finance, human resources, and teaching. She did her MBA in Finance and HR at Solapur University, and bachelor in Education at Pune University. After working for thre... read full bio

Rohit Garoo is a writer-turned-editor with over 9 years of experience in content writing, editing, and content marketing. He did his bachelors in Science at St. Xavier's College, Hyderabad, and master... read full bio

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Problem-solving preschool activities are an essential part of learning, leading to the development of the most crucial skills for your child. Your child’s journey between realizing a problem and finding a solution involves effort, thinking, and patience. What comes in between realization and solution is important to understand, as it is the key to a lightning-fast intellect. The process is the most beautiful part, which is also the beginning of making a new genius for the world to witness. These little minds could one day become billionaires, philanthropists, or someone far more successful .

Read on to know some of the problem-solving activities for toddlers and preschoolers and how it helps them.

What Is Problem-Solving?

Image: IStock

Problem-solving is the art of realizing a problem and finding an apt solution by a series of interconnected thoughts in the cognitive area of the mind (1) . It requires identifying the problem and pondering over the causes and attempting to chalk out the reason. The next step would be to find a solution out of the many alternatives. Identifying the causes of a problem would involve some deep thinking, which can benefit a child’s growth and aid in their character development.

What Are Problem-Solving Skills?

Problem-solving skills are what every child needs to survive in this world. A few problem-solving skills are analytical thinking, logical reasoning, lateral thinking, creativity, initiative, persistence, negotiation, listening skills, cognitive skills, math skills, and decision-making. Good communication skills are also important as they improve the self-esteem of your child.

Why Is Problem-Solving Important In Preschool?

As parents, you may not want to fill your child’s minds with every problem-solving ability. But you must trust the process, as it is the most important phase of life, and they are learning new things every day.

• During preschool, they are constantly interacting with friends and surroundings. They come across various problems and learn from them. The best part is that it will be effortless for them to pick up these skills faster as they are in their learning stage.
• Also, the earlier they learn, the better it is (2)
• Children in preschool are introduced to the realm of creativity and imagination through storytelling and poems. It will be the perfect time to enhance their creative abilities.
• Children usually try to ignore things beyond their understanding. But problem-solving skills might help them see things differently.
• Developing problem-solving abilities can help them take new initiatives.

How To Teach Problem-Solving Skills To Preschoolers?

Making them listen with patience and willingness is a skill that will help them comprehend what you teach them. Here are some steps that you can follow:

• Teach them how to approach a problem in a practical way. Allow them to explore and find solutions by themselves. Problem-based learning will stick with them forever.
• Make them do simple household chores in their own way. And, there is no right or wrong style to it. Kitchen experiments are a great way to learn.
• Every kid is unique and has a different pace of learning. A teacher/ parent will have to be observing to analyze the best way to teach them.
• Usually, the first step would be to identify the problem.
• Once they find solutions, tell them to evaluate the pros and cons. And choose the best solution.
• Teach them to take failure positively.
• Encourage group activities as children tend to be active when their peers are along.

13 Problem-Solving Activities For Toddlers

You may try several problem-solving activities at home. We have listed some of the best activates here:

1. Simon Says

One of the children becomes Simon and gives commands. The rest have to follow the commands and enact only when they hear ’Simon says’ at the beginning of the command. If anyone acts when the words ‘Simon says’ is not told at the beginning, then that particular child is out. This game will improve listening skills and response time.

2. Tic–tac–toe

The game teaches decision-making and the cost of consequences. This game involves two players. One player has to mark X anywhere on the tic-tac-toe, followed by another player marking O. The idea is to make a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line with either three X’s or O’s. Both players have to stop each other from winning. Sounds fun, right?

3. Treasure hunt

Divide the children into groups and give them clues to find hidden objects. Activities such as treasure hunt evidently improve their problem-solving skills and induce the idea of competition.

Puzzles can make a child think out of the box. They can develop a child’s logical reasoning. Arranging the crumbled pieces will surely improve their level of patience.

5. Hide and seek

Playing in a group can make them less shy and socialize with others. And, with hide and seek activity, children can learn devising strategies, escaping from a troublesome situation, and various other skills.

6. Sorting together

Give them various toys, pieces of clothing, or other random objects at home and some bins. Now ask your child to sort and place everything in the right bin. See how good they are at classifying the objects.

7. Spot the difference

Show them printouts of two similar pictures, with one picture having some differences. Ask them to spot the differences. This helps in actively improving their concentration and attention to detail.

8. Matching animals with sounds

Play sounds of various animals and let the children guess their names. You can also take them to an animal farm where they can observe their behavior. This activity may improve their sound recognition ability over time.

Give your child a blank canvas and some paints or coloring pencils. Let them get creative and produce a masterpiece.

10. Memory games

Memory games can improve a child’s retaining capacity. One such game is to sit in a circle and play “Chinese Whisper.” In this game, kids sit in a circle. Each of them has to whisper a word in their peer’s ear. The same word, along with a new one, is whispered into the next child’s ear. This should be continued till the last child in the circle announces it for all to hear.

11. Fort building

Building forts using toy material, Lego, pillows, or blankets can be fun. During the process of building a fort, children may have to face minor or major difficulties. Overcoming such issues and completing the target successfully helps in the improvement of logical and analytical abilities.

Solving mazes can also help a kid improve their approach towards dealing with problems and dead ends. It will enable lateral thinking and thinking out of the box.

13. Stacking rings

Stacking rings is an effective problem-solving activity for children as it enhances their cognitive skills, spatial awareness, and fine motor abilities. The task requires careful consideration of size, shape, and balance, fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Children must strategize the order and orientation of the rings to successfully build a stable tower. This activity encourages creativity as they experiment with different stacking techniques. Give children a set of rings in varying sizes and materials for this activity. Ask the children to construct the tower and be watchful to prevent it from collapsing, as it offers them valuable insights into cause-and-effect relationships. Challenge them to create the tallest tower possible to promote teamwork and perseverance as they refine their approach through trial and error.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the stages of problem-solving?

Problem-solving is a cognitive skill that works through six stages – searching and determining the problem, generating alternative ideas or solutions, evaluating alternatives, selecting the best suitable solution, implementing the solution, and follow-up (3) .

2. At what age do toddlers begin problem-solving?

According to research, children begin problem-solving right after birth. Children learn problem-solving through exploration between zero to two years, whereas, by three years of age, they learn problem-solving through experimenting and trial and error. Four-year-olds learn problem-solving through cooperative activities with peers and friends. By five and six years, kids get enough experience to deal with problems that would need abstract thinking skills (4) .

3. How do toddlers develop critical thinking skills?

Critical thinking skills don’t develop in a day or week. Rather, it takes constant exposure to environments that hone a child’s critical thinking abilities. Indulging toddlers in critical thinking activities by asking open-ended questions or engaging in activities such as block constructing and puzzles and motivating them to think out of the box are simple ways to bolster your child’s critical thinking.

Problem-solving activities for toddlers enhance their thinking abilities and promote early brain development. You may introduce problem-solving activities such as tic-tac-toe, Simon says, hide and seek, treasure hunt, puzzles, etc., to enhance cognitive skills in toddlers. The problem-solving skills in preschoolers help them cope with various situations and mingle with other children. Problem-solving skills help children think differently and take the initiative in making decisions and solving problems. These activities help build the skills without any force or pressure.

Infographic: Hone Your Toddler’s Problem-Solving Skills

Illustration: Momjunction Design Team

Key Pointers

• Honing your child’s problem-solving skills during preschool can help them see things differently and enhance their creative abilities.
• Teach them to find the problem and use their analytical abilities to find a solution.
• Simon Says, treasure hunt, puzzles, and spot the difference are a few problem-solving activities a toddler can try.

Image: Stable Diffusion/MomJunction Design Team

• You Can Do It: Teaching Toddlers Problem-Solving Skills. https://va-itsnetwork.org/you-can-do-it-teaching-toddlers-problem-solving-skills/
• Developing Problem-Solving Skills At Early Age. https://kennedyglobalschool.edu.in/developing-problem-solving-skills-at-early-age-takes-kids-long-way-as-they-grow/#respond
• Problem solving. https://www.healthywa.wa.gov.au/Articles/N_R/Problem-solving
• Development: Ages & Stages–How Children Learn to Problem-Solve. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ738434
• Fact-checker

Elisabeth Daly MSEd

Kavita kankani mba, bed, rohit garoo bsc, mba, vibha navarathna mca, latest articles, best halloween songs, poems & quotes for kids to celebrate.

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ADAM & Mila

The Ultimate List of Creative Problem Solving Activities for Toddlers

We will explore problem solving skills, milestones and creative problem solving examples for kids that you will have fun trying with your little one.

Let’s Define Problem Solving

It’s simple. Problem solving is a skill set used by your baby that incorporates his or her ability to perceive, think, and gain understanding about his or her world; including remembering and decision-making. All of these problem solving skills are also known as cognitive skills .

Purposeful Problem Solving

Problem solving is a skill that begins early in your baby’s life. But there is a difference between simple problem solving and purposeful problem solving. Let’s explain.

Purposeful problem solving involves an intended action to achieve a desired result. Your child will use a specific problem solving approach to achieve this. They may include:

• Manipulating objects
• Learning about different properties of objects
• Learning how to get things done in the easiest way

Overcoming Obstacles

Overcoming obstacles is a necessity in becoming good at problem solving . There are times when you will be convinced that your child is a genius with the clever ways he can overcome the obstacles that stand in his way!

Everyday Problems and Solutions

Make way for your little creative thinker! Overcoming obstacles in clever ways is what your little one does best. These clever ways are not always verbal (especially at a younger age), it is important to practice nonverbal problem solving activities. So, what will your baby’s creative problem solving abilities look like? Take a look at two examples of problem solving life skills activities:

Life Problem: Your child sees her bottle sticking out of the diaper bag that is slightly out of reach. Solution: Your child pulls at the strap of the diaper bag to pull it closer to her.

Life Problem: Your child sees his favorite toy on the other side of the laundry basket. Solution: He crawls around the laundry basket to get his toy.

Understanding Cognitive Development

Cognitive development is your child’s ability to communicate, think, and problem solve. As your child grows, his or her brain is growing as well. As your child’s cognitive skills become more developed, the more he or she will begin to explore their world and test things in his or her environment. Understanding your baby’s cognitive development is key to chosing the best activities to help your baby master his or her problem solving skills.

Resist Coming to the Rescue

One great tip for parents is to not be so quick to come to the aid of your child when he or she faces small everyday problems. By allowing your baby the time and space to figure things out for himself, you help him build confidence and grow his ability to problem solve.

Tips for Easy Creative Problem Solving Activities

We at ADAM & Mila wish to provide practical and easy to apply ideas for fun and educational activities. There is a variety of easy brain boosting activities to stimulate your baby’s brain, increase his or her critical thinking skills , and help your little one become a great problem solver. There are a lot of activities that you can do with your child.

Problem Solving Activities For Infants

• Sing to your baby
• Read to your baby every day

Problem Solving Activities For Toddlers

• Play peek-a-boo
• Play hide-and-seek with objects
• Play with puzzles, blocks, or drawing materials

Problem Solving Activities For Children Age 2-3

• Sort objects by color, size, and shape
• Help your child “write” his own book by writing his words while he or she draws the pictures
• Teach the words; on, under, behind, around by playing games like Simon Says
• Provide a “dress-up” box for your child for imaginative play

The Milestones of Developing Methodical Problem Solving Skills

Below we have collected all the milestones your child will go through month-by-month as he or she acquire these critical problem solving skills.

That Second Reach

Development Milestone emerges from age 5 to 7 months.

At about 5 months old, your child will begin to purposely reach for second objects while still holding on to the first one. For example, while holding one toy in his hands, he may use his other hand to reach for a second toy. He does not, however, have to necessarily pick it up.

Works for It

Development Milestone emerges from age 5 to 9 months.

Now, your baby’s movements start to demonstrate clear purpose, intention, and persistence while repeatedly reaching for objects. This is when your child will try and try again to get that ball he really wants that is out of his reach. He may reach, stretch, or even wiggle to get it.

Drops Object to Pick Up New Object

Development Milestone emerges from age 6 to 8 months.

At this age, if your little one is holding an object or toy in each of her hands, she may drop one of them to pick up a new object without even thinking about it. She isn’t yet purposefully trying to think of a way to hold all three, which is why she will drop one toy to get the new one.

Reaches for New Object While Holding Two

Development Milestone emerges from age 8 to 10 months.

Unlike the stage before, this time when your child is holding an object in each of his hands, he will attempt to pick up a third one without dropping the ones he is already holding. There is a thought process of how to hold the third item, whether it is by adjusting his grasp on the current two items, reaching with his mouth for the third item or coming up with another way.

Pulling It Closer

Now, when your child sees his favorite toy resting on a towel or sheet out of reach, he will simply purposely pull the towel or sheet with the toy on it closer to him. Observe this milestone on your child by simply placing a toy on a towel on the floor and see what your child does.

Development Milestone emerges from age 8 to 11 months.

Nothing is going to stop your little one from getting to the toy he wants! Not a box, laundry basket, or pillow. At this age, your baby will figure out a way to get that toy he wants, even if he has to push, reach above, or move around something to get it.

Getting in Motion to Grab an Object

Development Milestone emerges from age 9 to 12 months.

Now, your child is ready to crawl, creep, scoot, roll, climb, or walk to get to that toy she wants! You can test to see if your child has mastered this milestone by placing a toy that has multiple pieces like a stacking toy around the room. Place the base of the stacking toy by your child and the rings around the room and watch as your child problem solves to find the rings and bring them back to the base.

Pulling Toy Horizontally by a Handle or Strap

This stage shows your child’s understanding of how two objects are connected and how one can influence the movement of the other. So, you may see your child pull at a shoestring to get her shoe or the strap of a diaper bag to get her bottle or sippy cup.

Pulling Toy Vertically by a Handle or Strap

Development Milestone emerges from age 13 to 15 months.

Now that she has mastered pulling horizontally at a string or strap of an object to bring it closer to her, she will begin to pull at strings or straps that are hanging to pull an object up to her. For example, she may pull a string or plastic chain link of a toy dangling from her high chair.

Flips Over Container to Get to Small Objects

Development Milestone emerges from age 12 to 18 months.

When trying to get at a small object inside of a container, your baby will likely try to get at it by poking his finger in it or shaking it. However, after showing him how, your baby will flip over the container and begin to shake it until the desired object falls out.

Simple Problem Solving with Tools

Development Milestone emerges from age 17 to 24 months.

At this stage, your child will use an unrelated object to get the object she actually wants. For example, she may grab a nearby stick (or spatula) to get her favorite toy out from underneath the couch or she may invent other ways to solve her problem of getting her favorite toy out.

Turning Doorknobs

Development Milestone emerges from age 21 to 23 months.

Now, the fun begins (depending on your idea of fun) because your toddler has figured out that he or she can get to the other side of the door by simply turning the doorknob. This means you need to do another round of baby proofing. A door is no longer an obstacle.

These are some of the many milestones that your child is mastering as he or she is growing from infant to toddler. Your baby’s ability to problem solve is an important one. It can also be a lot of fun to help them along the way as that skill continues to develop. It is important to note that every baby learns at his or her own pace. So, don’t worry if your baby isn’t doing what your neighbor’s kid was doing at that age. Always speak to your pediatrician for serious concerns. Otherwise, try out some fun activities with your baby that we know will benefit both you and your child. Oh, and remember to have fun!

We hope that this article was helpful to you. We would love to know what you think! Please share our article with others who might benefit from it.

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Grand ma Iris says

April 3, 2019 at 6:27 pm

Enjoyed reading your article on early childhood growth and thinking process for problem solving. Helpful

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17 Valuable Problem Solving Activities for Toddlers

Posted on February 24, 2023

Problem solving activities for toddlers don’t need to be overly complicated.

I would sit there watching my toddler as he was playing with his toys during his playtime . He would be trying to fit a block into one of those circular toys with the shapes cut out.

He was trying to put a square into a circle cutout.  After a couple of attempts, he clearly couldn’t get it to work and he absolutely lost his cool.

There is yelling and screaming and the toy was eventually thrown some distance across the room. This was not a one-off event.

My second child didn’t seem to have such a lot of trouble with these kinds of situations but my third child is very much the same as her older brother.

Problem-solving skills come easier to some people than they do two others.

However problem-solving skills are an important asset to have no matter who you are or what stage of life you’re in.

Life can be complicated and challenging and we often come across situations that we’re not comfortable in and we’re not sure how to handle.

But is it really that important to start working on problem-solving skills when our kids are still just toddlers?

Why are Problem-Solving Activities for Toddlers Important?

Layers. Let’s think about problem-solving skills in layers.

You may feel as though it’s not very important for your toddler to be working on problem-solving skills but that is the furthest thing from the truth.

The toddler years build-up to the childhood years build-up to teenage years and the teenage years built up to adulthood.

Each stage contains its own unique set of problem-solving that needs to happen and problem-solving skills are a crucial part of toddler cognitive development.

The problem-solving skills that a toddler must learn are not going to be the same as what a teenager is going to need to learn.

However, the skills that a toddler learns are going to directly impact the skills that a teenager is going to be able to learn and how easily they’re able to learn them.

What your toddler learns now is going to make their problem-solving so much easier when they are a teenager.

To put it frankly you want to allow your toddler to be learning problem-solving skills now in order to make their future that much easier. 

Important Skills that Problem-Solving Offers

Let’s just take a moment to really consider everything that your child will gain from having some problem-solving skills. Problem-solving is great but it isn’t the only thing that your child is going to gain.

They will gain the ability to be more creative, have more flexibility, patience, and lateral thinking. 

Your toddler will gain skills such as resilience, level-headedness, and persistence. These may be basic skills, to begin with, but over time they will grow and get stronger and hugely benefit them in the long run.

Your child’s ability to increase their critical thinking skills and work out their own problems is made much easier if they’re given the opportunity to practice these skills as young children.

A List of Problem-Solving Games and Activities for Toddlers

As parents, we can sometimes overthink how our children are going to learn specific skills. An important thing to remember is that a child’s work is play. Play is a child’s work. Children need very little to learn important skills.

However, you can definitely help set up certain scenarios where your toddler can practice the art of problem-solving.

Because children learn through play I am listing a lot of games and activities for toddlers that are meant for building up problem-solving skills. 

I have also included at least one general life activity that takes place in the home. Children do learn through play but there are also just daily activities that are going to help hone their problem-solving skills. Sometimes we just need them to be pointed out.

We often just need some new ways suggested to us when we’re at a dead end for what the best way and most fun way is to teach these kinds of cognitive skills.

This seems like a really obvious answer but it is sometimes the simplest things that make the most difference.

There are there is an abundance of puzzles out there that are perfect for toddlers to home their problem-solving skills with.

My one piece of advice would be to make sure that it is age appropriate. If you pick one that is too advanced you’re only going to end up with a very frustrated toddler. 

#2 Asking Open-Ended Questions (Imaginary Games)

This is something that can be a really fun activity to do with your toddler and there are different ways to do it. You could set up a storytime where they are going to be telling the story themselves. To help them with this you simply ask them open-ended questions. In my experience kids absolutely love this.

You can also make this in an imaginary game. We all know how much our children love for us to play with them and to play imaginary games specifically.

Let them run the narrative by asking them questions. Young toddlers very often come up with the most hilarious storylines.

#3 Scavenger Hunts

This is an activity that all of my children love even my kids who are well out of the toddler stage. For that reason, it can be a really great family activity to do together.

 Create your own scavenger hunts or find one on Pinterest or Google. Make it into a treasure hunt if you really want to up the excitement level. Your older children will love this too.

 Your toddler will have so much fun hunting for things around your house or your yard. It’s a great way of developing their problem-solving skills as they have to think about where certain things would be.

You could even have them create a scavenger hunt for their siblings are friends to do. This is one of those fun activities that can be rehashed many times over.

#4 Creative Play

Creative play isn’t necessarily a toddler activity that you have to set up because they naturally fall into it all on their own. However, it is important to acknowledge how wonderful creative play is for helping to develop problem-solving skills.

Have you ever had a child come to you and complain that their sibling or friend is not playing by the rules of the game that they themselves created?

This is a perfect example of how they are developing their problem-solving skills.

Children naturally create scenarios and situations that are promoted by their life experiences and the things that they see around them.

Creative play gives them the opportunity to role model the examples that they have been exposed to and to work out different scenarios. This is a vital skill for them to develop at a young age.

Most kids can come up with all sorts of games without any toys at all however if you do want to provide toys for the specific kind of play look under toys listed as role play or creative play.

Consider a toy kitchen dress-up clothes play money. All of these things can have open-ended uses for play and learning vital skills. 

When they practice this kind of creative free play with other children, they’re also practicing their language development and working on solving difficult situations. It’s a really good way to overhear what they really are learning.

#5 Creating Patterns

I homeschool my children and one of the things that they all really in have enjoyed doing is learning about patterns. However, this is not something that you have to wait to teach your child until they are school-aged.

Toddlers are more than capable of recognizing patterns around them.

You can get free printables or printables that are very affordable that are specifically made to use with toddlers.

You can get them to continue the pattern or create their own pattern using flashcards.

This is an excellent way of developing problem-solving skills using simple games and even small objects. Use chocolate chips and cheerios to create a pattern. It’ll be great for their fine motor skills and they’ll love the treat when you’re finished the game!

Now, this is obviously not a game or specific activity for toddlers however chores are a normal part of life. In our home, everyone does their bit to help the home run smoothly.

You can totally give your toddler some basic chores that they are responsible for. Simple things like taking a rag and dusting the baseboards. My toddlers have always loved to be helpful in this way. It’s a great way to teach them problem-solving skills. They will learn about the tools they need to use the job to complete the job and how to get the job done well.

As they get older their skills will also get better. 

#7 Stacking Blocks

Stacking blocks are a pretty staple part of many toddlers’ toy chests. It’s an open-ended imaginative toy that your toddler can learn great problem-solving skills from.

The simple act of having to balance blocks on top of one another without them falling over is a skill in and of itself. These were a favorite toy in our home when I had really little kids.

Using building materials such as wooden blocks helps them to problem solve and learn important concepts such as balance, spatial reasoning, and many other great skills.

Little minds can be seen working through the thought process of all the possible solutions for what they want to build.

This was a toy that I often had set aside for independent play (a great tool to have during the early years!).

#8 Magnatiles

Magatiles are another great toy option for open-ended imaginative play. Again your toddler will have to make sure that they understand how to get the tiles to fit together and create the shapes that they’re trying to achieve.

#9 Hide n Seek

Playing hide n’ seek honestly holds some of the fondest memories I have of my kids. There is just something about hearing their little giggles as they are trying their best to hide from me that just melts my heart. Ultimately I end up in fits of vehicles myself.

In all seriousness, your toddler can learn some great problem-solving skills by playing this game with you their siblings or friends.

#10 Grouping Activities

Another simple activity that teaches great problem-solving skills is having your toddler practice grouping specific items based on either their shape color or other identifying thing.

#11 Playing Playdough

Play-Doh is one of the cheapest and most accessible open-ended play items that you can give to your child. You can either just leave them to play with it or you can give them playdough mats where they can create specific shapes with their player.

This is a great activity for developing hand dexterity and also problem-solving skills amongst other things. 

#12 Reading Together

You might not consider reading together an activity that would develop problem-solving skills. However, as your child goes through the story with you and the character that you are reading about is struggling with specific issues your toddler is also going to be thinking about how those issues might be resolved.

A way to make this activity even better is to have a discussion with your toddler as you’re reading a story or after you’ve finished it. 

#13 Gardening

Gardening is a really wonderful activity for your toddler to be involved in.

Not only are they going to learn about plants how they grow and what they can produce for us but they can also learn some valuable problem-solving skills as they help alongside you in the garden. 

#14 Shape Insert Toys

Remember that toy that my son was really struggling with at the beginning of this article? Well despite his frustration it is actually a really fantastic toy for teaching toddlers problem-solving skills. 

#15 Games (Think, Fun, Roll)

There are different games that you can play with your toddler that can also help with problem-solving skills. One that we really love in our home is Think, Fun, Roll .

But there are also board games such as Candyland that toddlers really love and will teach them great skills. 

#16 Playing Memory

Some toddlers may find it a little frustrating playing the game memory . However, if you’re smart and modify it and make it a little easier then this can be a really really wonderful game for toddlers to build up their problem-solving skills.

They’ll learn the process of elimination. They also work on extending their concentration and obviously they’ll be working on their memory skills too.

#17 Daily Activities

Finally, I just want to address one of the most obvious things and that is daily activities. Your child will be doing things like getting dressed brushing their teeth picking up their clothes taking their plate to the kitchen and many other simple tasks like this every single day.

Do not fail to see the wonderful skillset that they will gain from doing these basic tasks.

Toddlers can learn great problem-solving skills simply by getting dressed in the morning.

We really don’t need to overcomplicate things.

Problem-solving is such a vital skill to have especially in adulthood but the things that we provide for our children now will make a big difference in the future.

