teaching preschoolers problem solving skills

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

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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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Discovery Play with Littles

2:01 pm ·

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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Problem-solving and Relationship Skills in Preschool

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

Saameh Solaimani: Hi, everyone. I'm Saameh Solaimani. Welcome to "Teacher Time.” Thank you so much for being here with us today.

Gail Joseph: Hi, everyone. I'm Gail Joseph, and I'm so excited to be joining you on "Teacher Time" today. Now, Saameh, I always think it's better when we start with a song, so shall we?

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

Gail: Here we are. I love your puppet moves. You've got some really good moves.

Saameh: Thank you. I worked hard on this.

Gail: Well, hi, everyone, and welcome to our third preschool episode of "Teacher Time" this program year. I'm Gail Joseph.

Saameh: I'm Saameh Solaimani, and we're from the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching and Learning.

Gail: We are so excited to have you here with us today. We have been focusing on positive behavior supports this season of "Teacher Time.” Hopefully, you've joined us for some of the previous episodes. So far, we've talked about the importance of relationships and how to support emotional literacy. And today, we're going to be focusing on problem-solving and relationships, and friendship skills in preschool.

I want to draw your attention to the viewer's guide. I've printed mine out here. It's beautiful. You can find it in the resource widget. If you haven't looked at our viewer's guide for a while, I strongly encourage you to. This season, our viewer's guide is a viewer's guide for birth to five, including specific age group information for infants and toddlers and preschool children. It is packed with information about development, about teaching practices. There are quick tips in here. There are reminders. There are things you can cut out and post and put up in your learning space. There are spaces for notetaking.

On the last page is just an extensive resource list that you are going to love. You can download the guide and use it throughout our time together for taking notes, for reflecting, planning how you might use some of the "Teacher Time" practices we're going to talk about in your own settings. And please share your viewer's guide with colleagues. Also, we want your ideas in the next issue of "Teacher Time.” You can see on the back that we ask you to submit some of your own strategies and tips, and then you'll be published in the "Teacher Time" viewer's guide.

Saameh: That would be awesome. We always love to hear from you. Thank you so much, Gail. During our time together, we're going to be discussing teaching practices that support positive behavior. We're going to take some time to promote your wellness with our It's All About You segment. We're going to connect effective practice to brain development in our new segment, which some of you may have seen in our last episode's Neuroscience Nook.

We're going to discuss small change, big impact, and in our focus on equity segments, individualized strategies that build a sense of belonging and promote social and emotional skills with all children, including children who have a variety of learning characteristics. And we're going to wrap up our time together, as we always do, with our BookCASE, where we connect our topic to books that you can share with children and families.

Gail: We love the BookCASE and our "Teacher Time" librarian. Like we do at the beginning of most "Teacher Times," we want to check in with how you're feeling, such an important thing to do periodically throughout the day. Look at our "Teacher Time" feeling tree, find a feeling creature. They all have little numbers on them.

And post in the Q&A which number creature you most relate to at the moment and why. We want to hear from you. We have our amazing Q&A team there, ready to see your input. I'm going to go ahead and start. Now, every time I look at — what I love about our little "Teacher Time" tree here is that I always think a little bit differently about how these creatures are feeling, which is fun. It helps children do that, too.

Saameh: Right.

Gail: I think the little guy that is swinging from the tree there. I'm just pretty excited to be here. I've been on some travel. I'm excited to be back with you and back with our "Teacher Time" viewership. How are you feeling, Saameh?

Saameh: I actually was thinking about this. And I think number 12, sitting on the leaf, surrounded by friends, by community, by all of you. Yeah, I'm feeling very part of this learning community.

Gail: I love it. And our viewers are checking in. Five, a rough week. Some weeks are like that. I hope it gets better for you, Amy. We've got a 12. Somebody is feeling like you. One, five. Our viewers are all over the tree, checking in. I feel like number five, pretty rough afternoon. My goodness. We hope that spending some time today thinking about your own professional development might feel a little bit uplifting for you. But we definitely know how it feels when you're not having a great week, too. Just hanging in there. Thank you so much for sharing.

Saameh: Yes, yes.

Gail: Thank you. Keep it going. Keep it going.