It can take patience on our behalf and a lot of grace at times to give them the space to really practice their problem-solving skills.

It’s not fun having to listen to your toddler frustrated and whining as I try to learn something new and not step in to fix it for them.

However, you have to see how good is for them to learn these skills. There will be times when you will need to step in and help but a lot of the time it will be great for them to figure it out on their own.

I hope these toddler activity ideas give you a great jumping-off point for a way to teach a child really great problem-solving skills. 

Hi! I’m Christine – a homeschooling mom of three. I see homeschooling simply as another facet of parenting. Just as you teach your child to tie their shoes, you can also teach them how to read and do arithmetic. As a second-generation homeschooler, I know the endless benefits that homeschooling offers. I went on to complete a Bachelor of Nursing and have now chosen to stay at home with my children (while also running an online business).

I have a heart for mothers that feel as though they are just existing from day to day and are longing for more. You can find out more about me and my family over on my ‘ About Me ‘ page.

As well as the abundance of posts you’ll find on my blog, you can also find me over at iHomeschool Network and Today Parenting .

Helping Your Baby Reach Greater Wonders

25 Cognitive Activities for Toddlers to Boost Development

• Your child’s brain grows the most during toddlerhood than during any other time of their lives.
• There are many factors that affect cognitive development—genes, relationships with caregivers, screen time, nutrition, sleep, learning disabilities, physical activity and environment.
• There are certain cognitive milestones your toddler should reach by the time they are three years old.
• There are many fun cognitive activities to help your child reach their milestones.

Do you feel like crying when your toddler asks you to sing the same song you’ve been singing for the past hour? Do you want to hide the book you’ve read three times a day for the past month? 

I have good news for you! Every time you sing or read to your child, you’re boosting their cognitive development! This may be of little comfort to you when you’re on your tenth rendition of “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” but once you learn how important toddler cognitive skills are, you’ll muster up the strength to sing until your voice is hoarse.

If you need a break from singing, there are tons of cognitive activities for toddlers that you can do to boost their development! 

All About Your Toddler’s Cognitive Development

Cognitive development refers to how children think, develop fluid reasoning , explore, gain knowledge and problem solving skills, and learn more about the world around them. 

As toddlers develop cognitive skills, their memory, attention, adaptability, understanding of cause and effect, language skills, intelligence, and critical thinking improve. 

Toddler cognitive development is hugely important in laying the groundwork for these skills. It was highlighted in a 2021 article published by the University of Minnesota that by three years of age, a child’s brain is already 80% developed! 

While your child is still in their toddler years, you have the perfect window to develop their cognitive skills. Since most brain growth and connections happen in the first three years of a child’s life, it is more difficult for children to develop their cognitive skills later in life. Even early literacy skills can be gained through cognitive activities for toddlers. 

Factors That Can Affect Cognitive Development During Toddlerhood

You’ve probably heard the term “nature vs. nurture.” Nature refers to the genes our children inherit from us, and nurture refers to our children’s experiences, interactions with others, and general upbringing. 

When it comes to cognitive development in toddlers, both nature and nurture affect their cognitive abilities. 

Our genes are out of our control, but they are only one piece of the puzzle. There are many other factors within our control that promote cognitive development during toddlerhood, including:

• Warm, affectionate, positive interactions with dependable caregivers
• Limited screen time with exposure to cognitive toys 
• Early intervention for children with learning disabilities
• Good nutrition with balanced meals and vitamin supplements if necessary to aid in brain development
• Quality sleep to help the brain remember information
• Physical activity, especially outdoors, improves cognitive skills
• Limited exposure to chronic, toxic stress (neglect, abuse, certain types of punishment and unreliable caregivers)
• A physically safe environment with head protection to prevent brain injuries during falls
• Limited or no exposure to toxins such as lead
• Vaccinations to protect against infections, including those that prevent brain swelling 

What Are the Cognitive Developmental Milestones for Toddlers?

Every child develops at their own rate, but these are some of the cognitive developmental milestones you can expect in early childhood:

From 1 to 2 Years

• Tries to imitate adults
• Points out familiar objects in picture books
• Understands the difference between “me” and “you”
• Knows what everyday items are used for
• Points to items to get attention
• Pretend plays with dolls or stuffed animals (i.e. pretending to feed them)
• Points to one body part
• Scribbles independently
• Follows 1-step directions
• Puts things in containers and takes them out 
• Has memories of past events
• Recognizes familiar people by name
• Finds easily hidden objects

From 2 to 3 Years

• Imitates more advanced adult actions like washing dishes or doing laundry
• Names objects, colors, animals, and letters in picture books and everyday life
• Sorts objects by category
• Stacks rings on a peg in size order
• Understands their own reflection in a mirror
• Finds things even when hidden under two or three covers
• Completes sentences or rhymes in familiar stories
• Plays make-believe games (pretend play)
• Builds towers of at least four blocks
• Follows two-step directions (e.g. “Pick up your toy and put it in the bin.”)
• Finishes puzzles with 3-4 pieces
• Draws a circle after watching an adult draw it

3 Years Old

• Helps get themselves dressed
• Knows their name, age, and gender
• Follows step-by-step directions
• Uses buttons, levers and moving parts on toys
• Does imaginative play (e.g. pretends they are a dog or makes up stories for their dolls)
• Builds towers of more than six blocks
• Screws and unscrews lids or turns door handles

What Can You Do to Boost Your Toddler’s Cognitive Development? 

Play is key! Toddlers learn the most from playing, and your job is to support that play. This means exploring with your child, playing with them when appropriate and giving them space for independent play when needed. 

As your child is playing, describe new objects they encounter and ask questions about what they’re doing. When it comes to play, your toddler is the leader, and you’re there to make sure they’re getting the most out of it.

During play, refrain yourself from helping your toddler too much. Instead, give them tips for what they might try when they get frustrated.

There are many different types of play you can organize for your toddler—free play, pretend play, outdoor play, play with cognitive activities and toys (cause-and-effect toys, matching games , sorting games, categorizing games, puzzles), and social play with other children. Each type of play is beneficial to toddler cognitive development and should be encouraged. 

Also, spend some time focusing on vocabulary and language skills. Use a variety of words when interacting with your toddler. Sing songs and nursery rhymes together and read to them often. Most importantly, show patience and warmth when responding to your toddler.

If you’re concerned with your toddler’s cognitive development, talk to a doctor or therapist to see if early intervention is needed.

25 Fun Cognitive Activities for Toddlers

Providing quality cognitive activities for toddlers may have you feeling overwhelmed. We’ve got you covered with fun cognitive development activities that will boost your toddler’s development and keep you both smiling along the way!

• Provide wooden blocks for stacking and building.
• Go on a scavenger hunt looking for specific things (things that start with a certain letter or are a certain color).
• Provide a bucket of soapy water and sponges outside to wash toys with.
• Go on a treasure hunt outside (collect acorns, rocks, leaves, etc.) and have them make art with their treasures. 
• Play games to practice following directions like “Follow the Leader” or “Simon Says.”
• Throw rocks into a body of water and predict how big the splashes will be.
• Let them pretend play with kitchen utensils.
• Write letters on post-its and have your toddler stick them to objects whose names begin with each letter.  
• Make animals out of playdough with your child.
• Let them match their socks or sort their toys by color.
• Go outside and try to figure out which direction the wind is coming from.
• Gather items and have your toddler sort them based on color, category, shape, etc. 
• Provide matching games and puzzles .
• Draw a simple picture and then cut it into a few pieces. Have your toddler put the pieces back together. 
• Practice counting throughout the day—how many stairs they go up or down, how many times they go down the slide at the park, how many cheerios they eat, etc.
• Cook with your child to teach them how to follow directions, measure, and learn numbers. 
• Cut post-its into shapes and have your child stick them to objects they find that match each shape. 
• Go outside during each season and make notes of what you hear, see, feel, and smell. 
• Create an art box with scrap paper, crayons, markers, and other materials and let them have free time to create. 
• Sing songs and come up with actions to do during each song that your toddler can imitate.
• Take your toddler to a local children’s museum, a local farm, library, or even the grocery store to provide for exploration. Ask questions while you both explore.
• Have other children come over for playdates to help with social skills. 
• Look in the mirror with your child and have them make faces to show different emotions. Playing with mirrors helps children develop their self-image and learn nonverbal cues.  
• Bury treasures (small toys, rocks, acorns, etc.) in sand or wood chips outside and have your child find them.
• Add fun containers to the bath for pouring, measuring, and experimenting with which items float and which items sink .

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Some skills gained from the problem-solving activities include lateral thinking, analytical thinking, creativity, persistence, logical reasoning, communication skills, and decision-making skills. 

The Importance of Problem-Solving Activities for Toddlers

In almost every stage of growth, children are likely to encounter some difficulties. How they handle these challenges depends on the skills they have built over time.

That’s why every parent should invest in quality problem-solving activities for their child. The skills mentioned above are critical for toddlers, and it can be challenging to develop them.

Early ages are the best time for children to learn how to solve different problems in a fun way. 

In many cases, many young mothers are students who dream of spending as much time as possible with their children, but they are held up with advancing their knowledge in their areas of specialization.

To have more time for toddlers as young mothers, you can use the online essay writer service EduBirdie to have your research papers written by top writers. EduBirdie has great writers, and you will receive quality work at the right time. This automatically translates to excellent scores.

If you have more time with your child, you are likely to notice the challenges they are going through and choose the best problem-solving activities for them.

The more problem-solving activities they perform, the more likely the child will develop excellent skills that will enable them to navigate most of the challenges in their lifetime. Here are some simple problem-solving activities for toddlers:

1. Building a maze

Building a maze is fun outside and one of the best activities for 2-year-old toddlers. Since toddlers can’t yet do a maze in an activity book, this is a great way to use their problem solving and navigation skills.

Draw a big maze on the pavement with sidewalk chalk . Then, make passages, including a few that end in a dead-end. Teach your toddler how to walk through and find their way out.

Allow them to try it on their own. The more trials, the better the child gets at figuring out the best way out. If the child gets used to the simple maze, you can draw a more complex one, adding more dead-end passages to make finding their way out more complicated.

This way, you will enhance their cognitive skills, which are vital for success in their life.

Puzzles are some of the best sensory activities for toddlers. They help a lot in enhancing the thinking capabilities of toddlers.

A puzzle is a big set of muddled-up things that must be sorted out and put back together.

The best type of puzzle for children is wooden puzzles , as they last longer, and the frame provides a structure to guide the child while playing. Inset puzzles are perfect for toddlers, especially ones with familiar objects (transportation, animals, colors, and shapes).

So, make an effort to sit with your child and help them play different puzzles. It’s even better than leaving your toddler to play with fancy toys with flashing lights and music.

Solving puzzles is real learning and allows the students to build their skills at their own pace. It’s ok to let them get a little frustrated! The more you leave them to independently figure it out, the quicker they will gain the skill.

3. Following patterns

Following patterns is just a simple activity that can be played with colored blocks, counters, or shapes. In this case, the child should simply make a pattern with the blocks and vary it by changing the patterns’ colors, shapes, or sizes.

At first, you can demonstrate how to make simple patterns to your child and then make the patterns more complex as they get used to the simple ones. Following patterns train the toddler to analyze given information, make sense of it, recognize the pattern it should follow, and then recreate it.

For the complex patterns, carry out the first few steps and then ask your child to continue.

4. Board games

Playing board games is an excellent way to develop your problem-solving skills, and your child can quickly start with simple games. This could be CandyLand ( a huge hit with little ones) or Chutes and Ladders .

Board games teach toddlers the skill of following rules and moving logically.

With time, you can introduce games that require deeper thinking and planning, like Monopoly Junior. This game will require you to explain a lot, and sometimes you will have to play with the child.

You can also let your child play Go Fish to teach them how to think ahead and solve the problems they will encounter in the future.

Related Post: Perfect Board Games for 2 Year Olds

5. Storytime questions

Stories are a great way of teaching children moral values and the problem-solving skills they require for their lifetime. During storytelling, develop a habit of asking questions to help the child develop higher-order thinking skills like comprehension.

It’s simple: pause for a few minutes and pose questions about the story. Start with simple questions, like “What did the boy say?” or “Where did the family go?.”

Then move onto more abstract thinking, problem solving questions, like “what will the boy do now that his pet died?” or “what can the girl do to find her lost toy?”

You can also pose an unexpected question to make the child more attentive. Storytime questions teach toddlers to pay attention to details and concentrate on one activity at a time.

It also reinforces the message you were trying to pass to the toddler. As a result, the toddler will easily remember the story’s moral lessons and apply them when faced with challenges in their lifetime.

6. Building with construction toys

Construction toys could be engineering blocks, Legos, or a proper set of wooden blocks that can be used to construct simple structures.

Everything the toddler will build is challenging as it requires critical thinking in brainstorming what to build and how to put the different pieces together.

The design built should be functional and work as expected. So, let the child construct freely and occasionally set for them a challenge to be completed within the set time with specific conditions.

This could be building two towers with a bridge joining them or building a creature with three arms standing on its own. Let the kids exercise their brains until they find a way to make the structure work.

7. Classifying and grouping activities

Classifying and grouping activities are among the best sensory activities for toddlers. You can easily do this with a tin of buttons or by unpacking the dishwasher. The idea behind classifying and grouping activities is to teach the skill of categorizing information.

There are several button activities for your kids that you can adopt, and they include a messy play tray, making a nameplate, sorting buttons, ordering buttons, or making a button necklace.

Each activity will teach the child an important skill they need to solve problems in the future.

When was the last time you engaged in any of the activities discussed above with your child? Start young with these problem-solving activities that help them navigate most of the challenges in their lifetime.

Take time and choose one of the activities discussed above for your toddler. 

Author’s Bio

Helen Birk is a magnificent writer who creates beautiful stories that leave her readers asking for more. She’s been a wonderful storyteller and her years of experience help her do even better every time she takes up a new book to write. She’s currently planning a book that talks about the role of AI in the development of school education.

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Problem Solving Activities for Toddlers

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7 Problem Solving Activities for Toddlers

If you have a toddler, challenges like tough homework problems or social dilemmas are still a long way off. But their brains are already working to build the cognitive skills they’ll need to solve life’s “big” problems later on. For now, problem-solving activities – even ones that seem simple to us – can help them boost their cognition, resilience, and creativity. Best of all? These “problems” are actually fun! Here are seven simple problem-solving activities for toddlers and preschoolers you can start trying right away!

Memory Games

Those little memory card games with matching pictures are great for building concentration, memory, and problem-solving skills in your toddler! Many sets might come with a few too many pairs for a toddler to handle without help, so start with just three to four pairs and see if they can match them up! As they begin to master that, you can add in more and more pairs until they’re working with the entire deck. If you don’t have a deck, you can easily DIY your own with online printables or your own drawings.

Shape Sorters

Shape sorters are a classic problem-solving toy for young toddlers. In addition to matching the shapes to the correct holes, they’ll also need to figure out why the shapes don’t always fit into the hole, requiring them to rotate the shape or make subtle adjustments to their grip.

Sorting/ Grouping by Category

Sorting activities are excellent for toddlers’ problem solving and cognitive development, so there’s no need to stop with shape sorters! Set up simple activities that allow them to sort by a variety of categories. This can be as simple as letting them unload the dishwasher silverware tray into the silverware organizer. Or ask them to gather up all the yellow items they see in a room.

Rotating puzzles is a great way to keep the problem-solving challenge fresh for your toddler. Even a familiar puzzle can present a fun, “new” challenge for your toddler if they haven’t seen it in weeks.

Hide the Teddy Bear

One cognitive milestone for two-year-olds is the ability to find an object that’s been hidden under two or more layers. Once they’ve mastered that, they’ll be ready for more advanced hiding games. Try hiding a teddy bear or other toy when they aren’t looking and then give them clues to find it. You can start off with basic directions and then progress to tougher clues or games of warmer/ colder.

Help Mommy/ Daddy

Toddlers love to help, and helping Mommy or Daddy with a problem can be a lot less frustrating than solving their own. For example, if your little one has been determined to put on their own socks lately but always ends up super frustrated, try mimicking the same problem yourself and asking for their help. You can coach them through the process (“Now we need to stretch out the opening of the sock!”), and because their emotions aren’t already running high, they’ll be more likely to actually absorb your tips. You can model how to stay calm through frustrating situations and help them build confidence in their ability to tackle the same problem later.

Constructive Play Toys

The ability to build a block tower of four or more blocks is actually considered a cognitive milestone for two-year-olds. For three-year-olds, a tower of six or more blocks is the expected milestone. That’s because building anything, even a simple block tower, is a true problem-solving challenge for toddlers. Blocks, train sets, and other building toys let your child work out how to balance, fit pieces together, and deal with frustration as they learn to master the challenge.

10 Ways to Strengthen Your Preschooler’s Problem-Solving Skills

As an adult, you make many decisions throughout your day without even thinking twice about some– from setting up the coffee machine at home to avoiding the long line at the drive-thru that can make you late to work to having a difficult but necessary conversation with your partner about finances. These are just a few examples of problem-solving skills and how you adapt to the situations around you and use your skills to exist on personal, professional, and social levels. 

While some problem-solving skills are innate, your ability to access a situation and take a course of action is based on the fact that when you were a child, the adults around you taught you problem-solving skills. Our Raleigh early-childhood development center is sharing our best advice for anyone looking to strengthen their pre-schoolers problem-solving skills. 

What is Problem Solving in Early Childhood?

Problem-solving refers to the ability to find a solution to a problem. For preschool-aged children, this can be difficult to learn if not modeled for them through the appropriate ways to react to the issues they face. 

For instance, if two children are playing with a toy and one pushes the other in an effort to take the toy, this is clearly an inappropriate way to react to the problem. Furthermore, screaming or yelling for the child to give them the toy is also not a proper way to solve the issue. To model mature and proper problem-solving skills, adults around the child should be practicing the concept of sharing, patience, and communication while avoiding physical and emotional reactions when they don’t get what they want.

When the child learns that they can ask the other child, “Can I play with the toy next?” or understand the concept that another child was playing with the toy first, they are exhibiting the ability to problem solve. 

Why is it Important to Develop Problem Solving Skills in Early Childhood?

Children aged 3 to 5 are developmentally experiencing growth in the following areas: 

• Cognitive 
• Emotional 
• Language 
• Sensory 
• Motor 

Because this time for preschoolers is so substantial to their intellectual, emotional, and social development, the world around them can seem overwhelming, unfair, intimidating, and even confusing. By modeling and teaching problem-solving skills to preschoolers , they can learn how to react logically, think creatively, communicate their needs, and assess how best to react to a situation at hand. 

How Can You Teach Problem Solving Skills to Your Children?

It is the responsibility of the adults who raise and teach children to provide kids with opportunities to strengthen their problem-solving skills in early childhood. If you are a parent, guardian, childcare provider, or early-childhood educator, it’s important to consider the best strategies for helping little ones adapt to the world around them and learn problem-solving skills. And remember, it can be frustrating when things do not work out as expected for anyone at any age, particularly for preschool-aged children who are just learning to adapt to their surroundings. 

When teaching your preschool-aged child how to problem solve, consider these four steps that are used in early-childhood classrooms : 

• Identify the problem
• Brainstorm solutions to the problem
• Choose and implement one of the solutions
• Evaluate how that solution resolved the problem

Following this four-step guideline can help the adults in a preschooler’s life address how a child acquires problem-solving techniques to help them navigate through the difficult and everyday situations that arise. 

When teaching problem-solving, focus on developing these key skills that relate to problem-solving: 

• Lateral thinking
• Decision-making
• Communication
• Persistence
• Negotiation
• Logical thinking
• Analytical thinking

10 Problem-Solving Activities for Preschoolers

You know that you want to guide your child through developing and strengthening strategies for problem-solving, but where do you begin? Our early-childhood development school is sharing some of our favorite ways to incorporate problem-solving activities into your life so that you can teach your child to grow on a personal and social level. 

#1 - Use Everyday Moments

You do not need a textbook or outline of how to teach your preschooler problem-solving. Simply using everyday moments to demonstrate problem-solving techniques is more useful than any “how to” book or homework assignment can teach your child. 

Going to the grocery store, driving in the car, making dinner at home, and cleaning the house are all everyday opportunities to present your child with decisions related to problem-solving. Having your child put ingredients away in the pantry while you cook, asking your child what aisle at the supermarket they think you can find a particular item, or seeing that there is a mess of toys and supplies and directing the child to initiate where they should be placed prior to starting a new activity are ways to integrate problem-solving into everyday moments. 

#2 - Look to the Child for the Solution

As your child grows up, they will not always have you by their side to solve each and every problem that arises. From issues with friends, future relationships, and future careers, the child you raise will one day become an independent adult who needs to problem-solve on their own. 

Asking children to weigh in for solutions to problems as they arise is one way to get them thinking critically early on in life. When a child is taught to not only assess an obstacle but to trust their own decision-making abilities to resolve a problem, they will be better equipped for success as they get older. 

#3 - Solve Mathematical Problems

Mathematics is a great way to engage children at an early age in problem-solving and solution-making activities. Math is logical and non-emotional, having very clear set rules and boundaries with a single solution is one prime example of problem-solving. When children are given age-appropriate mathematical problems and math word problems, they are given opportunities to troubleshoot and follow an order of operation that leads to a solution.

#4 - Ask Open-Ended Questions

As adults, we often find that the most convenient way to get through the day when caring for a preschooler is to complete tasks for them so that we can get on with our busy day. However, it’s important to pause and present your child with the opportunity to find their own solutions to problems they are faced with by using open-ended questions. 

For instance, your child cannot find their favorite pair of shoes. Rather than tear the house apart on your own looking for them, present the child with a question: “Where did you last wear those shoes?” or “When did you last see your shoes?” This requires your child to consider where they last may have placed them. Additionally, a question like, “If we can’t find those shoes right now, you’ll need to choose a different pair to wear so we aren’t late.” guides them toward finding an alternative solution to the problem. 

Giving children the opportunity to find their own solutions to issues that arise by asking open-ended questions equips them with problem-solving skills they will need throughout life when things do not always go as planned. 

#5 - Puzzles and Board Games

Puzzles and board games, much like math equations, allow children to use their cognitive problem-solving abilities to complete tasks in a fun and unique way. Pre-schoolers are often drawn to images and visual learning components as well as interactive play. Putting puzzles together allows for pattern recognition, while board games allow for interactive problem-solving techniques to be utilized through a set of rules. Incorporating puzzles and games into the lives of children are excellent ways to get them to think critically and find solutions that offer immediate results. 

#6 - Read Books and Tell Stories

Books and storytelling are always exceptional ways to build vocabulary and introduce kids to characters and situations outside of their own. When children are given the opportunity to relate to characters and situations, and then address how those characters can react and engage in their conflicts and interpersonal relationships, it not only fosters imagination and creativity but also problem-solving skills. 

#7 - Center Emotions

As adults we understand that while reacting emotionally to a situation is sometimes natural, it does not get us very far when it comes to solving a problem. Children should be taught how to center those emotions, without shame or guilt by providing an alternative to emotional responses. This is often in the form of learning communication and language. 

If your son’s best friend hurt his feelings, he should not be made to feel that he shouldn’t feel how he is feeling. Having your feelings hurt, particularly by a friend, is, well, hurtful, and there should be no shame attached to that feeling. However, when it comes to addressing those hurt feelings to the friend, it would be inappropriate to shout, “I hate you!” or “I don’t want to be your friend anymore!” Rather, providing your preschool-aged child with words and phrases for when their feelings are hurt is essential to emotional and social development. 

Teaching your son to tell his friend, “It hurts my feelings when you say that” or “I get sad when you are mean to me” are great ways to help children not only process their emotional feelings but express them in appropriate ways that lead to a resolution. 

#8 - Model Problem-Solving Behaviors

Children look to the adults in their lives for how to handle the problems they face in the world. If your child sees you politely ask a waiter to return a plate of food that was incorrectly served, they will learn that proper communication, respect, and patience lead to resolution. In contrast, if a child sees their parents speak rudely and blame a waiter for an incorrect order, they will learn that emotional reactions are the way to address problems. As a parent and caretaker, it is your responsibility to use mistakes, obstacles, and hardships as learning opportunities passed on to your preschool-aged children, demonstrating first-hand that non-emotional responses, kindness, and communication are the keys to getting most issues resolved. 

#9 - Break Down Problems into Chunks

As an adult, one of the ways to get through major projects at work is to set up a schedule that breaks down a large-scale project into smaller portions. Using this technique in childhood education and development is a successful way to teach children how doing one small task can lead to an overall greater, larger picture in the long run. Since a large task can seem overwhelming or even impossible, breaking it down into smaller, easily achievable pieces that will eventually lead to the full, complete picture is a wonderful way to help children of any age, but particularly preschool-aged, tackle large issues without feeling the weight of the big picture.

#10 - Utilize Natural Curiosities and Interests 

Using natural, organic opportunities for learning and problem-solving is always one of the best ways to foster creativity as well as logical and analytical thinking. All children are naturally drawn to some interest– whether it’s unicorns, dinosaurs, airplanes, trucks, or the color blue… every child has something that they become naturally drawn to, often to the surprise of their parents. 

For example, maybe every time your daughter sees the mailman drop off the mail, she is fascinated. Maybe her face lit up with interest and excitement to check what was left in the mailbox today. This is an opportunity to ask questions that lead to analytical thinking and problem-solving. Inquiring, “what does the mail carrier drop off at other houses?” or teaching the concept of writing a letter to grandma and how it goes through the mail can continue to foster interests while teaching logical steps, planning, and problem-solving techniques. 

Enroll Your Child in an Interactive Preschool Care System 

It’s no secret that when a child is at preschool age they are naturally curious and soak up all the information around them. By teaching your child problem-solving skills, they are better equipped to handle the everyday struggles the world has to face. However, the professionals at our preschool development center understand that busy working schedules, multiple children, and life’s responsibilities do not always make it easy for parents to dedicate time to fostering and strengthening problem-solving skills in their children. 

If you have a preschool-aged child who will benefit from emotional, social, and personal development related to problem-solving, contact Primary Beginnings to enroll your child in our 5-star preschool program in Raleigh. 

Contact us today at 919-790-6888 for our Spring Forest Rd. location or 919-785-0303 for our North Hills Dr. location, or fill out our contact form below. 

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Easy Problem Solving Activities For Toddlers

Problem solving activities for toddlers are not only a great way to boost their critical thinking skills but also provide playtime fun for curious little minds.

These daily activities help toddlers develop important cognitive and motor skills while enhancing their creativity and imagination.

By engaging in problem solving activities, toddlers learn to think logically, make decisions, and develop a growth mindset.

This post may contain affiliate links. Full  privacy policy and disclosure here.

20 Problem Solving Activities For Toddlers

Sorting games.

Provide objects or toys for toddlers to sort by color, shape, or size. This activity encourages critical thinking and classification skills as they group items into different categories.

Want to know more about the benefits of sorting? Read this.

Sensory Bins

Create sensory bins filled with materials like rice, beans, or water, along with scoops and containers. Toddlers can explore textures and practice problem-solving through sensory play.

Here are more sensory play ideas for kids .

Obstacle Courses

Set up simple obstacle courses using pillows, cushions, and other household items. Toddlers navigate these challenges, enhancing their problem-solving abilities and physical coordination.

Need some climbing toy ideas? check out this list.

Offer water play activities with cups, funnels, and toys. Toddlers can experiment with pouring, filling, and discovering the properties of water, promoting problem-solving through exploration.

Need more water play ideas? check out Water Table Activities For Toddlers and Exciting Bath Activities For Toddlers .

Nature Walks

Take toddlers on nature walks to observe and interact with the natural world. They can explore different elements like rocks, leaves, and insects, fostering curiosity and problem-solving.

Need more on nature adventures? Check out Nature Exploration Kits For Outdoor Learning !

Shape Matching

Provide shape sorting toys or puzzles for toddlers to match shapes to corresponding holes. This activity develops spatial awareness and problem-solving skills as they learn to recognize and fit shapes.

Want to know more about child development and shapes? Check out When Do Kids Learn Shapes?

Cooking Together

Involve toddlers in simple cooking activities such as mixing ingredients or assembling sandwiches. This hands-on experience encourages problem-solving and following instructions.

Check out the Benefits Of Cooking With Children to learn more!

Animal Matching

Introduce matching games with pictures or figurines of animals. Toddlers can pair animals together, enhancing their memory and problem-solving abilities through this interactive activity.

Engage toddlers in age-appropriate DIY crafts using materials like paper, glue, and recycled items. Crafting activities promote creative problem-solving and self-expression.

Check out Art And Craft Kits That Boost Creativity !

Story Sequencing

Use picture cards or storybooks to prompt toddlers to sequence events in a story. This activity enhances comprehension and problem-solving through storytelling.

By the way here are the 16 Worst Children’s Books to avoid.

Pattern Recognition

Create patterns using blocks, beads, or stickers for toddlers to replicate. This activity promotes critical thinking and pattern recognition skills.

Sensory Exploration

Offer sensory play with materials like playdough, slime, or kinetic sand. Toddlers can explore different textures, encouraging problem-solving through tactile experiences.

Check out Safe Playdough For Babies – Fun & Non-Toxic !

Block Stacking Challenges

Encourage toddlers to build towers or structures with blocks. This activity fosters spatial reasoning and problem-solving as they balance and stack blocks.

Blocks are an excellent teaching tool overall, but I LOVE to play blocks with my toddler. Check out Tips To Be More Playful With Your Toddler !

Color Mixing

Provide paint or colored water for toddlers to mix. They can experiment with creating new colors, promoting problem-solving and exploration of cause and effect.

Shadow Play

Use flashlights or natural light to create shadows. Toddlers can manipulate objects to explore and problem-solve, creating different shadow shapes.

Music and Movement

Engage toddlers in music and movement activities like dancing or playing instruments. This fosters problem-solving and creativity through rhythm and movement.

Outdoor Scavenger Hunts

Organize scavenger hunts in the backyard or park, challenging toddlers to find and collect items based on visual cues or descriptions, developing cognitive skills.

DIY Sensory Boards

Create sensory boards with textures like sandpaper, fabric, or bubble wrap. Toddlers can explore and problem-solve through tactile stimulation.

Building Bridges

Provide materials like blocks, cardboard, and tape for toddlers to construct bridges or ramps for toy cars or animals. This encourages problem-solving and engineering skills.

Imaginative Play Prompts

Offer props or costumes for toddlers to engage in imaginary play scenarios. This fosters problem-solving and creativity through role-playing and imaginative play.

Need more imagination play ideas? check out 75 Easy Imagination Games For Toddlers and Best Games To Play With Dolls !

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44 Powerful Problem Solving Activities for Kids

This post and its photos may contain affiliate links, view our  disclosure policy.

Inside: Tons of activities that will help boost kids’ problem-solving skills and make them super critical thinkers!

Table of Contents

Who doesn’t love a little challenge now and then? Especially if it’s for our kiddos! 

You see, problem-solving isn’t just for the puzzles and math sheets. It’s the magic stuff that shapes our little ones into big thinkers and doers. 

Yep, it’s pretty important!

With the right activities, we aren’t just sharpening kids’ brain muscles; we’re also enhancing their creativity, boosting their confidence and critical thinking skills, and (just maybe) buying ourselves five minutes to sip that coffee while it’s still hot. 

Stick around, and let’s dive into 44 simple activities to boost your child’s problem-solving skills while having a blast! 🚀💡

Gain access to our library of free printables!

Because we all want our kids to be happy and healthy — not just for right now, but for the rest of their lives.

Why is it Important to Learn Problem-Solving Strategies?

Importance of problem-solving abilities:

Navigating the maze of life requires many skills; it requires the ability to face challenges, find solutions, and adapt. 

This is where problem-solving enters the picture, and here’s why it’s so crucial for our kiddos:

Life is Full of Puzzles:  From tying shoes to understanding a new math concept, life constantly presents us with puzzles. Equipping our children with problem-solving skills ensures they can tackle each one confidently.

Boosts Independence:  As parents or educators, we won’t always be there to hand-hold. When kids can solve problems on their own, they gain a sense of independence, which is essential for their personal growth.

Develops Resilience:  Not every attempt to solve a problem will be successful. But with each try, children learn resilience, understanding that it’s okay to fail and important to try again.

Prepares for Real-World Challenges:  The real world isn’t a scripted playground. It’s unpredictable. By honing their problem-solving abilities, we’re preparing kids to face the unforeseen challenges of the world outside.

Enhances Cognitive Growth:  Otherwise known as cognitive development. Problem-solving isn’t just about finding solutions. It’s about thinking critically, analyzing situations, and making decisions. This cognitive workout helps in the overall brain development of our children.

Fosters Creativity:  There’s often more than one way to solve a problem. Encouraging kids to think outside the box helps them see things from different perspectives and nurtures their creative spirit, letting them see possibilities where others might see roadblocks.

Encourages Adaptability:  In the face of challenges, it’s important not just to find solutions but to be adaptable. As the world changes, kids with strong problem-solving skills can change with it, learning and growing along the way.

Builds Confidence :  Every problem solved is a victory, a testament to their capabilities. This builds a child’s self-esteem, making them believe in their ability to face and overcome obstacles.

So, while it may seem like just another skill on the list, problem-solving is a cornerstone for a well-rounded, resilient, and successful individual.

4 Simple Problem-Solving Steps We Should Know at a Young Age

Problem-solving steps can be thought of as the building blocks for tackling challenges. 

They’re like a set of instructions that  guide us  on our journey to finding different solutions. These steps provide a  roadmap  for kids, helping them break down big problems into smaller, more manageable pieces. 

By following these steps, children can learn  how  to think critically, make smart decisions, and even discover their own creative problem-solving superpowers. 

• First, we need to understand the problem, just like examining the pieces before we start building. 
• Next, we brainstorm – this is where we think of different solutions, like trying out various block combinations. Then comes the important part – evaluating the options. We must determine the best solution ,  just like choosing the right blocks for our structure. 
• After that, it’s time to put the plan into action, just like assembling the blocks to create something amazing. 
• Finally, we review and see if our solution works, making adjustments if needed. 

These problem-solving steps are like our trusty toolkit, helping us build our way to success with creativity and ingenuity.

Whether it’s figuring out a math puzzle, resolving a conflict with a friend, or coming up with a new game, these problem-solving steps will be a guide to helping kids take their next steps.

Featured resource

HeartSmart Social Emotional Curriculum

If you want a program that guides you on how to teach problem-solving along with other essential skills like self-regulation, respect, teamwork, conflict resolution, and more, check this out!

Best Problem-Solving Activities for Kids

In this guide, we have a cool mix of fun problem-solving activities. There are activities for inside, outside, playing in groups, and even on the computer! So take deep breaths, and let’s get to it!

44 Problem-Solving Activities for Kids

Problem-solving games for kids:, card games:.

These are more than just fun; they are brain boosters. In  Go Fish , the hunt for matching cards sharpens memory. While in the classic game  Uno , it’s all about plotting the right move to take the lead.

The Memory Game:

This game isn’t just about remembering; it’s about strategizing. Matching pairs means we’re not just recalling but also paying close attention. This boosts concentration, focus, and, of course, memory – essential skills for everyday challenges!

Try this animal matching memory game.

Classic  Board Games:

Whether it’s Chess , where every move counts, or  Monopoly ,  where every decision can make or break your game, these games teach foresight and strategy.

Maze Games :

Navigating a maze isn’t just about reaching the end; it’s about strategizing the route. These games enhance our ability to plan and foresee, invaluable skills in real-life situations.

Brain-Teasing Sudoku :

Sudoku   isn’t merely filling in numbers; it’s about using logic to deduce the correct sequence.

Tangram Puzzles: 

These aren’t your average puzzles. With Tangram, you shape a story, crafting images using geometric pieces.

Chess & Strategy-Based Games:

Think of these as mental workouts. Here, every step is a calculated decision, honing your ability to think multiple steps ahead.

For more fun:

• 20 Best Games for 4-Year-Olds
• 15 Board Games Every 9-Year-Old Will Love

Indoor Problem-Solving Activities for Kids

Complete simple tasks:.

Simple tasks are little jobs that you can do to practice problem-solving. 

• Matching Socks:  Sort through a pile of laundry to pair up matching socks.
• Grocery List Planning:  Help create a list for the week’s meals, considering everyone’s preferences.
• Toy Organization:  Sort toys into designated bins by type, size, or color.
• Packing Their School Bag:  Ensure they have all the necessary items for the next school day.
• Setting the Table:  Consider where each plate, fork, and glass should go.

Ask Open-Ended Questions:

Open-ended questions are special questions that don’t have just one answer. They make you think! For instance, instead of asking, “What color is the sky?” you might ask, “Why do you think the sky changes colors?”

Puzzle Games:

Try simple puzzles with fewer pieces for younger kids and more complex puzzles with more pieces for older kids! You figure out how to fit the pieces together, which helps your brain get stronger!

Puzzle games are also great for hand-eye coordination!

Pattern Recognition:

This is all about finding the special patterns in things. Imagine a puzzle with colors or shapes. You have to figure out the pattern to solve it.

Dress-Up and Role-Play:

When you dress up and pretend to be someone else, it’s like stepping into their shoes. You have to think about how they would act and problem-solve what they would say if you were them.

Shape Sorters:

Shape sorters  are super fun for young kids. You have to match each shape to the right hole. It’s like a puzzle for shapes! This helps you learn about different shapes and how they fit together.

Building Challenges:

Use Wooden blocks or legos and give kids a theme or structure to replicate. Great for all age groups!

Cooking or Baking:

Cooking and baking are like yummy science experiments! You follow recipes, mix ingredients, and even get to taste your creations. You must figure out how to follow and “solve” the recipe so that your creation tastes delicious!

“What If?” Scenarios:

Present hypothetical situations (e.g., “What if you were invisible for a day?”) and discuss possible solutions or actions.

Homemade Science Experiments:

Homemade science experiments are like being a scientist in your own lab! You get to try out cool experiments and discover how things work. 

Quick Experiment example:

Make Dancing Raisins:

• Clear soda (like Sprite or 7-Up)
• A clear glass
• Fill the glass with the soda.
• Drop a few raisins into the glass.

Result:  The raisins will initially sink, then start “dancing” up and down due to the carbon dioxide bubbles attaching and detaching from them.

Coding Activities: 

Coding is like giving a computer a set of clues to follow. Think of it as telling a story where the computer plays the main character, and your instructions guide its every move. It’s our way of communicating with machines to make them do amazing tasks!

Crossword Puzzles:

Crossword puzzles are fun little word challenges. You must fill in the blanks with the right words and use your smarts to solve tricky clues!

Complex Problems like Brain Teasers:

Brain teasers are like mental gymnastics, making you stretch and flex your thinking muscles. What’s fun about them? There’s often more than one way to reach an answer, so your imagination and logic both get a workout!

Goal Setting Activities:

Goal setting  is like making a special plan for what you want to achieve. 

Think of goal setting as charting out your very own treasure map, with no wrong answers! 

By laying out what you aim to achieve, you’re setting the course toward your treasure: success!

Goals, be they immediate or down the road, act like our personal compasses. They keep you on track and motivated. And every time you hit a goal? That’s you cracking a code and unlocking a new achievement in your adventure!

Setting SMART Goals

This engaging kit focuses on teaching essential skills for setting and  achieving smart goals,  just like breaking down that LEGO set into manageable sections. We help kids understand the importance of clear objectives, staying motivated, overcoming obstacles, embracing adaptability and more.

Math Challenges:

Think of math challenges as your brain’s personal gym session. These aren’t just any puzzles; they’re crafted to push those thinking caps to the limit. 

Debates (Best for older children):

Debates are friendly arguments where you defend your ideas with strong reasons. They’re excellent for problem-solving and for our social skills because they teach us how to think critically and consider different viewpoints. By defending our thoughts in a debate, we learn how to express ourselves clearly, listen to others, and find strong arguments to support our ideas!

Use Worksheets (Teach the Size of the Problem Concepts)

Teach concepts like the size of the problem to help kids determine if their reactions to problems are appropriate and what suitable solutions might be. Use fun visuals and problem-solving worksheets.

You can get this worksheet and more in our HeartSmart curriculum.

STEM Challenges: 

STEM challenges are games that use science, technology, engineering, and math to solve problems. They’re awesome for problem-solving because they let us be like inventors and builders. Kids can engage in creative play and design and create things, like bridges or machines, using our smarts and creativity. 

Outdoor Problem-Solving Activities for Kids

Nature scavenger hunt or treasure hunt: .

Create a list of natural items for kids to find. For added difficulty, give riddles as clues.

We have some awesome free Scavenger Hunt Bundles you can snag!

Free Scavenger Hunt Bundle

Download this set now, which includes four unique scavenger hunt games

Outdoor Obstacle Course: 

Use items like ropes, cones, and hula hoops to design a course that requires navigation.

Garden Planning & Planting :

Design a garden patch, deciding what to plant based on sunlight and spacing needs.

Map & Compass Orienteering:

Teach kids to use a map and compass, then set waypoints for them to find.

Water Relay Challenges:

Carry water from one bucket to another using a sponge or cup, navigating hurdles.

Campsite Setup Simulation Challenge:

Set up a mock campsite considering factors like wind direction, incline, and resource proximity.

Nature Art & Patterns:

Using twigs, leaves, stones, and more, create mosaic patterns or depictions.

Group Problem-Solving Activities for Kids

Tower of spaghetti:.

Using only spaghetti and marshmallows, groups compete to build the tallest stable tower.

Egg Drop Challenge:

Groups are provided with a set of materials (e.g., straws, tape, cotton) to create a protective casing for an egg, which is then dropped from a height.

Silent Line-Up:

Without speaking, kids must line up according to their birthdays or another criterion.

Group Story Time:

One child starts a story with a sentence or two, and each subsequent child adds on, weaving in unexpected twists and turns.

The Human Knot:

Kids stand in a circle, reach across, and grasp two different hands. The challenge is to untangle the knot without releasing hands.

Escape Room:

Everyone is ‘locked’ in a themed room and has to solve a series of clues and puzzles to ‘escape’ within a set time. It’s fantastic for problem-solving because it challenges critical thinking, teamwork, and creativity. Everyone must work together, think outside the box, and use their wits to solve the puzzles and complete the mission before time runs out!

Role-Playing Social Situations:

Role-playing helps you practice how to react and solve problems in different situations. Present the group with a fictional but realistic scenario (e.g., stranded on an island) and brainstorm and act out solutions.

By pretending to be in different roles, you can figure out the best ways to communicate, understand others, and find solutions to problems in a safe and fun way!

Blindfolded Obstacle Course:

In pairs, one blindfolded child is guided through an obstacle course by their partner using only verbal instructions.

Online and App-Based Problem Solving Activities

When tech meets intellect, the digital realm becomes a treasure trove of problem-solving wonder!

Educational Apps:

Best Apps by Age:

• Younger Kids : Dive into the mathematical world with “Moose Math” or kick-start programming concepts playfully with “Bee-Bot.”
• Older Kids: Amp up programming skills with “Cargo-Bot” or embark on a critical thinking journey with “Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure.”

Online Escape Rooms:

Just like physical escape rooms, but from the comfort of your home! They’re digital adventures, demanding clues to be solved to advance to the next level.

Check out these 10 Family Friendly Online Escape rooms here! I’m especially looking forward to Hogwarts Harry Potter Escape Room .

Virtual Logic Puzzles:

Websites that present logic problems and puzzles, leveling up in complexity as kids solve them.

Top Picks:  “Conceptis Puzzles,” “Math Playground Logic Games.”

Benefits: Perfect for sharpening deductive reasoning and pattern recognition.

Interactive E-Books:

These are not your everyday e-books. They demand interaction, choices, and decision-making to progress the story.

Suggestions:  “This Book is Perfect” or I love this big list of the best interactive books for kids.

Benefits: Enhance comprehension, decision-making, and experience of how choices shape outcomes.

Online Strategy Games:

These games demand planning, strategic thinking, and foresight.

Check out: “Fish Sticks Strategy Game”

Benefits: Apart from being immensely fun, they teach patience, strategy formulation, and long-term planning.

10 Examples of Problem-Solving Skills Young Children Should Have

Each of these skills not only helps kids tackle problems effectively but also equips them with abilities they’ll use throughout their lives.

• Critical Thinking:  Encourage young thinkers to examine situations, ask questions, and view things from different angles before reaching a conclusion.
• Decision-Making Skills:  Help children practice making choices by offering them options and discussing the potential outcomes of each decision.
• Creative Thinking:  Cultivate creativity by providing opportunities for imaginative play, artistic expression, and activities that encourage thinking outside the box.
• Communication Skills:  Show children how to express their thoughts,  feelings , and ideas clearly and effectively – a vital skill for problem-solving in social situations.
• Teamwork and Collaboration:  Foster the spirit of cooperation by encouraging children to work together on group activities or projects, which helps develop problem-solving skills as a team.
• Resourcefulness:  Challenge children to find alternative solutions using the available resources rather than relying solely on adult guidance.
• Flexibility and Adaptability:  Teach children how to adapt to changes and unexpected situations, which is crucial for effective problem-solving in real-world scenarios.
• Persistence:  Staying determined, even when faced with challenges, and continuing to try until a solution is found.
• Self-reflection:  Recognizing one’s own mistakes or misunderstandings in a situation and learning from them for future problem-solving.
• Active Listening:  Paying close attention to details when others speak, helping them understand problems more fully and respond effectively. 

Must read post:

How to Help Kids with Inflexible Thinking THRIVE

Tips for Parents and Educators: Nurturing Problem-Solving in Kids

When it comes to fostering problem-solving skills in children, both parents and educators play pivotal roles. It’s less about giving the right answers and more about asking the right questions. 

Encourage Curiosity.  Let kids explore questions like, “What do you think would happen if…?” or “How would you do it differently next time?”.

Embracing mistakes as learning opportunities can be a game-changer.

Set Up Scenarios.  Create environments or situations where kids can think and act independently. Whether it’s setting up a puzzle station at home or a role-play corner in the classroom, these controlled scenarios can stimulate their problem-solving faculties. Remember, it’s okay for them to struggle a bit. It’s through overcoming challenges that real learning occurs.

Lastly,  Be a Guide, Not a Director.  Instead of directing them step-by-step, guide them by providing hints or asking probing questions. This helps them develop the ability to analyze situations and think critically. As they grow, they’ll be more equipped to approach challenges with confidence and creativity. 

So, whether you’re a parent or an educator, remember that each day presents countless opportunities to bolster these invaluable skills. Embrace them!

Final Thoughts: Problem Solving Activities for Kids

Being a pro at problem-solving helps us face all types of curveballs life throws at us.

From untangling math puzzles to making big decisions, this skill is our trusty sidekick. And when life changes? No sweat! We can adapt and shine.

In short, mastering problem-solving helps us face challenges, make wise choices, and truly succeed in whatever we tackle!

I hope you enjoyed these problem-solving activities for kids. Tell me, what one is your favorite?

Because we all want our kids to be happy and healthy — not just for right now, but for the rest of their lives.

Tina Williamson is the published author of the growth mindset activity journal for kids - “ Amazing Me ” and the writer and founder here at Mindfulmazing. Passionate about raising mindful, resilient, and compassionate kids we are committed to sharing calming strategies, positive parenting tips, and growth mindset resources. Our resources are now used in over 10,000 homes, schools and counseling offices! Visit the shop here.  

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Developing Problem-Solving Skills for Kids | Strategies & Tips

We've made teaching problem-solving skills for kids a whole lot easier! Keep reading and comment below with any other tips you have for your classroom!

Problem-Solving Skills for Kids: The Real Deal

Picture this: You've carefully created an assignment for your class. The step-by-step instructions are crystal clear. During class time, you walk through all the directions, and the response is awesome. Your students are ready! It's finally time for them to start working individually and then... 8 hands shoot up with questions. You hear one student mumble in the distance, "Wait, I don't get this" followed by the dreaded, "What are we supposed to be doing again?"

When I was a new computer science teacher, I would have this exact situation happen. As a result, I would end up scrambling to help each individual student with their problems until half the class period was eaten up. I assumed that in order for my students to learn best, I needed to be there to help answer questions immediately so they could move forward and complete the assignment.

Here's what I wish I had known when I started teaching coding to elementary students - the process of grappling with an assignment's content can be more important than completing the assignment's product. That said, not every student knows how to grapple, or struggle, in order to get to the "aha!" moment and solve a problem independently. The good news is, the ability to creatively solve problems is not a fixed skill. It can be learned by students, nurtured by teachers, and practiced by everyone!

Your students are absolutely capable of navigating and solving problems on their own. Here are some strategies, tips, and resources that can help:

Problem-Solving Skills for Kids: Student Strategies

These are strategies your students can use during independent work time to become creative problem solvers.

1. Go Step-By-Step Through The Problem-Solving Sequence 

Post problem-solving anchor charts and references on your classroom wall or pin them to your Google Classroom - anything to make them accessible to students. When they ask for help, invite them to reference the charts first.

2. Revisit Past Problems

If a student gets stuck, they should ask themself, "Have I ever seen a problem like this before? If so, how did I solve it?" Chances are, your students have tackled something similar already and can recycle the same strategies they used before to solve the problem this time around.

3. Document What Doesn’t Work

Sometimes finding the answer to a problem requires the process of elimination. Have your students attempt to solve a problem at least two different ways before reaching out to you for help. Even better, encourage them write down their "Not-The-Answers" so you can see their thought process when you do step in to support. Cool thing is, you likely won't need to! By attempting to solve a problem in multiple different ways, students will often come across the answer on their own.

4. "3 Before Me"

Let's say your students have gone through the Problem Solving Process, revisited past problems, and documented what doesn't work. Now, they know it's time to ask someone for help. Great! But before you jump into save the day, practice "3 Before Me". This means students need to ask 3 other classmates their question before asking the teacher. By doing this, students practice helpful 21st century skills like collaboration and communication, and can usually find the info they're looking for on the way.