Saameh: We're very excited to be focusing on positive behavior supports this season, as you know. And social and emotional development. As you may know, is one of the domains in the Head Start ELOF, which stands for Early Learning Outcomes Framework. The practical strategies we're going to be discussing today are going to be focusing on the relationships with other children subdomain of social and emotional development. And you can see that highlighted here.

Gail: I love that. Now, like we said last month, this season of "Teacher Time" is focused on working our way through the Pyramid Model. Some of you might be really familiar with the Pyramid Model. Maybe your program is participating in a pyramid training. But if you're not familiar with it, the Pyramid Model is really a model or a framework of positive behavioral support for proactively addressing the social and emotional development. And for preventing and addressing challenging behaviors of young children. The framework offers a continuum of evidence-based teaching practices that are organized into four levels of support. And you can see those there.

At the foundation, it's all about nurturing and responsive relationships. Not only between the teacher, the educator, and the children but between children and between educators. It's all about these relationships. And we want them to be nurturing and responsive no matter what relationship they're in. That's the foundation. The next are high-quality supportive environments. How can we create both the physical and temporal structure of the environment to support positive behavior?

Then we level up and go to social and emotional teaching strategies. That's where we're at right now, is going to dig into some of those social and emotional teaching strategies. Then at the very top, when all of the bottom three pieces are in place, there might still be some children that have some behaviors that could require a little bit more intensive intervention. And we're going to talk about that in May. Be sure to come back.

But if you want to learn more about the Pyramid Model, you can check out the resource list in the back of your viewer's guide for a lot more information about it. Now, we would love to hear what strategies and practices you have in place to support young children's problem-solving and their friendship skills with children that you're working with.

Go ahead and start entering those in the Q&A. And our Q&A team, we've got, like, the star Q&A team today. They're going to start sending those out, too. We're going to be tracking them, but they're also going to be sent out so other people can see them as well when you share what strategies you're using. We always learn so much from our viewers. And there's always something that we're, like, a gem out there in how you're supporting young children's problem-solving.

Saameh: Such a wealth of resources out there.

Gail: Absolutely. Now, as a reminder, positive behavioral support, or sometimes called PBS, sometimes you might hear it called PBIS. Sometimes you might even hear it called a multi-tiered system of support. But positive behavioral support is a positive and proactive approach to preventing and addressing challenging behavior. It focuses on using very intentional teaching strategies to proactively, that's such a big part of it, proactively build all social and emotional skills. And today we're specifically thinking about building problem-solving skills and relationship skills for young children. Now, positive behavioral support recognizes that all behavior communicates a message or a need. And some behaviors, as they're trying to get their needs across, we might find challenging.

Once an educator understands the meaning, what is the message that the child is trying to send with their behavior? What's the meaning? They want something. They want to get away from something. They're not sure how to play with their friends, but they're trying in the way that they can. Once you know what the meaning of that challenging behavior is, then we can figure out how to teach the child a more effective way to communicate their needs and problem-solve with support.

Saameh: So important to keep in mind. Now what we're going to do is we're going to turn our attention to you in our All About You segment. We know that we do our best caregiving and teaching when we feel well ourselves. Engaging in self-care practices can help educators 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 center ourselves by noticing and observing what's happening with as little judgment as possible.

We can help young children work through challenges with peers from a more grounded, soft, and objective place, naming what we see happening calmly without so many of the other things going on when we're feeling stressed and overwhelmed. What we're going to do is a little body scan. Before we can support the children in our care with problem-solving and relationship skills, it's important to find ways to regulate our own feelings throughout the day.

Taking a minute to do something like a body scan like we have here to notice what's happening in our own bodies is softening in the moment. We can slow down and center ourselves throughout the day. This practice supports our own well-being first, enabling us to hold a non-judgmental space, as we were saying, respond intentionally to children's cues, behaviors, and communications as we support them in building healthy relationships with each other.

Here we go. Start with a deep breath. Okay, I noticed as I was saying that I was holding my breath. Breathe. Okay, so we're going to start in a seated position or laying down, whatever is comfortable for you. And now you can bring your attention to your body, and you can close your eyes if that's comfortable for you. And you can notice your body wherever you are.