Problem-Solving Skills for Kids: Teacher Tips

These are tips that you, the teacher, can use to support students in developing creative problem-solving skills for kids.

1. Ask Open Ended Questions

When a student asks for help, it can be tempting to give them the answer they're looking for so you can both move on. But what this actually does is prevent the student from developing the skills needed to solve the problem on their own. Instead of giving answers, try using open-ended questions and prompts. Here are some examples:

2. Encourage Grappling

Grappling  is everything a student might do when faced with a problem that does not have a clear solution. As explained in this article from Edutopia , this doesn't just mean perseverance! Grappling is more than that - it includes critical thinking, asking questions, observing evidence, asking more questions, forming hypotheses, and constructing a deep understanding of an issue.

There are lots of ways to provide opportunities for grappling. Anything that includes the Engineering Design Process is a good one! Examples include:

• Engineering or Art Projects
• Design-thinking challenges
• Computer science projects
• Science experiments

3. Emphasize Process Over Product

For elementary students, reflecting on the process of solving a problem helps them develop a growth mindset . Getting an answer "wrong" doesn't need to be a bad thing! What matters most are the steps they took to get there and how they might change their approach next time. As a teacher, you can support students in learning this reflection process.

4. Model The Strategies Yourself! 

As creative problem-solving skills for kids are being learned, there will likely be moments where they are frustrated or unsure. Here are some easy ways you can model what creative problem-solving looks and sounds like.

• Ask clarifying questions if you don't understand something
• Admit when don't know the correct answer
• Talk through multiple possible outcomes for different situations 
• Verbalize how you’re feeling when you find a problem

Practicing these strategies with your students will help create a learning environment where grappling, failing, and growing is celebrated!

Problem-Solving Skill for Kids

Did we miss any of your favorites? Comment and share them below!

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Learn more about Kodable's free educator plan or create your free account today to get your students coding!

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In just a few minutes a day, kids can learn all about the fundamentals of Computer Science - and so much more! With lessons ranging from zero to JavaScript, Kodable equips children for a digital future.

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How to Teach Kids Problem-Solving Skills

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• Steps to Follow
• Allow Consequences

Whether your child can't find their math homework or has forgotten their lunch, good problem-solving skills are the key to helping them manage their life. 

A 2010 study published in Behaviour Research and Therapy found that kids who lack problem-solving skills may be at a higher risk of depression and suicidality.   Additionally, the researchers found that teaching a child problem-solving skills can improve mental health . 

You can begin teaching basic problem-solving skills during preschool and help your child sharpen their skills into high school and beyond.

Why Problem-Solving Skills Matter

Kids face a variety of problems every day, ranging from academic difficulties to problems on the sports field. Yet few of them have a formula for solving those problems.

Kids who lack problem-solving skills may avoid taking action when faced with a problem.

Rather than put their energy into solving the problem, they may invest their time in avoiding the issue.   That's why many kids fall behind in school or struggle to maintain friendships .

Other kids who lack problem-solving skills spring into action without recognizing their choices. A child may hit a peer who cuts in front of them in line because they are not sure what else to do.  

Or, they may walk out of class when they are being teased because they can't think of any other ways to make it stop. Those impulsive choices may create even bigger problems in the long run.

The 5 Steps of Problem-Solving

Kids who feel overwhelmed or hopeless often won't attempt to address a problem. But when you give them a clear formula for solving problems, they'll feel more confident in their ability to try. Here are the steps to problem-solving:  

• Identify the problem . Just stating the problem out loud can make a big difference for kids who are feeling stuck. Help your child state the problem, such as, "You don't have anyone to play with at recess," or "You aren't sure if you should take the advanced math class." 
• Develop at least five possible solutions . Brainstorm possible ways to solve the problem. Emphasize that all the solutions don't necessarily need to be good ideas (at least not at this point). Help your child develop solutions if they are struggling to come up with ideas. Even a silly answer or far-fetched idea is a possible solution. The key is to help them see that with a little creativity, they can find many different potential solutions.
• Identify the pros and cons of each solution . Help your child identify potential positive and negative consequences for each potential solution they identified. 
• Pick a solution. Once your child has evaluated the possible positive and negative outcomes, encourage them to pick a solution.
• Test it out . Tell them to try a solution and see what happens. If it doesn't work out, they can always try another solution from the list that they developed in step two. 

Practice Solving Problems

When problems arise, don’t rush to solve your child’s problems for them. Instead, help them walk through the problem-solving steps. Offer guidance when they need assistance, but encourage them to solve problems on their own. If they are unable to come up with a solution, step in and help them think of some. But don't automatically tell them what to do. 

When you encounter behavioral issues, use a problem-solving approach. Sit down together and say, "You've been having difficulty getting your homework done lately. Let's problem-solve this together." You might still need to offer a consequence for misbehavior, but make it clear that you're invested in looking for a solution so they can do better next time. 

Use a problem-solving approach to help your child become more independent.

If they forgot to pack their soccer cleats for practice, ask, "What can we do to make sure this doesn't happen again?" Let them try to develop some solutions on their own.

Kids often develop creative solutions. So they might say, "I'll write a note and stick it on my door so I'll remember to pack them before I leave," or "I'll pack my bag the night before and I'll keep a checklist to remind me what needs to go in my bag." 

Provide plenty of praise when your child practices their problem-solving skills.  

Allow for Natural Consequences

Natural consequences  may also teach problem-solving skills. So when it's appropriate, allow your child to face the natural consequences of their action. Just make sure it's safe to do so. 

For example, let your teenager spend all of their money during the first 10 minutes you're at an amusement park if that's what they want. Then, let them go for the rest of the day without any spending money.

This can lead to a discussion about problem-solving to help them make a better choice next time. Consider these natural consequences as a teachable moment to help work together on problem-solving.

Becker-Weidman EG, Jacobs RH, Reinecke MA, Silva SG, March JS. Social problem-solving among adolescents treated for depression . Behav Res Ther . 2010;48(1):11-18. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2009.08.006

Pakarinen E, Kiuru N, Lerkkanen M-K, Poikkeus A-M, Ahonen T, Nurmi J-E. Instructional support predicts childrens task avoidance in kindergarten .  Early Child Res Q . 2011;26(3):376-386. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2010.11.003

Schell A, Albers L, von Kries R, Hillenbrand C, Hennemann T. Preventing behavioral disorders via supporting social and emotional competence at preschool age .  Dtsch Arztebl Int . 2015;112(39):647–654. doi:10.3238/arztebl.2015.0647

Cheng SC, She HC, Huang LY. The impact of problem-solving instruction on middle school students’ physical science learning: Interplays of knowledge, reasoning, and problem solving . EJMSTE . 2018;14(3):731-743.

Vlachou A, Stavroussi P. Promoting social inclusion: A structured intervention for enhancing interpersonal problem‐solving skills in children with mild intellectual disabilities . Support Learn . 2016;31(1):27-45. doi:10.1111/1467-9604.12112

Öğülmüş S, Kargı E. The interpersonal cognitive problem solving approach for preschoolers .  Turkish J Educ . 2015;4(17347):19-28. doi:10.19128/turje.181093

American Academy of Pediatrics. What's the best way to discipline my child? .

Kashani-Vahid L, Afrooz G, Shokoohi-Yekta M, Kharrazi K, Ghobari B. Can a creative interpersonal problem solving program improve creative thinking in gifted elementary students? .  Think Skills Creat . 2017;24:175-185. doi:10.1016/j.tsc.2017.02.011

Shokoohi-Yekta M, Malayeri SA. Effects of advanced parenting training on children's behavioral problems and family problem solving .  Procedia Soc Behav Sci . 2015;205:676-680. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.09.106

By Amy Morin, LCSW Amy Morin, LCSW, is the Editor-in-Chief of Verywell Mind. She's also a psychotherapist, an international bestselling author of books on mental strength and host of The Verywell Mind Podcast. She delivered one of the most popular TEDx talks of all time.

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About toddler play and cognitive development

Play is vital for your toddler’s cognitive development – that is, your toddler’s ability to think, understand, communicate, make memories, imagine and work out what might happen next.

This is because play is one of the main ways that your toddler explores the world. Toddlers at play are experimenting, thinking, solving problems and learning all the time.

Spending time playing with your toddler is especially good for your toddler’s cognitive development. That’s because playing together builds your relationship and sends a simple but powerful message – you are important to me. This message is key to helping your toddler learn about who they are and where they fit in the world. It also gives your toddler confidence to keep exploring and learning about the world.

A warm and loving relationship with your toddler lays the foundation for all areas of your child’s learning and development.

What to expect: toddler cognitive development and play

Toddlers will probably:

• think you know what’s going on inside their minds
• have difficulty separating what’s real and what’s pretend – for example, they might be easily frightened by monsters in cartoons
• be curious and keen to experiment and explore unfamiliar things
• be able to use words like ‘dark’, ‘loud’, ‘hard’ or ‘heavy’ in the right way, and understand the meaning of these words by 3 years
• enjoy exploring all their senses – sight, sound, taste, touch and smell
• be able to follow simple instructions from 18 months
• use trial and error to start problem-solving – for example, if they can’t fit a puzzle piece in one spot, they might try it somewhere else
• have favourite books, stories and songs – so be prepared for a lot of requests to read or sing it ‘again’!

Toddlers are determined to try everything , even activities that might not be suitable for their age. They’re just trying to figure out how things work.

For example, at 12-16 months, your toddler will want to explore all toys and objects within reach – banging, dropping, pushing and shaking them to see what happens. A safe home environment will give your toddler the freedom to explore without getting hurt.

Your toddler might now understand that there are groups of things in the world. By about 16 months, your toddler might be able to sort objects into types – for example, by colour, shape or size. This helps with early maths thinking. Toys and household items like pegs and plastic cooking utensils are good for this kind of play.

Toddlers don’t know how all the concepts fit together. For example, your toddler can see that things flush down the toilet. But toddlers don’t realise that they themselves can’t be flushed down the toilet too. Or that if a leg rips off a favourite doll or teddy bear, the same doesn’t happen to a real person. Taking the time to explain these concepts can ease your toddler’s fears.

If you’re concerned about your toddler’s development, it’s a good idea to get help early. Talk with your GP , your child and family health nurse or your toddler’s early childhood educator .

Play ideas to support cognitive development in toddlers

It’s good to try plenty of different play activities with your toddler. This promotes cognitive development by giving your toddler many ways to learn about their world.

Here are everyday play ideas to support your toddler’s thinking and learning:

• Help your toddler put together basic puzzles.
• Give your toddler fun bath toys for measuring, scooping and pouring. You can talk about why some things sink and others float.
• Read books and recite nursery rhymes together. By 2 years, you can leave out words from your toddler’s favourite stories and ask your toddler to tell you what happens next.
• Sing simple songs that involve actions or animal sounds. For example, ‘Heads and shoulders’ or ‘Old MacDonald’ .
• Give your toddler things to sort, like coloured blocks, shapes or pegs , or plastic cups and containers of different sizes.
• Give your toddler toys with buttons to push to make something happen.
• Put together a box of materials for simple art and craft activities . This can include finger paint, crayons and paper, coloured chalk for drawing and writing on outdoor paths, scrap materials or playdough . Let your toddler decide what to make.
• Play outside in the backyard, at your local park or at the beach.

It’s a good idea to let your child take the lead with play , because toddlers learn best when they’re interested in an activity. When you follow your toddler’s lead, you can use your toddler’s interests to help them learn something new.

If your toddler is having difficulty with a play activity, you can ask what they might do next to solve the problem, or you can gently offer ideas. For example, ‘Where else could that puzzle piece fit? Have you tried turning it the other way?’ And celebrating effort will encourage your toddler to tackle new problems. For example, ‘Well done – you’ve found the right spot for it!’

Screen time, digital technology use and toddler cognitive development

Current national and international guidelines recommend that children under 2 years shouldn’t have screen time other than video-chatting with people they know. This is because very young children learn best through everyday experiences like physical play, outside play, creative play and social time with family and friends.

If you choose to let your older toddler have some digital play , it’s best to focus on making quality media choices for your toddler and sharing screen time and digital technology with them.

Problem Solving for Kids: How-To Guide, Activities & Strategies

Children need to be able to solve their own problems. In daily life, kids face a lot of set of social circumstances and challenges. Whether they’re trying to figure out how to make friends, deal with bullies, or solve academic problems, they need strong problem-solving skills to be successful.

Problem-solving is a critical life skill that all kids need to learn. By teaching them how to identify and solve problems on their own, you’ll be setting them up for success in school and in life.

What are Social Problem-Solving Skills?

Social problem-solving skills are a skill set that involves behavioral and cognitive processes which allow an individual to find adaptive and positive ways of handling problematic situations that can arise in the social environment in our daily life. These skills comprise an understanding of emotions, empathy, self-awareness, prosocial behavior, anger management, perspective-taking, establishing positive relationships, and so on.

Why It’s Important for Children to Learn the Skills to Problem-Solve

Social problem-solving skills are important for kids to learn because they allow them to cope with the various challenges they face in their social environments, such as peer pressure, bullying, and exclusion from social groups. In addition, these skills can help them resolve conflicts effectively and build positive relationships with others.

How to teach Problem-Solving skills

There are many ways to develop social problem-solving skills in kids . One way is to provide them with opportunities to practice these skills through different activities and games.

There are a few key things that parents and educators can do to help kids develop strong problem-solving skills:

Teach Children to Identify the Problem

One of the most important steps in solving any problem is being able to accurately identify what the problem is. This can be tricky for kids, especially if they’re feeling emotional about the situation. Help them by teaching them how to take a step back and look at the problem objectively.

Help Kids Brainstorm Solutions

Once kids can identify the problem, it’s time to start brainstorming possible solutions. This is where creativity and out-of-the-box thinking come in handy. Encourage kids to think of as many possible solutions as they can, no matter how far-fetched they might seem.

Help Kids Weigh the Pros and Cons

After Children can come up with a few potential solutions, it’s time to help them figure out which one is the best option. This is where critical thinking comes in. Teach kids how to weigh the pros and cons of each solution and make a decision based on logic, not emotions.

Help Kids Implement the Solution

The final step is helping kids actually implement the solution they’ve chosen. This might involve role-playing different scenarios, practicing what they would say or do, or writing out a plan. Whatever the case, be sure to provide support and guidance every step of the way.

Praise Kids

It’s essential to praise your child when they demonstrate social problem-solving skills. This will help him feel confident in his abilities and encourage him to continue using these skills.

Also, proper guidance and opportunities to practice problem-solving skills should be provided for kids to be efficient enough to solve problems on their own. In addition to providing opportunities for practice, it is also important to model problem-solving skills for your child. 

By following these tips, you can help your child develop strong social problem-solving skills that will serve him well throughout his life.

Problem-solving in Child Development

Most children go through similar phases of problem-solving as they develop. However, the timing may vary depending on the child’s individual temperament and circumstances.

Here are some common milestones:

• Ages 2-3: During the age of 2-3 years, kids begin to understand that problems can be solved. They also start to develop a sense of self-control and can begin to use words to express their emotions.
• Ages 3-4: By 3-4 years old, kids are usually better at problem-solving and can use more logical thinking. They’re also beginning to understand other people’s feelings and perspectives.
• Ages 4-5: Around 4-5 years old, kids can usually think of multiple solutions to a problem. They’re also starting to understand the concept of cause and effect.
• Ages 5-6: By 5-6 years old, most kids can apply problem-solving skills in their everyday lives. They’re also able to understand complex emotions and empathize with others.
• Ages 6-7: Around 6-7 years old, kids are usually able to understand even more complex emotions. They’re also starting to see the world from other people’s perspectives and can use this knowledge to solve problems.
• Ages 7-8: By 7-8 years old, kids are often able to solve problems quickly and efficiently. They’re also able to think abstractly and see the world from multiple perspectives.
• Ages 8-9: Around 8-9 years old, kids are usually able to solve problems independently. They’re also beginning to understand the concept of time and how it can be used to solve problems.
• Ages 9-10: By 9-10 years old, kids are often able to solve complex problems. They’re also able to think abstractly and see the world from multiple perspectives.
• Ages 10-11: Around 10-11 years old, kids are usually able to solve problems independently. They’re also beginning to understand the concept of time and how it can be used to solve problems.
• Ages 11-12: By 11-12 years old, kids are often able to solve complex problems. They’re also able to think abstractly and see the world from multiple perspectives.
• Ages 12-13: Around 12-13 years old, kids are usually able to solve problems independently. They’re also beginning to understand the concept of time and how it can be used to solve problems.

As children get older, they should be able to solve more complex problems. If you’re concerned about your child’s problem-solving abilities, talk to their doctor or a child development specialist.

 Social Problem-Solving Strategies

There are several strategies that can help children of primary age to solve problems. Some of them are as follows:

• Encouraging children to take turns and share. This strategy helps children to be more patient and to understand that other people have feelings too. It also allows them to share their own feelings and thoughts more openly.
• Helping children to understand and express their emotions. This strategy helps children to identify and understand their own emotions , as well as the emotions of others. It also allows them to express their emotions in a more positive way.
• Teaching children how to compromise. This strategy helps children to understand that sometimes it is necessary to give up something in order to get something else. It also teaches them how to negotiate and how to reach an agreement with others.
• Encouraging children to think about other people’s perspectives. This strategy helps children to understand that other people have different points of view. It also allows them to see the world from another person’s perspective and to empathize with others.
• Helping children to understand and follow rules. This strategy helps children to understand that there are certain rules that must be followed in order to maintain order and peace. It also teaches them how to respect the rules of others.
• Teaching children how to improve their skills to problem-solve. This strategy helps children to understand that there are many ways to solve a problem. It also teaches them how to think creatively and to come up with their own solutions.

These are just a few of the social problem-solving strategies that can help children of primary age to solve problems. For more information, please talk to your child’s doctor or a child development specialist.

Social Problem-Solving Skills Activities

Games and activities for socialization are an excellent way for children for learning how to behave in social surroundings such as school or in the community.

It is essential for children to learn how to take turns, share, cooperate and resolve conflicts.

Here are some activities to improve social problem-solving skills for children of different age groups:

Social Problem-solving Activities for Preschoolers

Preschoolers are very young and need a lot of help to learn social problem-solving skills. The following activities are fun and will help them develop problem-solving skills.

• Circle Time: This is a great activity for kids to learn how to take turns and share. Give each child a turn to be in the center of the circle and share something about themselves such as their favorite color, food , animal, etc.
• Simon Says: This classic game is a great way for kids to listen and follow instructions. It also helps with problem-solving skills as they have to figure out what Simon is saying.
• Role-Playing: This is a great activity for kids to learn how to resolve conflicts. Have kids act out different scenarios such as sharing toys or taking turns. After each scene, discuss what happened and how the conflict could have been resolved.

Social Problem-solving Activities for Kindergarteners

Kindergarteners are still very young. So, they may need assistance when it comes to social problem-solving skills.

The following activities will give them a chance to practice these skills in a safe and fun environment.

• Cooperative Building: Have the kids work together in small groups to build towers or houses out of blocks or Legos. This activity will help them learn to share, take turns, and cooperate with others.
• Role-Playing: Act out different social situations with puppets or toys. For example, one child can be the customer in a store and the other children can take turns being the salesperson. This activity will help kids learn how to handle different social situations.
• Feelings Matching: Cut out pictures of people with different facial expressions from magazines or newspapers. Ask the kids to match the pictures with the corresponding feeling words (e.g., happy, sad, mad, etc.). This activity will help kids learn to identify and understand different emotions.

Social Problem-solving Activities for School-Aged Kids

As kids get older, they become more independent and are able to handle more complex social situations.

The following activities will help them practice their social problem-solving skills.

• Brainstorming: This activity can be done individually or in a group. Give your child a scenario and have them come up with as many solutions as possible. For example, “Your best friend just cancelled your play date. What are three things you could do?”
• Exercising empathy: It’s important for kids to be able to empathize with others and see things from their perspective. When they’re struggling to solve a problem, help them think about how the other person is feeling. For example, “Your friend might be feeling upset too. Maybe you can talk to her about why she cancelled the play date.
• Problem Solving Games: Games are a fun way to teach children the skills of solving problems. Try playing some classic board games like Chutes and Ladders or Candyland, which require players to make decisions and strategize. There are also many great online games, like Mission to Mars and Robot City, that help kids practice problem-solving.
• Discussing Problem-Solving Skills: As a family, discuss different problem-solving strategies. For example, “If you’re ever feeling overwhelmed or don’t know what to do, take a deep breath and think about what would be the best thing to do in that situation.”
• Model Good Problem-Solving Skills: As a parent, you are your child’s biggest role model. So, it’s important to model good problem-solving skills yourself. Whenever you’re faced with a problem, talk aloud about how you’re going to solve it. For example, “I’m having trouble finding my keys. I think I’ll check the couch first and then look in the car.”
• Encourage positive thinking: Help your child look on the bright side by encouraging them to think of the positive outcomes of a situation. For example, “Even though your play date was cancelled, you now have some free time to do something else you enjoy.
• Practice: It’s important to give kids opportunities to use their problem-solving skills in everyday life. When they’re faced with a social challenge, take a step back and let them try to figure it out on their own. Of course, be there to support them if they need help.

Social Problem-solving Activities for High-School Students 

High-school students often face a variety of social problems. They may have difficulty making friends, fitting in with classmates, or dealing with bullies.

Some students may also struggle with more serious issues, such as gangs, drugs, or violence.

There are a number of activities that can be used to help high-school students with improving their social problem-solving skills. These are as follows:

• Peer Mediation: This activity involves two or more students who are in conflict with each other. The mediator(s) helps the students to communicate with each other and find a resolution to the problem.
• Role-Playing: This is a great activity for helping high-school students to understand different perspectives. Students can take on the role of the person they are in conflict with, and then discuss how they would feel in that situation.
• Problem-Solving Groups: These groups usually consist of 4-6 students who meet to discuss a particular problem. The group leader(s) helps the students to brainstorm solutions and come up with a plan of action.
• Attending Debates: Debates can be a great way for high-school students to learn about different perspectives on social issues. Students can also practice their own argumentative and problem-solving skills by participating in debates.
• Service Learning: This is a type of community service that helps high-school students to understand and address social problems. Students typically work with organizations that focus on issues such as poverty, homelessness, or hunger.

Cultivating Resilience in Children

Developing resilience in children is a key aspect of nurturing their emotional health and equipping them to face life’s challenges head-on. It involves helping them understand that difficulties and setbacks are a normal part of life, and they can grow stronger from overcoming them.

By fostering a secure and loving environment, and by being role models of resilience ourselves, we can instill in children the ability to adapt to change and cope with stress.

One effective method to cultivate resilience in children is by encouraging them to express their feelings and thoughts openly.

Providing a safe space where they feel heard and understood helps them to understand their emotions better, which is a crucial step in resilience building. It’s important to validate their feelings, not minimize them, as it teaches them that it’s normal to experience different emotions, and it’s okay to discuss them.

Another significant way to build resilience is by teaching problem-solving skills. Guiding children through the process of identifying a problem, brainstorming possible solutions, choosing the best one, and reflecting on the outcome can equip them with valuable life skills.

As they practice, they will become more adept at facing challenges, whether big or small, and this boosts their confidence and self-efficacy. The beauty of resilience is that it isn’t an inherent trait; it’s a skill that can be learned and cultivated, one challenge at a time.

Teaching social problem-solving skills can help high-school students learn how to handle these types of situations. These skills can also help them in other areas of their lives, such as dealing with family conflict or managing their emotions.

Through these activities, high-school students can learn important problem-solving skills that will help them in their everyday lives.

There are many different activities that you can do to help your child develop problem-solving skills. Choose activities that are appropriate for your child’s age and interests.

And, most importantly, have fun!

Tips, D. (2022). Developing Problem-Solving Skills for Kids | Strategies & Tips | Kodable Blog. Retrieved 6 June 2022, from https://www.kodable.com/learn/problem-solving-skills-for-kids/

How to Teach Problem-Solving Skills to Children and Preteens. (2022). Retrieved 6 June 2022, from https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/how-teach-problem-solving-strategies-kids-guide#:~:text=Allow%20your%20child%20to%20choose,the%20process%20of%20problem%2Dsolving .

Teaching Kids How to Solve Their Own Problems and Make Good Decisions. (2022). Retrieved 6 June 2022, from https://www.verywellfamily.com/teach-kids-problem-solving-skills-1095015

(2022). Retrieved 6 June 2022, from https://www.werockthespectrumkidsgym.com/social-skills-activities-that-teach-kids-problem-solving/

srivastava, m., & srivastava, m. (2022). 12 Problem-Solving Activities For Toddlers And Preschoolers. Retrieved 6 June 2022, from https://www.momjunction.com/articles/problem-solving-activities-for-toddlers_00795607/

20 Evidence-Based Social Skills Activities and Games for Kids. (2022). Retrieved 6 June 2022, from https://www.positiveaction.net/blog/social-skills-activities-and-games-for-kids

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10 Simple Activities to Teach Your Preschooler Problem Solving

By: Author Tanja McIlroy

Posted on Last updated: 5 June 2024

Categories Activities for Preschoolers & Kindergarteners

During the first years of a child’s life, an important set of cognitive skills known as problem-solving abilities are developed. These skills are used throughout childhood and into adulthood.

Find out what problem solving is, why it’s important and how you can develop these skills with 10 problem-solving games and activities.

What is Problem Solving in Early Childhood?

So, what exactly is problem solving? Quite simply, it refers to the process of finding a solution to a problem .

A person uses their own knowledge and experience, as well as the information at hand to try and reach a solution. Problem solving is therefore about the thought processes involved in finding a solution.

This could be as complex as an adult working out how to get out of a financial crisis or as simple as a child working out how two blocks fit together.

Problem Solving Skills for Kids

Problem-solving skills refer to the specific thinking skills a person uses when faced with a challenge. Some problems require the use of many skills, while others are simple and may only require one or two skills.

These are some examples of problem-solving skills for preschoolers , as listed by kent.ac.uk .

• Lateral thinking
• Analytical thinking
• Decision-making skills
• Logical reasoning
• Persistence
• Communication skills
• Negotiation skills

The Importance of Developing Problem-Solving Skills in Early Childhood

Problem solving is a skill that would be difficult to suddenly develop as an adult. While you can still improve a skill at any age, the majority of learning occurs during the early years.

Preschool is the best time for a child to learn to problem solve in a fun way. The benefits of learning early will last a lifetime and the beauty of learning anything at a young age is that it is effortless .

It is like learning to play an instrument or picking up a new language – it’s just much easier and more natural at an early age.

Of all the many things preschoolers need to learn , what makes problem solving so important?

There aren’t many situations in life, at work or at school that don’t require some level of problem resolution.

Child’s play itself is filled with opportunity upon opportunity to solve all kinds of tricky situations and come up with solutions to challenges.

Problem Solving in Preschool

During the foundational years, children are constantly solving problems as they play .

Here are just a few examples of problem solving in early childhood :

• Resolving a fight over the same toy
• Reaching a ball that’s stuck in the tree
• Forming a circle while holding hands
• Making a bridge to connect two block towers
• Tying or untying a shoe
• Making up rules for a new game
• Trying to get the consistency of a mud cake right so it stops falling over

The more creative play opportunities and challenges children are given, the more they get to exercise their problem-solving muscles.

During free play , there are non-stop experiences for this, and parents and teachers can also encourage specific problem-solving skills through guided activities .

Problem Solving for Older Children

During the grades, children experience problems in many forms, some of which may be related to their academic, social and emotional well-being at school. Problems may come in the form of dealing with life issues, such as:

• Problems with friendships
• Struggling to understand something during a lesson
• Learning to balance the demands of sport and homework
• Finding the best way to study for a test
• Asking a teacher for help when needed

Problems will also form a large part of academic life as teachers will be actively developing this skill through various activities, for example:

• Solving a riddle or understanding a work of literature
• Working on projects with a friend
• Finding solutions during science experiments
• Solving mathematical problems
• Solving hypothetical problems during lessons
• Answering questions and completing exam papers

Children who have had practice during preschool will be a lot more capable when facing these challenges.

Solving Problems in Mathematics

Mathematics needs to be mentioned separately as although it is part of schooling, it is such a huge part and it depends heavily on a child’s ability to solve problems.

The entire subject of mathematics is based on solving problems. Whether you are adding 2 and 3, working out how many eggs will fit into each basket, or solving an algebraic expression, there is a problem in every question.

Mathematics is just a series of problems that need to be solved.

What we refer to as problem solving in Maths is usually answering word problems .

The reason many children find these so difficult to answer is that the question is presented as a problem through a story, rather than just numbers with symbols telling you what operation to use (addition, division, etc.)

This means a child is forced to think carefully, understand the problem and determine the best way to solve it.

These problems can involve various units (e.g. mass, capacity or currency) as well as fractions, decimals, equations and angles, to name a few. Problems tend to become more and more complex over the years.

My experience in the classroom has shown that many, many children struggle with solving word problems, from the early grades right into the senior years.

They struggle to analyze the question, understand it, determine what information they’ve been given, and what exactly they are required to solve.

The good news is that exposing a child to regular problem-solving activities and games in preschool can greatly help him to solve word problems later on in school.

If you need one good reason to do these kinds of activities, let it be for a smoother experience in mathematics – a subject so many children unnecessarily fear.

Problem Solving in the Workplace

Adults in the workplace seldom thrive without problem-solving skills. They are required to regularly solve problems .

As adults, employees are expected to independently deal with the frequent challenges, setbacks and problems that are a big part of every working environment.

Those who can face and solve their own problems will go further and cope better than those who seek constant help from others or cannot show initiative.

Some  career websites even refer to problem solving as a universal job skill. They also mention that many employees are not good at it. 

Again, although it may seem far removed, learning this skill at a young age will help a child cope right into adulthood and in the working world.

How to Teach Children Problem-Solving Skills

If early childhood is the best time to grow these skills in your young children, then how does one go about teaching them to toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarteners?

Problem solving can be taught in such a way that you expose your child to various opportunities where they will be faced with challenges.

You would not necessarily sit your 3-year-old down and tell or “teach” him all about fixing problems. Instead, you want to create opportunities for your child to grow this skill .

Using the brain to think and find solutions is a bit like working a muscle over time. Eventually, your muscle gets stronger and can handle more “ weight. ” Your child will learn to problem solve in two ways:

• Incidentally – through free play
• Through guided opportunities provided by a parent or teacher

If you make a point of encouraging thinking through games and activities, your child will develop stronger skills than if you let it all happen incidentally.

Problem-Solving Strategies and Steps

If we take a look at the steps involved in solving a problem, we can see that there are many layers involved and different types of skills. Here are the problem-solving steps according to the University of Ken. 

Step 1: Identify the problem

Step 2: Define the problem

Step 3: Examine the options

Step 4: Act on a plan

Step 5: Look at the consequences

Therefore, activities at a preschool level need not present complicated high-level problems.

• A simple activity such as identifying differences in a picture can work on the first skill needed – identifying a problem.
• Playing with construction toys can develop a child’s ability to try various solutions and examine the options when faced with a problem such as trying to find the best way to build something.
• Playing Tic-Tac-Toe would make a child predict the consequences of placing their mark in a particular square.

The most basic of activities can work on all these skills and make children competent solution finders.

How to Teach Problem Solving with Questions

The language you use around your child and your questioning technique will also greatly affect their understanding of a problem or challenge as merely something waiting for a solution to be found .

While your child is playing or when she comes to you with a problem, ask open-ended questions that will guide her in finding a potential answer independently. Use the steps listed above to formulate your questions.

Here are some examples of questions:

• What do you think made the tower of blocks fall down?
• If we build it again, how can we change the structure so that it won’t fall down next time?
• Is there a better way we can do it? If you think of a different way, we can both try it and see which works better.
• Did that work? The tower fell again so let’s try another solution.

Resist the temptation to fix every one of your child’s problems, including conflict with friends or siblings. These are important opportunities for children to learn how to resolve things by negotiating, thinking and reasoning.

With time, your child will get used to seeing a problem, understanding it, weighing up the options, taking action and evaluating the consequences.

Problems will be seen as challenges to be faced logically and not “problems.”

10 Problem-Solving Activities for Preschoolers

Here are 10 simple, easy games and problem solving activities for kids at home or at school. Many of them are the kinds of activities children should have daily exposure to.

Puzzles are one of the best thinking activities out there. Each puzzle is basically one big set of muddled-up things to be sorted out and put back together again. Find out why puzzles are important for development .

Children should have regular exposure to puzzles. They are great for developing thinking skills.

The best types to choose are sturdy, wooden puzzles with a board. They last longer and the frame provides a structure to guide children when building.

2. Memory games

Memory games will develop your child’s memory and attention to detail.

Use pairs of matching pictures and turn them all face down, shuffled, on a table. Take turns choosing any two cards and turning them face up on the table. If you turn over a matching pair you keep the cards and if the pair doesn’t match, turn the cards back over until it is your turn to try again.

Encourage your child to concentrate and pay attention to where the pictures are and try to find a matching pair on each turn. 

(Get your own set of printable memory card games here!)

3. Building with Construction Toys

Construction toys such as engineering blocks, a proper set of wooden blocks or Legos (shown below) should be a daily staple in your home.

Everything your child builds is a challenge because it requires thinking about what to build and how to put the pieces together to get a design that works and is functional.

Leave your child to construct freely and occasionally set a challenge and ask him to build a specific structure, with conditions. For example:

• Make two towers with a bridge joining them together
• Build a creature that stands on its own and has 3 arms.

Then watch your child wracking his brain until he finds a way to make his structure work.

4.  Activity Books

These activity books are really fun and develop a child’s ability to identify problems and search for information.

5. Following Patterns

This simple activity can be played with a set of coloured blocks, shapes or counters.

Simply make a pattern with the blocks and ask your child to continue it. Vary the pattern by changing the colours, shapes or sizes.

This activity will train your child to analyse the given information, make sense of it, recognise the pattern and re-create it.

6. Story Time Questions

Get into the habit of asking questions during your daily story time that develop higher-order thinking skills . Instead of just reading and your child passively listening, ask questions throughout, concentrating on solving problems.

Here are some examples:

• Why do you think the bear did that?
• Do you think his friend will be happy? Why?
• What would you do if you were the monkey?
• How do you think Peter can make things better with his friend?
• If the crocodile had decided not to eat the rabbit, how could the story have ended?

7. Board Games

Board games are an excellent way to develop problem-solving skills.

Start off with simple games like Ludo and Snakes and Ladders to teach the skill of following rules and moving in a logical sequence.

Card games like Go Fish are also great for teaching young children to think ahead and solve problems.

8.  Tic-Tac-Toe

This is a perfect game to teach decision-making skills , thinking before acting and weighing up the possible consequences.

Use a Tic Tac Toe Board or d raw a simple table like the one above on paper or a chalkboard.

Take turns to add a nought or a cross to the table and see who can make a row of three first.

Your child will probably catch on in no time and start thinking carefully before placing their symbol. This game can also be played with coloured counters or different objects.

9. Classifying and Grouping Activities

This activity can be done with a tin of buttons or beads or even by unpacking the dishwasher. The idea is to teach the skill of classifying and categorizing information by learning with physical objects. Here are some other ideas for categorizing:

• Separate the washing – mom’s clothes, dad’s clothes, etc; or socks, tops, shorts, etc.
• Empty out the cutlery drawer for cleaning, mix all the utensils up and then sort into knives, tablespoons, teaspoons, etc.
• Classify and sort out the toys in your child’s bedroom together – all books, construction toys, soft toys, etc.
• Play category games .

Here are more button activities for kids .

10. Building a Maze

This activity is lots of fun and suitable for any age. It is also going to be way more fun than doing a maze in an activity book, especially for younger children.

Draw a big maze on the paving with sidewalk chalk . Make passages, including one or two that end in a dead-end. Teach your kids to find their way out .

As your child gets better at figuring out a route and finding the way out, make the maze more complex and add more dead-end passages.

Are you a preschool teacher or working in Early Childhood Education? Would you like to receive regular emails with useful tips and play-based activity ideas to try with your children? Sign up for the newsletter!

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Friday 3rd of June 2022

hi maam , This Is Uma from India,Can i get this in pdf format or a book. Thank You

Tanja Mcilroy

Monday 6th of June 2022

Hi Uma, thanks for your message. These articles are not available in PDF, but you are welcome to copy and paste them from the website, as long as you add the reference: https://empoweredparents.co/problem-solving-activities-preschoolers/ Thanks for reading!

Wednesday 20th of May 2020

Very very useful content. Good work. Thank you.

Friday 22nd of May 2020

Thanks Ann.

Tuesday 19th of May 2020

Would like to download the free activity pack please.

Hi Kelly, Please download the activity pack on this page: www.empoweredparents.co

You Can Do It: Teaching Toddlers Problem-Solving Skills

Problem-solving skills are necessary for early childhood development

Problem-solving skills build upon how toddlers sense, think, and understand the world around them, making them vital for early childhood development. By being active participants in exploration, toddlers learn to make connections they can apply to other areas of life through new experiences.

Luckily, curiosity and play-based activities come naturally to toddlers. But you can encourage them to develop problem-solving skills by showing them exercises and activities that will inspire them to think creatively and critically.

Identify the problem

Problem-solving means finding solutions to a problem. And the ability to solve problems requires mental development, which toddlers need to think, communicate, and take action.

In terms of cognitive development, problem-solving skills include the following:

• Analytical thinking, breaking down a problem into manageable parts
• Lateral thinking, solving problems creatively
• Decision-making
• Logical reasoning
• Persistence
• Communication
• Negotiation

Toddlers are like little scientists constantly experimenting with cause and effect, socially and physically. This interest is a marker for the development of problem-solving skills, so keep their natural efforts focused to encourage their problem-solving.

Determine the solution

Although as adults we are inclined to help toddlers, letting them solve problems on their own helps them learn better problem-solving skills. Independence will also encourage them to develop the confidence needed for more advanced problem-solving.

The language you use to address a toddler or answer their questions also presents an opportunity to teach problem-solving. Ask a toddler for their opinion on or interpretation of a problem, and make an effort to guide them toward their own solution. Ask questions that start with   what ,   why ,   how ,   when ,   where , and   who , and look to them for answers.

Aside from giving a toddler independence to play and learn, consider the following simple activities to promote their problem-solving:

• Working with blocks, nesting boxes, or stacking rings
• Putting together puzzles
• Playing hide-and-seek with objects
• Grouping like items together
• Engaging in imaginative play with household objects
• Playing games such as Simon Says, Tic-Tac-Toe, or spot the difference between two similar pictures
• Playing dress-up
• Drawing in their own book
• Doing simple chores such as wiping counters or sweeping
• Stringing macaroni, cereal, or chunky beads
• Building forts from boxes or sheets
• Matching animals with their sounds
• Playing memory games
• Answering story-time questions

Challenging a toddler to solve problems doesn’t need to be difficult or expensive, but you should do so while they’re still young. Investing time and effort into helping them learn these skills now will give them a foundation to overcome obstacles independently throughout life.   The VA Infant & Toddler Specialist Network helps improve the quality of care for infants and toddlers through extensive resources, services, and education for caregivers.   Learn more   about how we can help you improve the standard of care.

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Problem Solving Activities for Preschoolers

Colleen beck otr/l.

• by Colleen Beck OTR/L
• October 22, 2021

It can be frustrating when children act without thinking of the consequences. In this blog post, you’ll learn about the development of problem solving in specific parts of our brain, discover important aspects of executive functioning that impact problem solving abilities, how to teach problem solving to preschoolers, and problem solving activities for preschoolers and young children so they can use words instead of the preschooler’s behaviors  or tantrums.

Best of all, many of our favorite fine motor activities for preschoolers support problem solving skills in early childhood.

Problem Solving Activities for Preschoolers

Before we get into the problem solving activities for preschoolers, and specific strategies to use in early childhood, it’s important to understand the development of the problem-solving process in kids. Supporting small children by giving them the skills to be problem solvers takes time and practice. We’ll get to those specific strategies below.

But first, does this scenario sound familiar at all…

I just don’t understand why Johnny keeps throwing the ball in the house. Doesn’t he realized that he could break the window? Johnny is three and he loves to play with his tennis ball in the house. Even though I have told him over and over again that we don’t throw them in the house, I still catch him sneaking them indoors at least once a week. 

Before we can address problem solving by helping kids look at the big picture and coming up with creative solutions for problem solving issues, we need to understand what is happening developmentally. Self-reflection is a challenging cognitive skill, and for young learners! 

Let’s take a better look at the development of problem solving skills…

Development of Problem Solving Skills

It’s through play, observation of others, and practice that young learners are developing problem solving skills in early childhood .

Problem solving, rational thinking and reasoning are all skills that are controlled by a part of our brain called the prefrontal cortex. Our brains grow exponentially over the first five years of life, but not the part of our brain that helps us with critical thinking and problem solving skills. This part of our brain, called the prefrontal cortex, isn’t fully developed until we turn 25 years old! 

As babies, we are exposed every day to new experiences, but at this age we don’t comprehend how these experiences affect us and those around us. If only children could think through their problems. This resource on executive functioning skills offers more information.

Have you noticed that it can be a bit scary when teenagers get their drivers licenses? They don’t always think of “what might happen.” This is due to their prefrontal cortex not being fully developed. 

But what about our three and four year olds? We know they can count, ask questions and get the cookie off the counter in a very sneaky way when we aren’t looking. In the Early Years study of 2011 called Making decisions, Taking action , they describe the prefrontal cortex entering a rapid period of development, making critical interconnections with our limbic system. (link: )

This study states “The prefrontal cortex pathways that underlie these capacities are unique to human brains and take a long time to mature. Early connections begin in infancy. Between age 3 and 5 years, the prefrontal cortex circuits enter a rapid period of development and make critical interconnections with the limbic system. During adolescence and early adulthood, the neural pathways are refined and become more efficient.”

What is so great about this part of the brain anyway? 

As the prefrontal cortex (that is located behind out eyes) develops over the years, we are able to engage with situations differently, assessing our surroundings in a new way. As we develop these new executive functioning skills, we are able to keep ourselves safe, build friendships and become successful in our careers.

Related, these friendship activities for preschoolers offers ideas and strategies to support social emotional development.

This peer reviewed report competed by Merve Cikili Utyun, called Development Period of Prefrontal Cortex, discusses how amazing this part of our brain is, and how each of the three sections control different aspects of our functioning. It states that: 

“ PFC includes the following Broadman Areas (BA): 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 44, 45, 46, 47. “The dorsolateral frontal cortex (BA) 9/46 has been functioned in many cognitive process, including processing spatial information, monitoring and manipulation of working memory, the implementation of strategies to facilitate memory, response selection, the organization of material before encoding, and the verification and evaluation of representations that have been retrieved from long-term memory. 

The mid-ventrolateral frontal cortex (BA 47) has implicated cognitive functions, including the selection, comparison, and judgment of stimuli held in short-term and long-term memory, processing non-spatial information, task switching, reversal learning, stimulus selection, the specification of retrieval cues, and the ‘elaboration encoding’ of information into episodic memory.

BA 10, the most anterior aspect of the PFC, is a region of association cortex known to be involved in higher cognitive functions, such as planning future actions and decision-making. BAs 44 and 45, include part of the inferior frontal and these regions’ functions are language production, linguistic motor control, sequencing, planning, syntax, and phonological processing.

Finally, the orbitofrontal cortex mostly (BA 47, 10, 11, 13) in the orbitofrontal cortex has been implicated in processes that involve the motivational or emotional value of incoming information, including the representation of primary (unlearned) reinforcers such as taste, smell, and touch, the representation of learnt relationships between arbitrary neutral stimuli and rewards or punishments, and the integration of this information to guide response selection, suppression, and decision making.” 

Wow! No wonder it takes so long for this part of our brain to fully develop. Problem solving skills in preschoolers take time to develop!

When Johnny is throwing the ball inside the house, he is thinking about what is happening now, in the present. Not what has happened in the past (when he broke the window at grandmas house a year ago) or that breaking a window might happen in the future. 

What are some problem solving techniques?

Solving problems is a skill that all preschoolers need support with. This critical skill doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and practice to become second nature.

It’s hard for us, as adults, to remember that children ages 3-5 (preschool-aged) don’t yet have the brain capacity to problem solve on their own, or remember what they learned from a situation a week ago. 

Just like when Andrew was painting at the easel and his paintbrush got stuck in the container. Instead of asking for help or trying to “unstick” the brush, he screamed.  Or when Sally and Samantha ran outside to grab the red bouncy ball, Samantha screamed when Sally grabs it first. She didn’t see the other red bouncy ball in the bucket next to the bikes. 

Try some of these problem solving activities for  kids :

Observation- Children need problem solving strategies that they can observe, and then practice in their everyday lives. Let kids see you talk through problems as you “figure out” a solution. This gives children a chance to see a problem-solving approach in real life situations. They get to see problem solving scenarios in action.

Repetition- Repetition supports brain growth in every area of development including problem solving, executive functioning, motor development, language skills and social development.

Multisensory Activities- Children learn best with multi-sensory cues, learning new skills through seeing, touching, hearing and experiencing the skills they are learning. In 2013, the US National Library of Medicine published an article titled  Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat.  stating “The prefrontal cortex acquires information from all of the senses and orchestrates thoughts and actions in order to achieve specific goals.” (link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3621648/)

Creative Activities- Solving problems is a skill that all preschoolers need support with. It’s hard for us, as adults, to remember they don’t yet have the brain capacity to problem solve on their own. The best way to teach children how to problem solve, it to create activities that support these new skills in a positive way, that their developing brain understands. This letter to future self is one activity to work on goal achievement even at a young age. Preschoolers can draw a picture of what they would like to do or be as an older child or as a teenager or adult.

Problem Solving Activities for Preschool

Here are 3 Simple Ways to Teach Preschoolers to Solve Problems

1.Teaching executive functioning and problem solving skills in everyday situations will support the growth of a child’s prefrontal cortex. For example, these activities that teach executive functioning at the beach show how much thought and preparation goes into building a simple sand castles.

• Children have to think about how much sand to use, how to keep it standing, how to prevent sand from getting into their eyes and how to create another one if the one they are building falls down.
• They must create, plan ahead, problem solve when things get tough and communicate to adults and peers for help.

What other activities does your child do on a regular basis that requires all areas of the prefrontal cortex to activate?

2.When children become upset, their emotions become so overwhelming that they can’t think. In order to calm down and problem solve, they need to access a multi sensory way to help them remember how to do that.

Soothing Sammy gives children tactile and visual cues that remind them how to calm down and problem solve in a developmentally appropriate way. They can be reminded of this positive reinforcement with two words “Sammy Time!”

By reading the book about the sweet golden retriever, who understands that everyone feels upset sometimes, children are encouraged to use all of the sensory strategies to calm down. They can talk to Sammy about what is happening and think through their problem to create a solution.

Ashlie’s four year old daughter did just this. She reports: “When Molly was having some big emotions about coloring a picture and needed to calm down, she visited Sammy and returned with a solution to the problem she came up with all on her own (well with Sammy’s help).”

Click here for more information on the Soothing Sammy resources .

3.Problem solving requires us to remember what just happened, what is happening now and what do we want to happen next. A preschoolers brain tends to blend all three of these situations together, not able to communicate any of them until prompted by an adult. And as an adult, we are left “guessing” what our children are thinking about. Visual cues are a wonderful sensory communication tool to support both children and adults in the realm of solving problems.

Using tools like “First/Then” cards to support routine and common situations like transitions and completing tasks. Using visuals clearly communicates what needs to be done, especially if using pictures of real children doing these tasks.

A Final note about problem solving skills in preschool

Solving problems are hard for young children, even teenagers, as their prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed yet. Using multisensory teaching tools to support brain development, practicing tasks that teach executive functioning skills and using developmentally appropriate tools to help children calm down, will help even the most frustrating moments become a bit less stressful for children and adults. 

As we learn to be more patient with children, understanding that the part of their brain needed to solve problems is just beginning to develop, repeating the same directions over and over again may not be so frustrating. Our children are doing the best they can. It’s up to us to provide them with experiences to help their brains grow and develop. 

Jeana Kinne is a veteran preschool teacher and director. She has over 20 years of experience in the Early Childhood Education field. Her Bachelors Degree is in Child Development and her Masters Degree is in Early Childhood Education. She has spent over 10 years as a coach, working with Parents and Preschool Teachers, and another 10 years working with infants and toddlers with special needs. She is also the author of the “Sammy the Golden Dog” series, teaching children important skills through play.

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Problem-solving and Relationship Skills with Infants and Toddlers

Woman: Places, everyone. Are the lights ready? Three, two, one.

Mike Browne: Ooh-whee! Estoy aqui, estoy listo. I am here. I am ready and let's rock and roll!

Becky Sughrim: I'm ready, too!

All: [Singing] "Teacher Time.” "Teacher Time.” "Teacher Time.” "Teacher Time.” "Teacher Time.” "Teacher Time.”

Mike: Hello, everyone. You know that never gets old. I'm like sitting here jogging along. Welcome, everyone, to our third infant and toddler episode of "Teacher Time" this program year. I'm Mike Browne. My pronouns are he/him. And I'm joined by...

Becky: Becky Sughrim, and my pronouns are she/her.

Mike: And we are from the National Center on Early Childhood Development Teaching and Learning. And as always, we are super excited to be here with you all today. Thank you for joining us. We have been focusing all of our episodes this past season of "Teacher Time" on positive behavior support. So far, we talked about many different things. We talked about the importance of relationships. We talked about how to support emotional literacy. Today is going to be another fun one on problem-solving and friendship skills and building friendship skills with infants and toddlers.