As you exhale, you have a sense of relaxing, and you can notice your feet or body on the floor. You can notice your back against the chair or maybe on the floor. Bring your attention into your stomach area. If it feels tight, let it soften. Notice your hands, arms, shoulders, and let them be soft. Let your jaw and facial muscles be soft. Notice your whole body present, and take one more deep breath. Okay.

Okay, we would love to hear how you were feeling during that or feel now or after the body scan. What do you notice? And let's see. And I noticed like I was saying, that I was holding my breath.

Gail: I feel like we should do that right before "Teacher Time.” It would be really helpful.

Saameh: That's right.

Gail: I felt so calm and centered.

Saameh: We'd love to hear from you how that experience was. Thank you so much for taking the time to take time for yourself. Calm. Self-aware. Conscious. More relaxed.

Gail: It doesn't take very long too, and I know that when I was teaching on a regular basis, just having those moments where I could just feel that tension in my body, and it just takes a moment to take a breath before I interact.

Saameh: It is amazing how much one minute of breathing can do. Yes. It’s not something that requires a lot of time, which I know we don't necessarily have as teachers sometimes.

Social competencies like self-regulation, empathy, perspective-taking, and problem-solving skills are key to foundational healthy social-emotional development. And these include positive interactions and friendships and relationships between peers, as we know. Educators can help children learn the skills necessary to develop healthy peer relationships and find ways to work through social conflicts with adult support.

And that's where we come in. And teaching and modeling problem-solving skills early on with preschool children builds a foundation of problem-solving and relationship skills that most children can access with adult support and start to use independently as they continue to develop. The more we can support young children in developing problem-solving skills in their learning environments, the less we'll see some of those challenging behaviors that oftentimes arise from not having the resources, the tools to work through the problem as they come up, which they will because that's life.

It's important to note that there might be some children in your care who don't readily learn these skills through foundational teaching strategies. This might include children with disabilities or suspected delays. It's important to be aware of the progress for all children and use more individualized practices to work on these skills with children who need a little more support. That’s what we'll be doing today, sharing some strategies to do just that.

Gail: Some key ideas and practices for supporting problem-solving and peer relationship skills with preschool children are the first little slide that you see there or picture that you see there is about promoting healthy relationships. Preschoolers are increasingly interested, as our viewers know, in developing friendships with one or two preferred peers, like we see in the photo on the left. They're able to engage in group play and independently initiate interactions with peers, which is so fun to see develop.

Preschoolers might suggest something to do, like let's play a restaurant or let's build a swimming pool for our animals together or join in an existing activity. Hey, can I play too? Educators can support preschoolers in promoting healthy friendships in quite a few ways that I'm sure our viewers are already doing. But just to name a few, one is that you can help children plan what and how they will play together.

One thing that I always like to, I'm going to go off for a moment, is that one thing that I think about a lot as a preschool teacher is thinking about materials and resources and activities that require two children to play together so that you set the stage for children to interact with each other. Things like those teeter-totters or rowboats in classrooms is just one obvious idea that takes two children.

Another thing is providing suggestions for initiating interactions with other children. And a quick tip there too is right before children go to play, if there's a child that you think could use a little bit more support, is to do a little priming and say, “hey, point to two or three things that you could play with a friend,” and you'll see that they can increase their initiations with other children.

Then, encouraging children to consider other ideas. I don't know if anybody out there is a big puppet user, but I used a lot of puppets when I was teaching at Head Start, and this was a great way to model like at a circle time, model with a puppet and other children role-play how I could consider somebody else's idea. Lots of ways to do that.

Saameh: This is a great time for us to pause and think about what value do I place on peer relationships, and how do I expect peers to act with each other? Sort of that, taking a moment to think about our own ideas because we're subjective beings, and we have our own experiences. It's really important to just take a moment. And awareness of our responses to these questions is supportive of our equitable practice. I do have to say I love what you said about puppets, and we're going to be seeing a little bit of puppet work later on in our episode today. I am also a fan of puppets.

As you see, the second photo you see is representing teaching problem-solving steps, which is so important. Preschoolers are willing to try different strategies to solve problems and show flexibility in their actions and behavior, and they can plan ways to solve a problem and evaluate solutions with our support. In a minute, we're going to hear from Dr. Angel Fettig, Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of Washington, who will share strategies to support problem-solving in preschool classrooms. She's going to talk about the steps.