I would love to call to your attention to the Viewer's Guide, where you can find it in the Resource Widget. This season our Viewer's Guide is a Viewer Guide from birth to five. It includes age-specific information for infants, for toddlers, for preschool children. It's packed full of so many different things — resources, helpful quick tips, reminders that you can take right into your learning space. And there's also a note-taking space in which you can use to jot down some notes for today. You can download the guide and use it throughout our time together for taking notes, reflecting, planning, and please, as always share the Viewer Guide with your colleagues.

Becky: During our time together, we're going to be focusing on a number of things. We're going to first talk about some positive behavior support teaching practices. Then we're going to take some time to promote your wellness and our wellness and connect our affective practices to brain development in our new segment this season called "Neuroscience Nook.”

Then we're going to take a look at the "Teacher Time" basics. In "Small Change, Big Impact" and in our "Focus on Equity" segments, we're going to talk about individualized strategies that build a sense of belonging and promote social and emotional skill with all children, including children who have a variety of learning characteristics.

Of course, we will wrap up our time together as we always do with the "BookCASE," where Mike got to meet with our "Teacher Time" librarian, and we connect our topic to books that you can share with children and families.

Mike: As we begin, let's check in using our famous, world famous, "Teacher Time" Tree. Enter to the Q&A, which is that purple widget, what number are you feeling today? What number creature that you're showing up and you want to relate to us. And, of course, you can jot down why you're feeling like that.

I will get us started. I am feeling a little like, I don't know, I like the lighter colors, I like the 11, 12 because yesterday I got a chance to visit a classroom and one of the first children I had when they were infants, they saw me, they ran up to me and they were like, "Mike?” And I was like, "I haven't seen you in two-and-a-half years!” And like, just jumped up and gave me a big hug and now I'm feeling all cuddly and cozy. What about you, Becky?

Becky: That's such a great story. Thanks for sharing, Mike. That makes me feel warm and fuzzy thinking about it. I feel like a number 10. I'm excited for today. I'm ready to be with everyone and just open arms ready to learn and be alongside with you and all of our participants.

Mike: We got some tens, we got some fives in the chat, we've got some ones. Keep them coming. Let us know how you're feeling and we're going to rock and roll to our next slide.

Becky: Thank you. I got a little excited. We are very excited, as you can tell, that we're going to be focusing on positive behavior supports this season. We have focused on this on our last two infant/toddler webinars as well. And you probably already know this, that social-emotional development is one of the domains in Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, or the ELOF. And the practical strategies we're going to be talking about today are going to be focusing on the relationships with other children subdomain of the social-emotional development domain as you can see highlighted here.

We have been working our way through the pyramid. And we've been thinking about the pyramid model, and this is a Positive Behavior Support, or PBS framework that is proactively addressing the social-emotional development and challenging behaviors that young children might experience.

And the framework offers a continuum of evidence-based teaching practices that are organized into four levels of support. The first level is nurturing and responsive relationships. The second level is high-quality supportive environments. Then we have the purple, the third level, social and emotional teaching strategies, and the top of the pyramid, intensive intervention.

And today, we're going to be focusing on that third level of the pyramid, or a second-tier support where we're talking about social and emotional teaching strategies. If you want learn more about the pyramid model, we hope that you will check out the recourses in your viewer's guide from the National Center of Pyramid Model Innovations, or NCPMI in the Resource List section.

Mike: We would love to hear — because I'm already like I need a sip of water — we'd love hear using that purple Q&A widget some of the strategies and practices that you have in place in your center, and your learning environment that really supports problem-solving and relationship skills with infants and toddlers. Once again, type that into the chat using your purple Q&A widget.

Once again, I'm going to start it. I think one practice that I did specifically with infants is whenever we're by the door and it's during pickup time, we will have that child, just look up and we're like, "Oh, is someone's parent here? Or someone's caregiver here?” And they'll go "Dada! Dada!" And I say, "Oh, should we go over to such-and-such, Nico, and say, 'Oh Dada's here?'" "Let's come with me.” You're building that relationship with the child and building relationship between the children.

And something that I like to do with toddlers when they're a little bit older, I love doing like a little scavenger hunt. I'll say, "Oh my goodness! I lost my coffee!” "My adult drink.” Well, maybe not adult drink, some coffee. "Let's go find it!” "Hmm, you're getting warmer. You're getting colder" They've been learning about spatial awareness, difference in temperature, things of that nature.

Becky: And also the collaboration of working together as a team if you're in a group care setting, all trying to find coffee that we need in the morning. Let's see what we have in the Q&A talking about having a welcome song with each child's name.

Mike: We're having some redirect. Redirection is always key.

Becky: Having open-ended questions with toddlers. Totally. And one of the things that I like, which I'm sure is going to also come up in the chat is to engage in that narration when a toy struggle is happening or there's a problem where we're talking about what the toddlers are doing, and what we see. And just letting them know what's happening in real-time.

Mike: That sounds like something we should talk about on Parallel Play.

Becky: Yeah. If you haven't checked out our podcast, we hope that you will. Mike and I also host a Parallel Play podcast. Let's think about positive behavior supports. As we know, the pyramid model is one way we can engage in positive behavior supports. And let's think a little bit deeper about what positive behavior supports are and what they mean. This is really a positive approach to prevent and address challenging behavior or behaviors that adults find challenging.

And the number one thing to remember is that PBS is proactive. That we're proactively thinking about ways in which we can prevent challenging behaviors from occurring. It's positive and proactive. And at the heart of PBS is this recognition that challenging behavior is communication. That challenging behavior is used to communicate a message like, "I want to play with that person or that other toddler.” Or "I want to turn right now.” Or "I want to play in the sensory bin too.” Or something like, "I want that green ball.”

There's all behavior is a form of communication and children are sending us a message. Educators can be their best detectives and together with the family uncover what the child is trying to communicate through their behavior and then teach the child a more effective way to communicate and problem solve with support.

Mike: We’re going to turn it back right to you. I hope your fingers are ready. We're going to be doing this all day. Let's turn the attention back to you. We do our best caregiving and teaching when we feel well ourselves. Really engaging in self-care practices can help educators, admin, everyone build greater social and emotional capacity to work through problem-solving together.

And our ability to support children with problem-solving and relationship skills starts with our ability to really center ourselves by noticing and observing all the little things that are happening within our bodies, with as little judgment as possible and really softening to what is. We can help young children work through challenges with peers, for a more grounded, balance, soft, and objective place by naming what we see happening come. Before we support the children in our care with problem-solving and relationship skills, it's super important that we find ways to regulate our own feelings throughout the day.

Just by taking a minute right now, we're going to do a quick little body scan to know what's happening in our bodies, to really softening to that moment, like I said earlier, slowing down and centering ourselves at any point of the day, but specifically right now since I'm going to ask you all to do it with me. This practice supports our well-being first, enabling us to hold a really non-judgmental space and respond intentionally and responsibly to children cues, behaviors, and communication, as we support them in building healthy relationships with each other. Get your wiggles out.

You might want to start in the seated position, or if you're laying down, maybe you're on a standing desk, I don't know, whatever feels comfortable to you and just start to slowly bring your attention to your body. You can close your eyes. I would love to close my eyes, but the blinding lights are in front of me. I won't do that. Only close your eyes if you're feeling comfortable.

And just start to notice your body wherever you are. As you inhale, and as you exhale have that really sense of relaxation. And you can notice your feet, or your body on the floor. You can notice — for me, I notice the seat underneath me or that if I lean back, the back of the chair against me. That was a lot of words I wanted to say.

Bring your attention now to your stomach area. If it feels tight, right, let us soft it. Imagine you're on a beach somewhere. I know one of our participants says they're going on vacation. Notice your hands, and your arms, and your shoulders. Let them be soft. Let your jaw and your face muscle soften up. And notice your whole body just being present. Then take that one last deep breath.

Now, if you're so inclined to, feel free to share how you are feeling during or feel now after the body scan. What shifts do you notice? Me, oh, I was like, I got a lot of things in my shoulders. I was like, I need to go to a massage place.

Becky: I was thinking the same thing. So much tension I hold in my shoulders and my neck. We're on the same page, Mike.

Mike: There you go.

Becky: As these are coming in let's start to think about problem-solving in relationship skills. Social competencies like self-regulation, empathy, perspective-taking, and problem-solving skills are all really key to foundational healthy social-emotional development. This includes positive interactions and friendships, or relationships between peers. Educators can help children learn these skills that are necessary to develop healthy peer relationships and find ways to work though social conflicts with children and providing support with the child.

The first thing that we can do with infants and toddlers is about modeling problem-solving skills. And if we model problem-solving skills early on, this will build a foundation of problem-solving and relationship skills that children can build on and will be able to access with adult support as they develop and start to use these skills more independently. As children become more independent and more mobile, they tend to run into situations in the natural environment that can lead to frustration or challenging behavior like a toy is out of my reach, or I also want to play in the sensory table and someone is already there.

If we teach children problem-solving skills and they become good problem solvers on their own, and with our support, their self-esteem increases in their ability to solve problems. They're more likely to cope with a certain level of frustration and engage in less challenging behavior. There might be some children in your care who don't readily learn these skills through foundational teaching strategies like modeling or co-regulation, and this might include children with disabilities or suspected delays.

It's important to be aware of the process of all children and use more individualized practices to teach these skills to children who need more support. And we will talk more about that in the basics. Let’s look at some key ideas. When we're thinking about working with toddlers there's three key ideas we want to think about when supporting problem-solving and relationship skills. The first one is promoting healthy relationships. Educators can model relationship skills with things like sharing or helping or cooperating like you were talking about.

Mike: Yeah.

Becky: Earlier, Mike, with everyone helping you to find your coffee, and providing comfort, and making suggestions in play, and then celebrating each other. That's a big piece of promoting healthy relationships. And teachers can also create developmentally appropriate opportunities for practicing these skills throughout the day, like setting up a space for two or three toddlers to play together at one time. There might be limited space, and limited materials. This way toddlers can practice turn taking and sharing, like we see in this picture on the left.

And we might also start to notice in the toddler years that children could be showing preferences for a particular playmate. This is also a great time to pause and think about what value do we put, or you put, on peer relationships, and how do you expect peers to act with each other? And our awareness of these questions, and our responses to these questions is really supportive of our equitable teaching practices.

Mike: Can I take the middle one?

Becky: Yeah. Yeah!

Mike: Perfect because I love teaching about problem-solving. Conflict happens all the time in case you never have been in an early childhood classroom, but I don't think this — I think this audience knows. Conflicts happen all the time in early childhood environments where children are really just learning to manage their emotions or behavior through co-regulation. Remember, these are the first times that they might be having these types of emotions. They're like, "Whoa! What is going on?”

Toddlers are beginning to reason, and really beginning to understand simple consequences. Educators can describe the problem. We can offer solutions. Then that's how we can support toddlers in trying a couple different new strategies out. Like, how I imagine as I'm looking at this middle photo, I imagine this educator something — I'm trying to channel my inner educator. "I see you reaching out and you're touching Zoa's leg. I wonder if you're wanting some more space. You can say, 'I need some more space please.'"

Becky: Yeah, totally. Thank you so much, Mike. The next key idea we want to talk about is teach problem-solving in the moment. Problem-solving is hard work as we know, and educators can help toddlers use the problem-solving steps in the moment by first being proactive and anticipating social conflicts before they happen.

This might be being close, as we see in this picture on the right, that the educator is close to the child, supporting her through this interaction. We can also provide support by describing steps for solving the problem and modeling them and supporting the child in going through them. We can also generate solutions together and then we can celebrate success.

And, of course, we want to you remember to individualize the strategies you used to provide support on these skills based on the learning characteristics and needs of the children you support. Some children may need the amount of language used to be modified. Some children may need visual cues or gestures paired with verbal language. Some children may need specific feedback on consequences to help them learn the effect of their behavior on the environment. Again, please stay tuned for the basics and we're going to share some more information about providing specific feedback.

Mike: Let's now take a second to pause and watch a clip on teaching problem-solving in the moment and how that might look like with toppers.

[Video begins]

Teacher: Are you guys taking turns? Would you like to have a turn? OK. Cayden's turn. Now, whose turn is it to put one on top?

Cayden: It's Marcos!

Teacher: It's Marcos' turn. Marcos, did you hear that? He said it's your turn.

Marcos: I make a red one.

Teacher: Your turn. Wow! Your turn! Look at how many blocks — you guys, what could you tell Ryan? Say, "Ryan, that was my tower.”

Marcos: Stop!

Ryan: That was my tower.

Teacher: Stop. That was a good word. Look it, we could get our — oh, I took my cards off. Look it, we could use our cards. We could use our cards, Ryan. Ryan, we could use our cards. Look it, what could we do? You could wait and take a turn to knock it down. Look, you have your own tower to knock down. And you guys did such a good job of ignoring him when he knocked your tower down. Nice job.

[Video ends]

Mike: There was so many wonderful moments here that I just loved. Use our Q&A, purple Q&A widget to type in what did you notice, what did you see, what did you want to express? And we'll kick us off. The first thing that I'm just thinking about is that the educator was the proximity of the educator. What's close by to really support and to anticipate — not jump in right away, but just to anticipate a little bit around problem-solving in the moment.

Becky: Yeah. Like, what we're talking about. Being close. I notice that the educator was narrating the turn-taking and supported turn-taking too.

Mike: And even when the block fell, the educator gave the child words to say and then asked for the toddler for their input.

Becky: Yes, giving the child the words to say because sometimes in the moment they don't know what to say. That's really helpful. I also love this idea of having the solution cards close by. That they were within arm's reach. She didn't have to leave the block area to go and get them.

Mike: As we think about educators and being responsive and thinking about everyone in the learning environment, really, I saw the educator also talking to all the children who were involved. It wasn't just to the child who knocked off the block. Talk to all the children involved about what they can do in order to solve this problem moving forward or next time because it will happen again.

Becky: Yes. And the educator provided positive feedback, which I saw come through the chat giving specific feedback and praise and of utilizing the solutions. We also saw that the educator was very attentive. She was calm, and encouraging, and involving everyone. More comments about being calm and a soft tone of voice which makes a huge difference.

Mike: Exactly. As we move through this presentation, and this, our time together, remember to take time — or let's do it right now. Let's take another moment to pause and reflect on these questions that will support equitable teaching practices. I think the three that you mentioned earlier were how do you expect peers to act with one another with each other? Another one that you said was — you remembered it, you said it.

Becky: Yeah, it was think about how do we feel about conflict or disagreement, or debates?

Mike: That reminds me. The last one that you said was do you listen openly to all children when there is a problem. Just keep these in the back of your mind and because we're probably going to revisit this in a little bit.

Becky: Thank you, Mike, for those reflective questions. Let's think about key ideas for problem-solving and relationship skills with infants since it’s slightly different than toddlers. When we think about promoting healthy relationships with infants, that's what the work is all about. It's all about relationships. This means modeling healthy relationships with the infants in your care so they can feel what it feels like to be in a healthy relationship. It also means modeling healthy relationships with other adults in the learning environment, so infants can see what healthy relationships look like.

Educators can create opportunities for infants to play side-by-side and interact with each other like we see in this picture on the left. The two educators are sitting close together with three infants in their laps. The infants are close enough to notice and reach out for each other, and maybe after they're done reading the book, the infants are placed on the carpet together where they can explore the books on their own and with each other.

Mike: When I just think about the other photo, this where it says, "Practice problem-solving." The one on our right, this is about being aware of infants' cues. Remembering that some infants may not give clear or predictable cues. All infants have different temperaments and varying temperaments, and that creates varying abilities to give cues.

Also, think about infants with disabilities or suspected delays. They may not be using behaviors we're typically accustomed to, such as eye gaze or vocalization, especially if they are the only — and especially if we're working with children who are typically neurotypical. It's important for adults to be very intentional about their observations and what behaviors they recognize as cues. Watch for situations that may trigger stress, or conflict, and provide comfort to those infants while describing what the problem is or was and possible solutions.

Narrate what you are doing in the moment to problem solve as you go along. Like in this picture on the right, you might say something like — I always like pretending to say something, you might say something like, "Oh, I see your holding on to this book. And this looks like it might be a problem. You both look very upset. Hmm. How about we try looking at the book together at the table?”

Becky: Right now, let's watch what promoting healthy relationships with infants might look like. As you're watching this clip, please put in the Q&A what you might say to the two infants that would help promote peer relationships.

Teacher 2: Thank you. Do you want to stand up? Do you need a diaper, Ivy? You need a diaper? She actually [Inaudible] because she was doing something at the table.

Teacher 3: Okay. You going back?

Teacher 2: [Inaudible] Wow! Look at you.

Becky: I love this video so much.

Mike: I'm, like, grinning ear-to-ear.

Becky: What did you notice, Mike, about the video?

Mike: I noticed that these two infants are playing next to each other and they're naturally sharing. They're naturally being in community with one another, which involved naturally taking turns, holding, and lifting up the basket.

Becky: It's such a beautiful moment and I love, like you said, the natural turn taking that's happening. As comments are coming into the chat, one of the things I might say to the two children in this video clip are, "Oh, I see you are both using the basket. Look at how you can take turns.”

Mike: Or I would say something like, "Oh, you two are playing next to each other.” Acknowledging this beautiful interaction, with a lot of excitement and warmth in my tone, a voice.

Becky: And yes, the tone of voice is so important because what we say is just as important as how we say it and how we say it is just as important as what we say.

Mike: And I would even say in just say the joy that's happening, because we often don't look at our Black children, our Black boys, as joyful beings. You can tie that all in together.

Becky: There's so much joy happening in this clip, but I think it gives us a both a lot of joy. Let's see in the chat we're having some comments coming in about, "Oh wow, good job sharing," or let's see here, I'm looking, there's so many things that coming up.

Mike: "It's nice to see you two playing together with the basket.”

Becky: "I see you are sitting together, and you are being kind to each other.”

Mike: "Wow, good job sharing.” And that positive tone, once again.

Becky: Yes, lots of comments about — and stating the child's names and how they are sharing the joy. It's wonderful. Keep bringing those in and our wonderful Q&A team will send them out. Mike, I want to hear more about neuroscience now.

Mike: Of course, you do. Research tells us that the early years are foundational. Most important part, especially when brain development, in adults we play a vital role in supporting a healthy brain development, connection and architecture.

In this segment, Neuroscience Nook, we are so excited to connect this research to everyday teaching practices. An important side note before we continue, and as questions using that purple Q&A widget comes in, remember we absolutely want to hear from you. We just don't want to sit here and talk, we want to hear from y'all. If you got questions, comments, concerns, thoughts, ideas, share them with us, or post them in the "Teacher Time" Community in My Peers.

Executive function. The pre-mental cortex begins to develop early on in life. This area of the brain is responsible for what are known as the executive functioning skills. And it's essential for the development of strong and healthy relationships. As you can see on this graphic, it includes so many different things.

Attention, being able to focus on a task. Working memory, being able to remember rules and procedures. Self-regulation and the ability to control impulses which I didn't have last night when I was eating ice cream. Organization, switching between tasks, flexible thinking, problem-solving, planning behavior, decision-making, motivation.

All of these skills are important to problem-solving and heathy relationships. We can help young children, support young children, to start developing this critical relationship building and problem-solving skills through responsive caregiving and affective teaching practices that are responsive to the individual child's needs. Just like we mentioned in our most recent episode of "Teacher Time," in case you missed it you can go back on…

Becky: DTL Push Play, and you can access our first two infant toddler webinars about building relationships and emotional literacy.

Mike: There you go. I always like to throw it to you because I always forget where exactly it is. But yes, just like she said. We encourage you to look back at the last two years guides, Building Relationship with Children Birth to Five, and Emotional Literacy with Children Birth to Five to see more about the importance of nurturing relationships and the impact on the developing minds. Looks like I also have the next slide. Now let's hear from Dr. Juliet Taylor as she described the development of executive functioning skills.

Juliet Taylor: I'm going to show you a graphic of how executive function develops over time. Here's sort of a graphic representation. And one thing to point out is that we are not born with executive function skills in place. We're born with the potential to develop them, or not, depending on our experiences, our neurophysiology, and the interactions between those things.

This graph shows that on the horizontal axis you can see this is ages birth to 80. And notice that there's not an even distribution between the ages. And that is because there are particular peeks in executive function development. You can see skill proficiency on the vertical axis. And I'm going to highlight a couple of areas where you see tremendous growth and executive function skills. And that is really in the preschool ages between three to five. And then in early adolescents to early adulthood, there's another spike in development.

The foundations of executive function are laid down in the earliest months and years of life. And that really happens through basic, sort of serve and return it's sometimes called, or those basic interactions between child and adult that happen over, and over, and over again. And that spike really does happen in the preschool years after children have verbal language.

Becky: This is such a helpful graphic and such a helpful explanation of executive functioning skills. I'm a visual learner, it meets my learning needs.

Mike: Exactly. We are not born with executive function, but we are born with the potential to develop them. That is why our work, whether it's your direct support, or your indirect support, or you're just hanging out in the back. It's so important that our work is with infants and toddlers to create that lifelong success. We can't say it enough to you. What you are doing is important work. I know we tired sometimes but stick with it. We love you. And thank you for being here with us.

Becky: Yes. I second that. I also, from this video, I think about these peeks in executive functioning that there's a peek between three to five years old right after children have verbal language. And toddlers are just entering into that spike in executive functioning skills which is —I love thinking about that and what does that mean, and what does that mean for toddler behavior, and toddler development.

Mike: And the last two things that are really coming up for me in this one is the foundation of executive function is laid out in the very few first months and years of life. Learning is having in the room and right out as soon as you leave. I was like, I don't know how I'm going to work that. The last thing I was thinking of is the importance of serve and return. If you're like, "What is serve and return?” You know where you can find that? In our last webinar that we did.

Becky: In our "Building Relationships with Infants and Toddlers," we talk a lot about serve and return. Now it's time for the basics. We've talked a lot about the importance of problem-solving and relationship skills. Let's shift to looking at practical strategies for how to support these skills with infants and toddlers.

We're going to do that by getting back to the basics. The basics are a collection of strategies that could be used in any setting with infants and toddlers. And the "Teacher Time" basics are behavioral expectations in advance, attend to and encourage positive behavior, scaffold with cues and prompts, increase engagement, create or add challenge, and provide specific feedback.

In this season of "Teacher Time," we have been focusing on two letters of the basics every episode. We hope that you will join us for all of the webinars this season. And remember, if you've missed the last two webinars on building relationships and emotional literacy with infants and toddlers, you can access those on DTL Push Play. We invite you to tune in to our future webinars. There's a registration link in the resource list if you want to sign up for that now so that you can get all of the basics of positive behavior of sorts.

Today, we're going to be looking at examples of C, create, or add challenge and S, specific feedback to support problem-solving and relationship skills. Let's take one look at how we can create or add challenge. When we're thinking about supporting problem-solving and relationship skills, we can add challenge by carefully selecting toys and materials for the learning environment that support taking turns, waiting, and learning how to share.

This might look like putting out a ball track, or a car track, or a toy that naturally supports turn taking where the children have to wait before sending a ball or a car down the track, or where one ball or one car will fit on the track at a time. Or maybe you put out stacking rings and encourage children to stack together since only one ring could be stacked at a time like we see in this picture on the left.

You could also create waiting games with the materials and routines that you have in the learning environment, like waiting to go down the slide or waiting to go through the tunnel like we see in this picture on the right. You might also sing a song while you wait to wash your hands, or like one of our participants said in the beginning, you have a greeting song in the morning where the children have to wait to do their special dance, or their special move until they hear their name.

Mike: I think that is a great segue, it's almost like you've seen this before, into us watching a video of what a waiting game might look like in the learning environment with a toddler. As you watch the video, we invite you to share once again in the Q&A how you see the educator supporting waiting, and what would you do to support toddlers with waiting in your program center?

Teacher 4: OK, one, two, three, go!

Connor: Whee!

Teacher 4: Good job, Connor.

Teacher 5: You want to count? OK. One, two, three, four, five, go!

Teacher 5: Yay! One, two — Oh, she couldn't wait, could she? She just couldn't wait. That's fine. She went on two. That's good. You want to count? Ah! Hailey didn't want to wait either. That's fine.

Mike: You can see right away, like you heard the counting, the toddler is down before they can actually go down the slide.

Becky: And I loved that the educator honored when the toddlers did wait and when they just couldn't wait. And she said, "Oh, she couldn't wait. That's fine.”

Mike: And it looks like someone in our chat just beat us to it before we said that. There's so much waiting to happen in this video in taking turns, waiting at the top of the slide, toddlers waiting for their turn.

Becky: There’s so much and it felt like this was a very natural turn taking game for this group of toddlers. It felt like it was familiar to them. And it felt like it was something that they were enjoying.

Mike: And just thinking about like my own culture being Afro-Caribbean, in my culture we love to give children control over the waiting time. They want to wait until they are down the slide, the first child is down the slide to climb up, they have that control. Or we'll say, "Hey, how many seconds do you think we should wait?” We're giving them that power, that control.