Gail: That's great. Of course, another way that we can support children, which you probably feel like you're doing all the time, is teaching problem-solving in the moment. One is to proactively teach, which we're going to hear about strategies for doing that. But the other thing is then supporting that problem-solving as it occurs in the moment. There are a few steps that educators can do to work through that. One is anticipating that social conflicts are going to happen, and you try and anticipate it before they happen.

You might notice a child that's coming into the classroom or into the learning setting feeling a little bit tired, maybe something upsetting happened before, maybe you have some communication with the family and understand that something troubling has just happened at home, and the child is coming into the space. Maybe they're not usually having a difficult time with problem-solving, but today they might be.

But another thing that you can do is anticipate, did you introduce a new toy into your learning space? Maybe you introduced some new props in the dramatic play area, and you know that a lot of children are going to want to use them. You're anticipating that probably in that space, there's going to be a little bit more need to support problem-solving in the moment. You want to anticipate social conflicts before they happen.

Another thing that's so important is being close and helping children manage their feelings. If I'm anticipating that there might be some problem, maybe an individual child might need some more support, or there's an area in the classroom that I think, oh, I'm probably going to want to be close there, is to get close because children will, as they get excited or upset, that fight or flight comes in. You want to be there to support them to help remember some of the problem-solving steps that you've provided.

Now, providing support and reminders of problem-solving steps would be next. I'm going to be close with them, and then I'm going to provide support, and that support could be verbal like I could remind them of the problem-solving steps. It can also be visual, and we're going to talk about some of the visual supports you can have in your classrooms.

Some people in our Q&A have already talked about ways that they've used visuals with problem-solving solution kits, et cetera. We can encourage children to generate and evaluate multiple solutions. I'm going to say that this is really where it's at for preschool children, is to encourage them to generate as many different solutions to a problem as they can. When children have a restricted number of solutions they can try, they're bound to run out of things that are working for them. We want to encourage them to keep being really creative and generating so many different solutions.

Last but not least, when children do problem-solving, find some way to celebrate that. It might be a thumbs-up. It might be a high-five. It might be with a super friend cape or with some other type of big celebration because this is hard work, and it's really hard work when you're a young child just figuring it out. We want to make sure that we're celebrating that. We're going to remember that we always want to individualize the strategies that we're going to use to provide support based on the skills of the children that you're supporting.

Some children might need some additional amount of language that needs to be modified. Some children might need visual cues or gestures paired with verbal language. Some children might need some specific feedback on the consequences to help them learn the effect of their behavior on the environment. Stay tuned for BASICS where we're going to share about some more strategies for providing feedback.

Saameh: I love that. I love what you said about anticipation. I think it goes such a long way. Also, what you were saying about problem-solving and the children coming up with the solutions, generating the solutions, and I keep thinking about how problem-solving is also play in a way.

Gail: Yeah.

Saameh: It's exploration. It's play. In a way, it's fun. It's not necessarily a negative thing. Sometimes we think problem as negative, and it doesn't have to be.

Gail: It can be like a fun challenge. I would support children, and I'd say, “are they making it tough on you?”

Saameh: Exactly.

Gail: And they'd be like, yeah. But then they'd be encouraged to keep going. Sometimes I'd say, let me look. Let me look. I think you've got more solutions in there. I'd peer into their ear, and they'd think that was really fun. You can just really be fun and encourage them to be creative and think of more solutions.

Saameh: I love that one. We’re going to hear from Dr. Angel Fettig, who we were talking about earlier, as she discusses strategies to teach problem-solving skills.

[Video begins]

Angel Fettig: I think in early childhood settings, I think the best thing is to think about simple steps to teach kids. So simple, concrete strategies they can use in the setting. My favorite is to really think about the four-step problem-solving technique. Step one is, what's my problem? Really being able to know that there's a problem here, and this is the problem. Being able to identify it.

Angel: And then step two is helping them brainstorm. What are some things I can do to solve this problem? Guiding them in understanding, How do you brainstorm for solutions?

Gail: Okay.

Angel: And then the next step, step three, is to think about evaluating the solutions you came up with. Do I think using this step is going to be fair for my friends? Is it a safe solution?

Gail: Right.

Angel: Am I going to feel good? Is my friend going to feel good?

Angel: And then step four is guiding them to try it out.

Angel: You try it, see if it works.

Angel: If it doesn't work, then encourage them to try a different strategy, try a different skill. Those are the four steps. And it's really important that we teach those steps systematically and with visuals, just like how we will typically teach any content in early childhood classrooms.

Angel: I think as early childhood educators, we need to plan these into our curriculum in teaching problem-solving skills.

Gail: Great.

[Video ends]

Saameh: So wonderful. As we saw, Dr. Fettig outlines four important steps to go through with preschool children to help teach problem-solving skills. First of all, helping children identify what the problem is in the first place. Next, inviting children to generate and evaluate multiple solutions through brainstorming, as you were sharing, Gail, and then evaluate the solutions. How are these solutions working out? Lastly, we can help children select a solution and try it out and see how it works. We'd love to hear from you in the chat. What are some ways that you support problem-solving with children in your care? Please share in the chat.

As you're doing that, I wanted to share something I remember being surprised to learn early on in my career as an early childhood educator. It was just, like, what a big part of our job supporting children and problem-solving is. It's a huge part. I mean, it was most of the day. It was really doing that, and I was in for a surprise. But, getting down on the children's level, taking the time to be present and understand what's happening, how we can support children to work through the problem in that moment, which I'm sure you all experience many times a day. And the solution kit. We will be talking about that.

Gail: That's right. Owl's Pals, that's a great social and emotional curriculum. I see that one coming up. Tucker the Turtle, we know about that. That's a great one. Trying to hang in there. Sarah, yes, that is so important. It's just that trying to hang in there, taking those deep breaths, getting centered, and getting back into it and knowing that this is part of the job.

Saameh: It truly is.

Gail: What a great job it is to help build this, like, social and emotional foundation for young children so that when they're entering into even larger group settings, they're going to be really successful. Yes, trying to hang in there but knowing you've got a great purpose.

Saameh: Absolutely. What we're going to do now is we're going to take another moment to pause and reflect, a reflective moment, on questions that will support equitable teaching practices. We're going to invite you to reflect on the following questions. How do I expect peers to act with each other? How do I feel about conflict? Do I listen openly to all children when there is a problem? To just take a moment and think about those things. We're going to revisit these questions in our Focus on Equity segment. We thought it would be nice this time to weave throughout.

Gail: I love it. Those are such good questions. I'm just thinking about it myself, like, what was I expecting?

Saameh: Right. Now for our Neuroscience Nook segment. Research tells us that the early years are foundational for brain development. And adults play an important role in supporting healthy brain development connections and architecture.

In this segment, our Neuroscience Nook, we are excited to connect this research to everyday teaching practices. I'm going to just take a moment for this side note. As questions are coming up for you, we want to hear them. Please put them in the Q&A or post them in the "Teacher Time" Community in MyPeers. Just wanted to say that.

What we're going to do is we're going to shift our focus. We're going to talk a little bit about executive functioning, which is a very important brain function. The prefrontal cortex begins to develop very early in life. This area of the brain is responsible for what are called executive functioning skills, which some of you may have heard of. They're essential for development of strong and healthy relationships.

This is a really great graphic here, as you can see. It includes what are some of the main functions of executive functioning and executive functioning skills. What are they? Attention, that would be being able to stay focused on a task. Working memory, which is being able to remember rules and procedures. Self-regulation and the ability to control impulses.

Right there, you can see how important that would be for developing strong and healthy relationships. Organization, things like switching between tasks, that would be called flexible thinking. Problem-solving, planning, behavior, decision-making, and motivation. As you can see, hopefully, you're convinced that executive functioning skills are very important indeed. You can see how all these skills are important.

Gail: Absolutely.

Saameh: Also are interrelated in a lot of ways. What we can do is help young children start to develop these critical relationship building and problem-solving skills. I know what all of you are doing every day, through responsive caregiving and effective teaching practices that are responsive to an individual child's needs. In our most recent episodes of "Teacher Time," those were building relationships and emotional literacy in preschool, we've talked about ways that you can support executive functioning through things like serve and return, and the flipping your lid, the hand model.