Becky: I love that. The real traces and the agency. We have a few comments coming in from the chat. Just the encouragement and patience from the educator. That there was a countdown as a verbal strategy and we also saw that the educator was giving examples of waiting, like naming who waited and who couldn't wait.

Let’s  think about specific feedback and providing specific feedback is another way that educators can support problem-solving an relationship skills. Providing specific feedback is about naming and acknowledging when you see a child engage in building relationships.

It might sound like, "Oh, you're helping me put on Natalie's coat.” Or "I saw you get a tissue for Kai. That was so kind.” And the key to specific feedback is being specific. Thinking about what you see and what you saw that toddlers or infants do. Educators can also provide specific feedback to a child when they see them taking turns or sharing, or trying to solve a problem, or playing next to each other, or even playing with a child. That might sound like, "Oh look, Nora is watching you. I think she wants to play too.”

And providing specific feedback is a helpful tool to teach children what to do. You might provide feedback on how to be a friend, or how to solve a problem like, "Hmm, I see that you two are frustrated and have a problem. Let get our solution kit for some ideas.” Or you might say, "Oh, you knocked into Lucas because you were running, and you didn't see him. Let's see if he's okay.”

It's about offering specific ideas of what the toddler can do next and then supporting the infants and toddlers with those next steps and those skills. Remember that, again we said this earlier, how feedback is given, including what you say and how to you say it is important and should be individualized to meet the learning characteristics and temperament of each child.

Mike: Do you remember those three questions I asked earlier? Or you asked them and then I reiterated them? Here's where it comes up again. Three questions. How do you expect peers to act with one another? How do you feel about conflict? And do you listen openly to all children? This is where we are going to apply them.

In our segment Small Change Big Impact where we share how small and adjustments to the way we set up our learning environments, modify a curriculum, or engage with children can make a huge difference in a child's learning. We know that children vary in their learning characteristics and how they engage with people, and materials, and learning environment.

These small changes, and these curriculum modifications are made so that the individual child -- they're made thinking about the individual needs of a child in order to promote their engagement, their participation, and we know that children are more engaged when they have opportunities to learn.

Some children might need more highly individualized teaching practices to help them learn problem-solving such as imbedded teaching or intensive individualized teaching, making curriculum modifications based off a child's individual learning needs can be a great place to start to support this engagement.

Today we're going to be focusing on environmental supports like making physical adjustments to the learning environment to promote participation, engagement, learning problem-solving, relationship skills, the two things of today's talk. When you think about the strategies of physical adjustments, I would love for us to consider changing the space, the location, and arrangement of materials, of activities, to really support the needs of individual children. Like, setting up the smallest space, for example, for a few toddlers to sit together and read a book, or a small sensory table where a few children can play together at the same time. Do you got any ideas?

Becky: I think about managing materials and supplies. Materials could be used in many ways to support individual children with problem-solving and relationship skills. We can think about adding in materials, taking out materials, varying materials, and strategically using the materials to support a desired behavior. You might take out some materials to encourage sharing and turn-taking between toddlers, or you might bring in materials that support waiting. Like, we talked about in the basics.

Or maybe, you set up larger items like tumbling mats, or a large balance beam like we see in this picture in the middle where one child is walking at a time and one child takes a turn at a time. You could also bring in materials that are more engaging and fun with two children, like a rocking boat, or a toddler-safe seesaw.

Mike: For our last one, you can always add visual cues. You could add simple ones. You could add complex ones. I don't know. Do you. Individual cues can really promote relationship between peers and problem-solving skills like sharing a hug or giving a high-five.

Once again, check out the viewer's guide for more suggestions and resources on ECLKC. We encourage you to observe each child to see how they engage in specific areas with a group, and with each other. This can help us think about what are some of the best ways to support the child in building peer relationships and problem-solving skills by individualizing the support that you provide and how to you modify the environment.

Once again, viewer's guide has all these information and tips and tricks of the trade. Let's take a break. Well, we're going to take a break. Y'all aren't going to take a break. To watch a video of how an educator intentionally changes the setup of the environment to support her interactions. And of course, whatever comes to your mind, type it into your purple Q&A widget.

Teacher 6: There we go. Are you ready to make soup? Come here. Oops. This one is not broken. We can put water in it. We can hold water. Ready? Oh, Joy wants to do it. Joy, do you want to put some water in here?

Boy: I would.

Teacher 6: You want to help, too? Can you wait one minute? Just wait for Joy's turn? Oh, I don't think she liked that. Can you give it back to Joy, please? Oh!

Teacher 6: What happened?

Mike: This educator knows how much the toddlers at the table loves to play with water. To support this toddler were peer interactions and relationships. The education staff set up the water vents near the dramatic play areas. Did you notice that? Where two toddlers were making soup.

Becky: And as we got to see the children interacted with each other and the soup making moved from the dramatic play area to the table. The educator really supported turn taking at the end of this clip when she narrated what was happening, she used sign language, and asked specifically asked one toddler to give the scoop back to another toddler. We saw a lot of individualizing practices in this video where thinking about a child's interest, thinking about some games that other children were playing, and how we can bring those two together.

Mike: If you are in my classroom, we're making caldo, we're making pozole. But that's neither here or there. Throughout this webinar we have been discussing ways to foster social-emotional skills for all children. Becky, what are we going to talk about more in this segment?

Becky: Thanks, Mike. We're going to think about those reflective questions that we've been mentioning throughout the webinar. In our focus on equity segment, we're going to be using our equity lens to take a closer look at implicit bias and how that impacts how we interact with children and support them in building problem-solving skills, and relationship skills. The value we place on peer relationships and the way we go about building and maintaining them are influenced by our family, our culture, our community, and our experiences.

Sometimes our subtle biases can interfere with our ability to approach conflict between children with an open mind and help them solve problems in a way that is respectful and fair to all children involved. Uncovering these biases take time and reflection. Again, some of these helpful questions to reflect on are — what value do you place on peer relationships? How do you expect peers to act with each other? How do you feel about conflict, disagreements, or debates?

Mike: Do you listen openly to all children when there is a problem?

Becky: And is there a child that you are more likely to make negative assumptions about when a problem involves that specific child? We just encourage you to ask a friend, or a colleague, or a coach to video record you during a time of day when there tends to be more conflict between children. Then go back and watch the video and notice how you respond and interact with each child involved in the conflict. And again, ask yourself, "Does every child receive the support and instruction they need?”

Mike: I am just a little bit excited for this because I'm featured on it. "Teacher Time Library," Emily Small, with someone you clearly recognize that you see in this video, me, Mike Browne, I got to sit with our "Teacher Time" librarian, Emily, and I'm so excited about this month's book. Let's watch me, Emily, make the CASE.

Mike: Welcome to "Teacher Time Library.” My name is Mike Browne. My pronouns are he/him and I'm joined by the wonderful...

Emily Small: Emily Small. And my pronouns are she/her.

Mike: I am so excited to be here today with you all because we have a great selection of books that Emily has curated to be able to share with us today. And it is all centered around our theme of relationships with other children, which is within the social-emotional development domain of our ELOF goals.

Today, we are going to make the case. The CASE, what is that? You might be unfamiliar. You might not. But either way I'm going to refresh your memory. CASE is an acronym that we love to use in order to make connections between the books and what we're trying to hope to achieve within our ELOF domain.

C is pretty simple, C for cookie, also means connecting to ELOF, which is our Early Learning Outcome Frameworks. A, which is about advancing vocabularies. Books are an amazing opportunity. It is both a window, a mirror, and a sliding door into worlds that can really build children's emotional language, vocabulary, and concept development.

S, now this one is a bit of a long one, but it's about supporting engagement. And engagement looks different for each and every single child. Books stirs creativity. It stirs or imagination and by listening to the voices of children, we can really find ways to support them in being active participants not just in their learning, but of their learning environment.

And last but not least we have E. E is about extending the learning well beyond the books. Think about the questions in your curriculum, your provocations, and the activities that you do each and every single day. How can you plan that, so it connects to STEM? How can you use STEM to connect to dramatic play. How can you connect dramatic play to mental health? And so on and so forth because we're all about loving and nurturing the entire child. But that's enough about me, we going to throw it over to these books. And this first one is my favorite, not just because we are matching.

Emily: Yes, we do match today. A quick note before we get into them. I actually borrowed these from my local library. But also, I encourage everyone to check out their local library rather than just having to purchase the items.

Emily: Our first one is "Blocks" by Irene Dickson. We have two friends, Ruby and Benji who are in parallel play with one another in the block area. Benji would really, really like one of Ruby's red blocks and he takes it. And we see what happens next. How they problem solve, how their peer relationship grows, and then we actually have a third friend enter the picture at the end named Guy. There's a chance to make a prediction about what will happen next.

Mike: STEM.

Emily: Yes. We have that nice high gloss cover, we've got "Mine, Mine, Mine, Yours" by Kimberly Gee.

Mike: We hear, "Mine, mine, mine" a lot with toddlers.

Emily: Yes.

Mike: Not so much "Yours," but that's okay.

Emily: We have some great examples in this one of some repetitive phrases on every page. For instance, we have "Jump, jump, jump, bump.”

Mike: That happens.

Emily: All the time. And then we have "Sorry, sorry, sorry.” "That's okay.” But in the pictures, we're seeing a chance for the children to check in on one another.

Mike: And I think that's so important. Especially when we're talking about social-emotional development is that it's not just enough to say, "Sorry," but how are we also coaching in educating our children in order to say, "Hey, check in, what do you think might help them feel better?” We can take it to another level.

Emily: Definitely. That's "Mine, Mine, Mine, Yours.” Then we have this tiny little board book called "The Last Marshmallow.” It's part of the Storytelling Mass series. There's a bunch in this series. I highly recommend them. You can, again, see I borrowed it from my library. And it is a very cold day, just like it is today, and some friends would like two cups of hot chocolate but there's three marshmallows.

Mike: I'm already hearing the STEM, the math right there.

Emily: They each get one but there's one left and they have to problem solve to figure out how they're going to make this fair.

Mike: Oh, like you said, it's a very cold day, give it to me.

Emily: That's the "The Last Marshmallow" by Grace Lin. And then the one we're going to make the case for is "You Hold Me Up" by Monique Gray Smith and Danielle Daniel. This one, I love the illustrations in this book so much. For our connection, our C, this book uses the phrase, "You hold me up when," and then it gives us very specific examples of how people feel connected and respected to one another. For our advanced vocabulary, we see words such as kind, learn, respect, comfort. Those are great words to be using as part of your daily routine with children.

For our S for supporting engagement, the words on the page reference the illustrations but they don't say specifically what's happening. As children are showing interest in them, talk about what is going on in the illustration. We're seeing this family it looks like baking together. You can comment on that.

Mike: You can even talk about how the intergenerational family is well in this one.

Emily: Yes. There's multiple images throughout this book that show intergenerational families. And then for E, extending the learning, one of the other examples they give is "You hold me up when you sing with me," and so, we know that singing is a great thing to do with infants, especially for those early verbal skills. I would encourage you to incorporate some singing and then of course some musical instruments as well.

Mike: You can even point out and say, "Oh, what type of instrument do you think this is?” And it's perfect because there's this book that was written and illustrated by First Nation People. You can talk about Indigenous people and how they're still alive and they're thriving. There's multiple ways to tie in so many key concepts.

Emily: Absolutely. That's "You Hold Me Up" by Monique Gray Smith and Danielle Daniel.

Mike: Now, what we don't have is one of my other favorite books and that's "Kindness Makes Us Strong," which you can always pick up at...

Emily: Your local library. It comes in a really nice big board book format which is great for both reading individually with children or in a group setting.

Mike: Well, I don't know about you, Emily, but I am ready to go read some books...

Emily: Awesome.

Mike: ...to color, to do it all. Maybe not first. Right now, we are going to say goodbye. But until next time, take care of yourselves and we can't wait. We are wrapping up today's episode and I can't wait to check out my local library to see all those great books that they have. Remember to check out the viewer's guide for complete book list. And if you work with toddlers, Emily also made the case for another book not shown here, "Kindness Makes Us Strong.” Again, all the info is in your viewer guide.

Becky: We just want to say thank you so much for joining us today. We are so excited that you are here and I also want to invite you to next months "Teacher Time" webinar, "Problem-Solving and Relationship Skills in Preschool.” And you can find the registration link in your Resource List Widget for the next three "Teacher Time" webinars. Sign up now. We hope to see you there.

We are also excited to let you know about our Dual Language Celebration Week coming up. Please make sure to register for that as well. And that widget is going to pop up on your screen right after we say goodbye. Thank you so much and we just can't wait to see you until next time.

Mike: Happy Black History Month, everyone. Happy Dual Language Learner Celebration Week. Until next time.

Children are born ready to solve problems! Infants and toddlers rely on supportive relationships to learn how to recognize problems and find solutions. Problem-solving involves patience, persistence, and creativity from both the child and the adults in their lives. As infants and toddlers explore their world and engage in play with peers, challenges and conflicts provide opportunities to learn and grow. Discuss practical strategies to foster problem-solving and relationship-building skills with infants and toddlers.

Note: The evaluation, certificate, and engagement tools mentioned in the video were for the participants of the live webinar and are no longer available. For information about webinars that will be broadcast live soon, visit the Upcoming Events section.

Video Attachments

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Resource Type: Video

National Centers: Early Childhood Development, Teaching and Learning

Age Group: Infants and Toddlers

Audience: Teachers and Caregivers

Series: Teacher Time

Last Updated: December 18, 2023

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Child cognitive development is a fascinating and complex process that entails the growth of a child’s mental abilities, including their ability to think, learn, and solve problems. This development occurs through a series of stages that can vary among individuals. As children progress through these stages, their cognitive abilities and skills are continuously shaped by a myriad of factors such as genetics, environment, and experiences. Understanding the nuances of child cognitive development is essential for parents, educators, and professionals alike, as it provides valuable insight into supporting the growth of the child’s intellect and overall well-being.

Throughout the developmental process, language and communication play a vital role in fostering a child’s cognitive abilities . As children acquire language skills, they also develop their capacity for abstract thought, reasoning, and problem-solving. It is crucial for parents and caregivers to be mindful of potential developmental delays, as early intervention can greatly benefit the child’s cognitive development. By providing stimulating environments, nurturing relationships, and embracing diverse learning opportunities, adults can actively foster healthy cognitive development in children.

Key Takeaways

• Child cognitive development involves the growth of mental abilities and occurs through various stages.
• Language and communication are significant factors in cognitive development , shaping a child’s ability for abstract thought and problem-solving.
• Early intervention and supportive environments can play a crucial role in fostering healthy cognitive development in children.

Child Cognitive Development Stages

Child cognitive development is a crucial aspect of a child’s growth and involves the progression of their thinking, learning, and problem-solving abilities. Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget developed a widely recognized theory that identifies four major stages of cognitive development in children.

Sensorimotor Stage

The Sensorimotor Stage occurs from birth to about 2 years old. During this stage, infants and newborns learn to coordinate their senses (sight, sound, touch, etc.) with their motor abilities. Their understanding of the world begins to develop through their physical interactions and experiences. Some key milestones in this stage include object permanence, which is the understanding that an object still exists even when it’s not visible, and the development of intentional actions.

Preoperational Stage

The Preoperational Stage takes place between the ages of 2 and 7 years old. In this stage, children start to think symbolically, and their language capabilities rapidly expand. They also develop the ability to use mental images, words, and gestures to represent the world around them. However, their thinking is largely egocentric, which means they struggle to see things from other people’s perspectives. During this stage, children start to engage in pretend play and begin to grasp the concept of conservation, recognizing that certain properties of objects (such as quantity or volume) remain the same even if their appearance changes.

Concrete Operational Stage

The Concrete Operational Stage occurs between the ages of 7 and 12 years old. At this stage, children’s cognitive development progresses to more logical and organized ways of thinking. They can now consider multiple aspects of a problem and better understand the relationship between cause and effect . Furthermore, children become more adept at understanding other people’s viewpoints, and they can perform basic mathematical operations and understand the principles of classification and seriation.

Formal Operational Stage

Lastly, the Formal Operational Stage typically begins around 12 years old and extends into adulthood. In this stage, children develop the capacity for abstract thinking and can consider hypothetical situations and complex reasoning. They can also perform advanced problem-solving and engage in systematic scientific inquiry. This stage allows individuals to think about abstract concepts, their own thought processes, and understand the world in deeper, more nuanced ways.

By understanding these stages of cognitive development, you can better appreciate the complex growth process that children undergo as their cognitive abilities transform and expand throughout their childhood.

Key Factors in Cognitive Development

Genetics and brain development.

Genetics play a crucial role in determining a child’s cognitive development. A child’s brain development is heavily influenced by genetic factors, which also determine their cognitive potential , abilities, and skills. It is important to understand that a child’s genes do not solely dictate their cognitive development – various environmental and experiential factors contribute to shaping their cognitive abilities as they grow and learn.

Environmental Influences

The environment in which a child grows up has a significant impact on their cognitive development. Exposure to various experiences is essential for a child to develop essential cognitive skills such as problem-solving, communication, and critical thinking. Factors that can have a negative impact on cognitive development include exposure to toxins, extreme stress, trauma, abuse, and addiction issues, such as alcoholism in the family.

Nutrition and Health

Maintaining good nutrition and health is vital for a child’s cognitive development. Adequate nutrition is essential for the proper growth and functioning of the brain . Key micronutrients that contribute to cognitive development include iron, zinc, and vitamins A, C, D, and B-complex vitamins. Additionally, a child’s overall health, including physical fitness and immunity, ensures they have the energy and resources to engage in learning activities and achieve cognitive milestones effectively .

Emotional and Social Factors

Emotional well-being and social relationships can also greatly impact a child’s cognitive development. A supportive, nurturing, and emotionally healthy environment allows children to focus on learning and building cognitive skills. Children’s emotions and stress levels can impact their ability to learn and process new information. Additionally, positive social interactions help children develop important cognitive skills such as empathy, communication, and collaboration.

In summary, cognitive development in children is influenced by various factors, including genetics, environmental influences, nutrition, health, and emotional and social factors. Considering these factors can help parents, educators, and policymakers create suitable environments and interventions for promoting optimal child development.

Language and Communication Development

Language skills and milestones.

Children’s language development is a crucial aspect of their cognitive growth. They begin to acquire language skills by listening and imitating sounds they hear from their environment. As they grow, they start to understand words and form simple sentences.

• Infants (0-12 months): Babbling, cooing, and imitating sounds are common during this stage. They can also identify their name by the end of their first year. Facial expressions play a vital role during this period, as babies learn to respond to emotions.
• Toddlers (1-3 years): They rapidly learn new words and form simple sentences. They engage more in spoken communication, constantly exploring their language environment.
• Preschoolers (3-5 years): Children expand their vocabulary, improve grammar, and begin participating in more complex conversations.

It’s essential to monitor children’s language development and inform their pediatrician if any delays or concerns arise.

Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication contributes significantly to children’s cognitive development. They learn to interpret body language, facial expressions, and gestures long before they can speak. Examples of nonverbal communication in children include:

• Eye contact: Maintaining eye contact while interacting helps children understand emotions and enhances communication.
• Gestures: Pointing, waving goodbye, or using hand signs provide alternative ways for children to communicate their needs and feelings.
• Body language: Posture, body orientation, and movement give clues about a child’s emotions and intentions.

Teaching children to understand and use nonverbal communication supports their cognitive and social development.

Parent and Caregiver Interaction

Supportive interaction from parents and caregivers plays a crucial role in children’s language and communication development. These interactions can improve children’s language skills and overall cognitive abilities . Some ways parents and caregivers can foster language development are:

• Reading together: From an early age, reading books to children enhance their vocabulary and listening skills.
• Encouraging communication: Ask open-ended questions and engage them in conversations to build their speaking skills.
• Using rich vocabulary: Expose children to a variety of words and phrases, promoting language growth and understanding.

By actively engaging in children’s language and communication development, parents and caregivers can nurture cognitive, emotional, and social growth.

Cognitive Abilities and Skills

Cognitive abilities are the mental skills that children develop as they grow. These skills are essential for learning, adapting, and thriving in modern society. In this section, we will discuss various aspects of cognitive development, including reasoning and problem-solving, attention and memory, decision-making and executive function, as well as academic and cognitive milestones.

Reasoning and Problem Solving

Reasoning is the ability to think logically and make sense of the world around us. It’s essential for a child’s cognitive development, as it enables them to understand the concept of object permanence , recognize patterns, and classify objects. Problem-solving skills involve using these reasoning abilities to find solutions to challenges they encounter in daily life .

Children develop essential skills like:

• Logical reasoning : The ability to deduce conclusions from available information.
• Perception: Understanding how objects relate to one another in their environment.
• Schemes: Organizing thoughts and experiences into mental categories.

Attention and Memory

Attention refers to a child’s ability to focus on specific tasks, objects, or information, while memory involves retaining and recalling information. These cognitive abilities play a critical role in children’s learning and academic performance . Working memory is a vital component of learning, as it allows children to hold and manipulate information in their minds while solving problems and engaging with new tasks.

• Attention: Focuses on relevant tasks and information while ignoring distractions.
• Memory: Retains and retrieves information when needed.

Decision-Making and Executive Function

Decision-making is the process of making choices among various alternatives, while executive function refers to the higher-order cognitive processes that enable children to plan, organize, and adapt in complex situations. Executive function encompasses components such as:

• Inhibition: Self-control and the ability to resist impulses.
• Cognitive flexibility: Adapting to new information or changing circumstances.
• Planning: Setting goals and devising strategies to achieve them.

Academic and Cognitive Milestones

Children’s cognitive development is closely linked to their academic achievement. As they grow, they achieve milestones in various cognitive domains that form the foundation for their future learning. Some of these milestones include:

• Language skills: Developing vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure.
• Reading and mathematics: Acquiring the ability to read and comprehend text, as well as understanding basic mathematical concepts and operations.
• Scientific thinking: Developing an understanding of cause-and-effect relationships and forming hypotheses.

Healthy cognitive development is essential for a child’s success in school and life. By understanding and supporting the development of their cognitive abilities, we can help children unlock their full potential and prepare them for a lifetime of learning and growth.

Developmental Delays and Early Intervention

Identifying developmental delays.

Developmental delays in children can be identified by monitoring their progress in reaching cognitive, linguistic, physical, and social milestones. Parents and caregivers should be aware of developmental milestones that are generally expected to be achieved by children at different ages, such as 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 18 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, and 5 years. Utilizing resources such as the “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” program can help parents and caregivers recognize signs of delay early in a child’s life.

Resources and Support for Parents

There are numerous resources available for parents and caregivers to find information on developmental milestones and to learn about potential developmental delays, including:

• Learn the Signs. Act Early : A CDC initiative that provides pdf checklists of milestones and resources for identifying delays.
• Parental support groups : Local and online communities dedicated to providing resources and fostering connections between families experiencing similar challenges.

Professional Evaluations and Intervention Strategies

If parents or caregivers suspect a developmental delay, it is crucial to consult with healthcare professionals or specialists who can conduct validated assessments of the child’s cognitive and developmental abilities. Early intervention strategies, such as the ones used in broad-based early intervention programs , have shown significant positive impacts on children with developmental delays to improve cognitive development and outcomes.

Professional evaluations may include:

• Pediatricians : Primary healthcare providers who can monitor a child’s development and recommend further assessments when needed.
• Speech and language therapists : Professionals who assist children with language and communication deficits.
• Occupational therapists : Experts in helping children develop or improve on physical and motor skills, as well as social and cognitive abilities.

Depending on the severity and nature of the delays, interventions may involve:

• Individualized support : Tailored programs or therapy sessions specifically developed for the child’s needs.
• Group sessions : Opportunities for children to learn from and interact with other children experiencing similar challenges.
• Family involvement : Parents and caregivers learning support strategies to help the child in their daily life.

Fostering Healthy Cognitive Development

Play and learning opportunities.

Encouraging play is crucial for fostering healthy cognitive development in children . Provide a variety of age-appropriate games, puzzles, and creative activities that engage their senses and stimulate curiosity. For example, introduce building blocks and math games for problem-solving skills, and crossword puzzles to improve vocabulary and reasoning abilities.

Playing with others also helps children develop social skills and better understand facial expressions and emotions. Provide opportunities for cooperative play, where kids can work together to achieve a common goal, and open-ended play with no specific rules to boost creativity.

Supportive Home Environment

A nurturing and secure home environment encourages healthy cognitive growth. Be responsive to your child’s needs and interests, involving them in everyday activities and providing positive reinforcement. Pay attention to their emotional well-being and create a space where they feel safe to ask questions and explore their surroundings.

Promoting Independence and Decision-Making

Support independence by allowing children to make decisions about their playtime, activities, and daily routines. Encourage them to take age-appropriate responsibilities and make choices that contribute to self-confidence and autonomy. Model problem-solving strategies and give them opportunities to practice these skills during play, while also guiding them when necessary.

Healthy Lifestyle Habits

Promote a well-rounded lifestyle, including:

• Sleep : Ensure children get adequate and quality sleep by establishing a consistent bedtime routine.
• Hydration : Teach the importance of staying hydrated by offering water frequently, especially during play and physical activities.
• Screen time : Limit exposure to electronic devices and promote alternative activities for toddlers and older kids.
• Physical activity : Encourage children to engage in active play and exercise to support neural development and overall health .

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the key stages of child cognitive development.

Child cognitive development can be divided into several key stages based on Piaget’s theory of cognitive development . These stages include the sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years), preoperational stage (2-7 years), concrete operational stage (7-11 years), and formal operational stage (11 years and beyond). Every stage represents a unique period of cognitive growth, marked by the development of new skills, thought processes, and understanding of the world.

What factors influence cognitive development in children?

Several factors contribute to individual differences in child cognitive development, such as genetic and environmental factors. Socioeconomic status, access to quality education, early home environment, and parental involvement all play a significant role in determining cognitive growth. In addition, children’s exposure to diverse learning experiences, adequate nutrition, and mental health also influence overall cognitive performance .

How do cognitive skills vary during early childhood?

Cognitive skills in early childhood evolve as children progress through various stages . During the sensorimotor stage, infants develop fundamental skills such as object permanence. The preoperational stage is characterized by the development of symbolic thought, language, and imaginative play. Children then enter the concrete operational stage, acquiring the ability to think logically and solve problems. Finally, in the formal operational stage, children develop abstract reasoning abilities, complex problem-solving skills and metacognitive awareness.

What are common examples of cognitive development?

Examples of cognitive development include the acquisition of language and vocabulary, the development of problem-solving skills, and the ability to engage in logical reasoning. Additionally, memory, attention, and spatial awareness are essential aspects of cognitive development. Children may demonstrate these skills through activities like puzzle-solving, reading, and mathematics.

How do cognitive development theories explain children’s learning?

Piaget’s cognitive development theory suggests that children learn through active exploration, constructing knowledge based on their experiences and interactions with the world. In contrast, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory emphasizes the role of social interaction and cultural context in learning. Both theories imply that cognitive development is a dynamic and evolving process, influenced by various environmental and psychological factors.

Why is it essential to support cognitive development in early childhood?

Supporting cognitive development in early childhood is critical because it lays a strong foundation for future academic achievement, social-emotional development, and lifelong learning. By providing children with diverse and enriching experiences, caregivers and educators can optimize cognitive growth and prepare children to face the challenges of today’s complex world. Fostering cognitive development early on helps children develop resilience, adaptability, and critical thinking skills essential for personal and professional success.

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Problem Solving for Preschoolers: 9 Ways to Strengthen Their Skills

By Carrie Mesrobian on 12/20/2021

As an adult, you likely run into dozens of small issues every day that require problem-solving skills. While you might not give much thought to the process of figuring out the best way to put groceries away or how to run errands without backtracking all over town anymore, these basic problem-solving abilities weren’t always so simple. You refined these skills as a child with practice and guidance from adults.

Building problem-solving skills in preschool-age children is a foundational duty of all parents and early childhood educators. But it can be easy to lose sight of how to incorporate these skills, especially when family life gets hectic or classrooms become busy.

For some fresh perspective on how to look at problem solving from a preschooler lens, we asked several experts in the early childhood education (ECE) field how they teach skills in their own classrooms. Read on for some insight on helping the young ones in your life figure out creative and workable solutions.

9 Tried-and-true ways to develop problem-solving skills in preschoolers

1. use everyday moments.

The handy thing about teaching problem-solving skills at this age is that there are no textbooks, worksheets or special equipment involved. Every day, normal situations provide all the materials you’ll need to practice.

“Parents can help their children develop problem-solving skills through ongoing interactions with their children throughout their day,” explains Paula Polito, owner of Beary Cherry Tree Child Development Center. “At home, in the grocery store and in everyday routines, such as mealtime or bath time.”

Rebecah Freeling, parent coach and child behavior expert at Wits’ End Parenting ®, believes household chores are an excellent way to teach problem solving.

“Housework is a matter of solving one problem after another. All these things go wrong when you’re doing housework,” Freeling explains. “Kids get this idea that problems are no big deal. Problems happen all the time and we just solve them.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean making a chore chart, though Freeling says some kids respond well to them. Instead, she encourages parents to try to integrate kids into the everyday maintenance of the home, and when possible, work alongside them.

“Say, ‘What would you like to be in charge of today?’” Freeling advises. “It’s the difference between getting to do something versus having to do it.”

While a grocery store trip can sometimes be a stressful rush, there are infinite opportunities to practice problem solving, says Dr. Elizabeth DeWitt, senior curriculum and implementation specialist at Learning Without Tears . DeWitt suggests using a list or a recipe of ingredients and asking your child to help you find certain items.

“Say, ‘I have this recipe that says we need chicken, rice and soup. I see chicken and soup in our cart. What are we missing? What could we or should we add?’” DeWitt says.

Taking the time to simply talk children through the thought process—no matter how simple it seems—helps reinforce and show them how you came to that conclusion.

2. Ask open-ended questions

As in the grocery store situation, just asking questions is a powerful way to foster both problem solving and creativity in young children.

“When your child comes across a difficult task, like zipping their coat, it can often be faster and easier to stop what you're doing and zip it for them,” says Becky Loftfield, an ECE teacher at Community of Saints Preschool .

If a child says, “I can't do this,” Loftfield advises asking “how come?” This lets them answer in their own words. “Asking ‘how come’ usually works better than ‘why’ for young children,” Loftfield adds.

Pausing to listen to the child’s explanation of the problem in their own words guides what happens next.

“Perhaps they don't know how zippers line up at the bottom for the mechanism to slide,” says Loftfield. “Maybe the zipper itself is too small for them to grip. Encourage your child to explore what the problem actually is beyond ‘I can't zip my coat.’”

Polito also believes in the power of conversational questions to build problem-solving skills.

“For example, parents can ask a child to explain why they did something a certain way,” Polito explains. “Providing hints to children as opposed to giving them the answer is also another way for children to think deeper about a concept.”

“We promote more learning when we allow them to think through the question,” Polito says.

3. Center emotions

All problem solving involves emotions. In the zipping-up-the-coat situation, a child might act frustrated, get angry or start crying. Handling the emotion is often the key to the child sorting out the situation, as well as learning that they are capable of finding solutions.

“We are not born knowing how to solve problems or having the vocabulary to express our feelings,” says Torri Parker, a pre-K instructor at Aspen Academy . “Often I hear a student telling another child ‘You’re not my friend,’ when what the child is meaning is that they are hurt by something their friend did, or they would like some space.”

Parker suggests picture books that focus on emotions and offer multiple ways to express them can be a powerful way to help kids not only problem solve but also identify emotions in their peers and develop greater empathy.

“By providing the words needed to convey those feelings, a child learns what that feeling feels like and can then have the vocabulary in the future to solve a conflict like that,” Parker says.

4. Read books and tell stories

Sometimes, not having to tackle a problem that’s happening in the moment is a good way to practice these skills. This is where reading books and telling stories come into play.

“Books have the opportunity to build incredible social-emotional skills,” DeWitt says. Not only are kids looking for solutions to the characters’ problems, they’re also building vocabulary, narrative skills and critical thinking as well.

Nicole Evert, a pre-K teacher and ECE trainer at Creating Butterflies, recommends the use of “ social stories ” for preschool problem solving.

“A social story introduces a problem, then shows successful ways to solve the problem,” Evert explains. “Sometimes a social story will include silly pages that show how to not solve the problem.”

Social stories can be especially helpful for children with anxiety about certain activities or routines, as well as kids with disabilities.

“Parents and educators can even make their own social stories using pictures of the specific child and their environment, which can be so powerful,” adds Evert.

5. Take advantage of natural curiosities and interests

One approach to helping young children practice problem-solving skills is in the discovery of something they are authentically interested in learning about. Adam Cole, music director at The Willow School , explains his school’s Reggio Emilia -inspired philosophy where a teacher gives students “provocations.”

“Provocations are opportunities for them to encounter something for which they may then express further interest,” Cole explains. “For instance, a teacher may set up a drawing provocation, and the children may draw buildings. The teacher may pick up on this and talk with the children about buildings, asking how they are built and where they can find more. This may lead to research or trips to see buildings and will continue on until the thread plays itself out.”

Because the focus is centered on topics or activities that already capture the child’s interest, the problem-solving aspect is more meaningful and compelling for many children. Because the teacher works alongside the child to problem solve, it offers space for the teacher to ask questions and encourage further creativity.

“This is an organic way to learn to solve problems, bolstered by the intrinsic desire of the child to learn more,” Cole adds.

6. Model problem solving

Preschoolers are always observing our behavior as parents and teachers.

“Given that 90% of brain development occurs between birth and four years of age, we have an opportunity during these preschool years to set our children up for success,” says Polito.

It may seem obvious, but our strategies and methods provide kids with in-the-moment examples of how to handle life with things go wrong.

“From a teaching perspective, you can think, ‘I’m teaching this child how to be who they are, how to live life,’” says Freeling. “A spill derails you a bit. So, stop and ask the child, ‘How should I clean this up?’”

Loftfield agrees. “Parents and educators can act as guides for a child’s experience, demonstrating how they problem solve and modeling what they want to see.”

This doesn’t mean that the adult must do everything perfectly or without emotions, however. Managing feelings is all part of learning to problem solve. “Allow time for mistakes, time for meltdowns and time for celebration,” Loftfield advises.

7. Look to the child for the solution

This last one might seem counter to number six above, but Freeling believes that parents and teachers can help children learn to problem solve by removing themselves from the process.

“Moving past your instincts to fix or smooth over problems helps a lot,” Freeling says. “Project the kid’s age in your mind. Think of a 25-year-old graduating from college. I want them to be able to ask for a higher salary, to vocalize what they want. You’re not just getting kids to be obedient—you’re teaching them how to negotiate the world.”

This is why Freeling advises adults to try coming into a problem-solving situation with children without a ready-made solution. She offers an example: there’s only one red truck, and two children both want to play with it.

“You’re really looking to the child and trusting their thinking and intelligence for solutions you hadn’t thought of,” Freeling says. She recommends repeating questions until the kids come to a decision and as long as no one’s at risk of injury, standing by the children’s solution.

“They might say, ‘We have to paint all the trucks red, since everyone wants a red truck,’” Freeling says. This might seem odd to an adult. But the point is to make the children a vital part of the creative process instead of just getting them to comply with the adult’s idea.

Developing empathy also factors into this scenario, especially in situations where problems stem from hurt feelings or other emotional conflicts. Freeling believes that finding ways to make restitution to others they’ve hurt is a better practice than forcing kids to apologize. She suggests having a child draw a picture of something the upset child likes as a way to make amends and help them recognize the other’s individuality.

“We don’t want kids to feel guilt for hurting someone; we want them to feel compassion,” Freeling says. “And solving problems in a relationship requires empathy.”

Is an early childhood education career right for you?

Enjoying the process of seeing life through a little one’s eyes? Early childhood education is an exciting, dynamic field full of creativity and potential to positively impact the lives of children and their families. If helping kids learn and grow sounds like something you’d be good at, check out our article “9 Signs You Should Be Teaching Preschool.”

Related Articles: 

Working with Defiant Preschoolers: What Educators Should Know

Wits’ End Parenting is a registered trademark of Wits’ End Parenting, Inc. This program does not prepare students for licensed teaching positions in elementary or secondary schools . A Bachelor’s degree and a state teaching license are typically required to work as a teacher in most school settings; however, states, municipalities, districts or individual schools may have more stringent licensing requirements. Childcare facilities and states establish qualifications for staff who work with children, and often implement guidelines regarding age, education, experience and professional development. Students must determine the licensure requirements for the state and facilities in which they intend to work.

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Carrie Mesrobian

Carrie is a freelance copywriter at Collegis Education. She researches and writes articles, on behalf of Rasmussen University, to help empower students to achieve their career dreams through higher education.

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4 Ways to Improve Your Problem-Solving Skills

The ability to problem-solve is indispensable. As you move forward with your education, it will prove to be an invaluable asset not only as you study for entrance exams and unit tests, but also in college and beyond, when you launch your career.

When you set out to solve a problem, you are essentially defining a question in need of a solution. Whether you solve that problem ultimately depends upon your ability to ask the right question and to take the necessary steps to find the most sensible solution.

Of course, problem-solving is not always straightforward. Often, it requires a great deal of insight and critical thinking to imagine possible solutions, while it takes creativity and decisiveness to implement the best solution. Learning when and how to employ these qualities involves discretion, but acquiring such skills can also be the key difference between acing and flunking an exam. Here are four ways to improve your problem-solving skills: 

1. Learn how to identify the problem

On tests, a significant amount of time is wasted when a student is unsure what the problem is about. Occasionally, the source of an incorrect answer is rooted not in misinformation, but rather in misunderstanding. When preparing to solve a problem, ensure you are certain of two things: its scope (what is the question truly asking?) and its limits (what is the question not asking?). You can then move on to defining the problem.

One way to define a problem is to rephrase the question. If you are dealing with a word problem whose sentences are long and convoluted, it may be helpful to break it into shorter, clearer portions. It may also be useful to mentally rearrange the word order so it makes sense to you. If you choose to do so, take care to avoid losing the original meaning. Correctly identifying a problem takes reading comprehension. To sharpen your reading comprehension skills, practice asking yourself questions when you read like, “Can I summarize this paragraph in two sentences?”

2. Draw connections

Once you have determined the correct question, you can then find the right answer. This can be a multi-step process. For instance, on a math test, you may encounter a complex problem that you have never encountered before. Instead of skipping it, assess whether there is any part of the question that resembles a math problem you have solved in the past. Break it into simpler steps, then think each through. Math is more than just memorizing formulas and functions and making calculations—much of math depends upon numerical reasoning and logic. As a result, to improve your problem-solving skills, sharpen your reasoning skills. You may be surprised by the results.

3. Develop good habits

To master any skill, you must first practice. Practice independently or with a mentor, like a tutor. Challenge yourself to practice problems in an area that is difficult for you. Here are a few of the best study habits for students. If solving antonym/synonym questions is simple, see if you can answer reading questions just as quickly. Or if algebra is your strong suit, perhaps you should devote more time to geometry. 

Solving such problems over and over again will help you strengthen pathways in your brain so you can do them again later—this time, more quickly.  Complete practice tests . Complete problem-solving exercises. Time yourself to see if you improve. Eventually, logical solutions will present themselves more readily to you, until solving problems feels like second nature.

4. Fuel your brain power

Your brain is like an engine. It is powerful, quick, and it can go far. However, without proper fuel, it will not function well. Do not underestimate the value of a good night’s sleep and eating well. Your brain and your body go hand-in-hand. To perform at your best mentally, you also need to take care of yourself physically.

You may be surprised to learn that problem-solving skills depend on logical reasoning. The rational thinking that is required to solve problems involves a mentality that can be applied to many different scenarios. Strengthen your ability to think clearly and to identify strategies. In the end, you will have a skill set that is not only vital, but will also point you to real solutions.

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What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychological treatment that has been demonstrated to be effective for a range of problems including depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug use problems, marital problems, eating disorders, and severe mental illness. Numerous research studies suggest that CBT leads to significant improvement in functioning and quality of life. In many studies, CBT has been demonstrated to be as effective as, or more effective than, other forms of psychological therapy or psychiatric medications.

It is important to emphasize that advances in CBT have been made on the basis of both research and clinical practice. Indeed, CBT is an approach for which there is ample scientific evidence that the methods that have been developed actually produce change. In this manner, CBT differs from many other forms of psychological treatment.

CBT is based on several core principles, including:

• Psychological problems are based, in part, on faulty or unhelpful ways of thinking.
• Psychological problems are based, in part, on learned patterns of unhelpful behavior.
• People suffering from psychological problems can learn better ways of coping with them, thereby relieving their symptoms and becoming more effective in their lives.

CBT treatment usually involves efforts to change thinking patterns. These strategies might include:

• Learning to recognize one’s distortions in thinking that are creating problems, and then to reevaluate them in light of reality.
• Gaining a better understanding of the behavior and motivation of others.
• Using problem-solving skills to cope with difficult situations.
• Learning to develop a greater sense of confidence in one’s own abilities.

CBT treatment also usually involves efforts to change behavioral patterns. These strategies might include:

• Facing one’s fears instead of avoiding them.
• Using role playing to prepare for potentially problematic interactions with others.
• Learning to calm one’s mind and relax one’s body.

Not all CBT will use all of these strategies. Rather, the psychologist and patient/client work together, in a collaborative fashion, to develop an understanding of the problem and to develop a treatment strategy.

CBT places an emphasis on helping individuals learn to be their own therapists. Through exercises in the session as well as “homework” exercises outside of sessions, patients/clients are helped to develop coping skills, whereby they can learn to change their own thinking, problematic emotions, and behavior.

CBT therapists emphasize what is going on in the person’s current life, rather than what has led up to their difficulties. A certain amount of information about one’s history is needed, but the focus is primarily on moving forward in time to develop more effective ways of coping with life.

Source: APA Div. 12 (Society of Clinical Psychology)

What Are Soft Skills at Work?

What are soft skills examples, why are soft skills important, what soft skills do employers look for, how to improve your soft skills, including soft skills on a resume, what careers are right for you, based on your soft skills quiz, what are soft skills definition and examples.

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Forage puts students first. Our blog articles are written independently by our editorial team. They have not been paid for or sponsored by our partners. See our full  editorial guidelines .

Table of Contents

Soft skills are non-technical skills that describe how you work and interact with others. Unlike hard skills , they’re not necessarily something you’ll learn in a course, like data analytics or programming skills . Instead, they’re something you often build through experience. Soft skills reflect your communication style, work ethic , and work style. 

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Soft skills are interpersonal skills that describe how you work and interact with other people. These skills apply to all kinds of jobs and careers. For example, a professor and an investment manager can both be great communicators and have exceptional leadership skills, although how those skills translate into their professions can look quite different. No matter what field you’re interested in, these skills won’t just come in handy — they’ll be integral to your success at a company.

These skills generally fall into a few different categories:

• Communication skills
• Leadership skills
• Teamwork skills
• Problem-solving skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Time management skills

Communication Skills

Communication skills describe how you interact with the people you work with — from your boss to your friendly colleague to an important client. These skills are vital in getting your ideas across in a meeting, sharing status updates on a project, or effectively negotiating with a coworker about how to move forward. Some soft communication skills include:

• Public speaking
• Negotiation
• Conflict resolution
• Verbal communication
• Friendliness
• Empathetic listening

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Leadership Skills

Leadership skills are essential in all types of roles, even if you’re not directly managing someone. Adding these skills to a resume shows your potential employer that you’re confident in taking charge and leading by example. Some soft leadership skills include:

• Decision-making
• Adaptability
• Team-building
• Reliability

Teamwork Skills

No one works in a silo, even if they’re on a team of one. Teamwork skills are critical in any job to work harmoniously with stakeholders across projects, teams, and departments. These skills aren’t just about getting along, though. It’s also essential to know when to disagree and push back to get the best result. Some soft teamwork skills include:

• Rapport-building
• Respectfulness

Problem-Solving Skills

Companies hire people to help them solve problems and find the best solutions. No matter what role you’re taking on, you’ll need to think creatively, analytically, and logically to understand why problems are happening and how to solve the issue.

Whether it’s understanding why there’s not enough traffic to a website or how to raise students’ test scores, problems in the workplace are everywhere, and companies want new hires to bring fresh and innovative ways to solve them. Problem-solving skills include:

• Communication
• Creative thinking

Critical Thinking Skills

These skills help people identify the root cause of an issue. Critical thinkers analyze, research, identify, and think outside the box to make sense of information. At work, critical thinking helps people solve problems and challenge preconceived notions to help create the best path forward. Some soft critical thinking skills include:

• Analytical skills
• Questioning

Time Management Skills

Time management skills ensure employees perform their jobs efficiently and productively. While time management is essential to any role, these skills are critical in hybrid and remote work environments. Employers want to know they can trust employees to get things done even if they’re not physically in an office with them. Some time management skills include:

• Prioritization
• Detail-oriented

“We all have soft skills because they are part of who we are,” Sabrina Cortes, resume writer, says. “Top soft skills are teamwork, attention to detail , time management, organization, verbal and written communication, leadership, emotional intelligence, adaptability/flexibility, problem-solving/conflict resolution, and interpersonal skills. … Unfortunately, all too often, these personality traits are overlooked [by applicants]. But they play a role in each job out there.”

Of course, some skills are more applicable to specific jobs than others. Here are some examples of how soft skills can be applied to specific industries:

Soft skills are important because they make you a successful employee and a helpful team member — and they’re a crucial part of helping you land a job. 

“Employers want to see how well [potential employees] work with people and can think beyond their learning,” Joanne Rosen, Chief Operations Officer at Write Choice Resumes, explains.

Employers look for soft skills because these skills are helpful indicators of how successful a new hire will be. According to a Leadership IQ study, 89% of new hire failures were a result of poor soft skills, not a lack of technical failures. New hires were more likely to fail because they lacked soft skills like coachability, emotional intelligence, and motivation. Only 11% of new hire failures were a result of technical incompetence. 

This trend especially rings true for entry-level hires. Because entry-level applicants don’t have advanced technical skills yet, having good soft skills can set you apart from the competition.

>>MORE: Learn what careers are right for you based on your skillset with our career aptitude test .

Not all soft skills are created equal in employers’ eyes. According to a 2023 survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), the top skills employers look for are problem-solving skills and the ability to work in a team.  

“In my experience, it’s valuable [for students] to convey these three key soft skills: time management, communications, and customer service,” 5X Certified Resume Writer Virginia Franco says. “They are most relevant to entry-level success across diverse industries and job functions.”

Now you know — soft skills are a major way to stand out in the job search when you’re just starting out. But how do you start to improve yours?

Go Out of Your Way to Work With Others

If you’re like me, group projects are the bane of your academic career. Yet they’re a valuable way to build soft skills and experience that you can talk about in interviews. Proactively seek out group settings when working on projects, whether you’re in the classroom or for an extracurricular. Even if the project takes a little longer than it would have on your own, you’ll practice skills like problem-solving, collaboration, communication, and feedback. If you’re lucky, you’ll even build conflict resolution skills !

Practice Responsive Soft Skills

Soft skills aren’t just what you bring to the working world, but how you respond to it. Start with how you communicate with others. It’s not just about what you’re saying to another person, but how you listen and process what they’re saying back to you. 

Instead of just hearing the words someone is saying, make a conscious effort to truly understand their perspective, emotions, and underlying needs. Give them your full attention, maintain eye contact, and provide verbal and non-verbal cues to show that you are engaged in the conversation. By actively listening , you can develop a deeper understanding of others, build trust, and respond in a more thoughtful and empathetic manner.

Self-Reflect

Finally, the best way to work on your soft skills is to reflect on your progress. Soft skills can be a lot harder to measure than hard skills because they’re often unquantifiable. Instead, you can track your progress by thinking of examples of when you have (or haven’t!) used your soft skills when working on a school project, or in an internship , volunteer opportunity, part-time job, extracurricular, or any other experience you might talk about in an interview. Where are your gaps? Could you have been a more effective communicator? Were you a great negotiator? What can you do differently next time?

Because employers are looking for soft skills in the entry-level hiring process, it’s crucial for you not only to include them, but to know the right ones to include.

What Soft Skills Should I Include on My Resume?

One of the best ways to know what skills to include on your resume is to look at the job description. Just as you’d include hard skills based on a job description’s requirements, reading what a company is looking for can help determine what soft skills to include. 

>>Forage find: Unlike hard skills, the exact soft skills an employer is looking for might not be as spelled out. Look for clues on what kinds of workers they’re looking for — Team players? Independent? Self-motivated? — to understand what skills to include.

Is the company looking for someone who can handle communicating big ideas with customers and clients? Demonstrate those communication skills. Does it want someone strategic who can tackle big issues? Show that you’re an excellent problem-solver.

How to Include Soft Skills on a Resume

Resume experts agree that you don’t necessarily need a dedicated skills section to flaunt your soft skills on a resume.

“Soft skills need to be demonstrated, not listed,” Rosen says. “Example: Rescued at-risk account by communicating with the client about needs and creating innovative customer-facing solutions.”

By using the phrases “communicating” and” “creating innovative, customer-facing solutions,” the candidate shows off their communication skills and problem-solving skills.

>>MORE: How to Write a Resume

You can also use a professional summary to flex these skills.

“I like to mix soft skills with hard skills,” Wendi Weiner , attorney and resume expert, says. “You can include a sentence in your professional summary that speaks to some of your soft skills. Example: ‘Record of leading projects from concept to completion through strong problem solving, team building, and solid time management.’ The hard skill in this sentence is project management, and it’s leveraged by the soft skills of problem-solving, team building, and time management.”

If you do include a skills section on your resume, you can use the same section to list both hard and soft skills . It’s a great way to save on space while sharing a well-rounded picture of your abilities.

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