Gail: Yes, I remember.

Saameh: Yes. From Dr. Dan Siegel. I practiced that a lot before, by the way.

Gail: Yeah, it was good.

Saameh: We also encourage you to look back at the last two viewers guides, that would be building relationships with children, birth through five, and emotional literacy with children, birth through five, to see more about the importance of nurturing and responsive relationships on the developing brain. What we're going to do is we're going to hear — now we're going to hear from Dr. Juliet Taylor, as she describes the development of executive function.

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 peaks 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 in executive function skills, and that is really in the preschool ages, between three to five, and then in early adolescence 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.

Saameh: As you can see, that graphic, it's just so helpful to see the development pattern. And we see that we aren't born with executive function. We are, however, born with the potential to develop them, and why our support as educators is so important. We know that the foundation of executive function skills are laid down in the first months and years of life. And what we heard and saw, the yellow highlight, is a spike in executive function development between three and five years old after many children have developed verbal language.

Gail: I love that, and I saw the other spike was like that, like, early or later teen years.

Saameh: I noticed that.

Gail: I've got two of those at home. I feel like I see that on a regular basis. Yeah, very true.

Saameh: It resonates.

Gail: It really resonates, both as a preschool teacher and as a mom of adolescents. That's so great. And, like, looked like some declines as we get older. It's not fun.

Saameh: A little less fun.

Gail: We're going to get to the "Teacher Time" BASICS, and we're going to talk about how we can use BASICS to support problem-solving and relationship skills. If you haven't joined us before, let's just go through really quickly what BASICS is. It's an acronym that helps us remember some really powerful teacher-child or adult-child interaction moves that we can make that can support children's growth and development in any area.

The "Teacher Time" BASICS are B is for behavioral expectations in advance. It is always helpful to tell a young child what you're expecting from them before you start a new activity. A is for attending to and encouraging positive behavior, which is so relevant to the topics that we're talking about now. S is for scaffolding with cues and prompts.

Those can be verbal cues, visual cues. You're going to see some of that today. Increasing engagement is the I. C is for creating and adding challenge. Young children grow when we add some challenge to, whether it's intellectual challenge or social and emotional challenge, that creates some growth for young children. And S is for that specific feedback.

If you've joined us for other webinars, you know that we only take two of these letters to focus on. It's too much to do all of them in one episode. We've focused on different letters at different episodes. You'll see that if you want to go back and look at some prior episodes. You'll see some of the other letters.

But today we're going to focus on the C and the S, create or add challenge, and the second S, which is about providing specific feedback to support problem-solving and relationship skills. We're going to jump to it. We're going to start with creating or adding challenge. This is one of my favorite things.

One fun way that we can create or add challenge to problem-solving and relationship skills is to create a friendship kit and invite children to use it when they notice that another child is upset. You can see on the screen that the friendship kit can have lots of little things in it. Really it could be like a shoebox. It could be a file folder. It could be any way that you can contain it. It could be a lovely basket.

But the idea is that in this friendship kit, there are things like maybe a pack of tissue if somebody is crying. Maybe there's a soft toy for someone to cuddle with if they're feeling like they're missing somebody. Maybe there's a pack of bandages to not only help with a small cut, but maybe if your feelings are hurt. We've had children also apply bandage. Very sweet. A sheet of stickers. Maybe a sticker would help someone.

There can be visual support cards of simple problem-solving solutions and things that you can do when a friend is in duress. Things like giving a gentle hug. Maybe saying, I'm sorry. That is certainly a challenge that we offer to young children is to provide a genuine apology, which is a great repair strategy for them to learn. That's one thing. I'd be curious to see if people are using friendship kits. You can enter that into the Q&A.

I've had lots of lovely experiences in my classroom with these friendship kits where children go to them when another child is upset. I had one experience. Well, I'll tell that story in a little bit. But they're just such great, lovely stories about how young children will use it. It's just like a physical reminder of what it takes to develop those special friendships. Now, there's another way that we can create or add challenges. Thank you for advancing that. That was a nice thing to do from our friendship kit.

Gail: Thanks for advancing the slide.

Saameh: Of course.

Gail: Is to actually create a problem-solving solution kit or problem-solving basket. We have already had viewers tell us that they're using these out and about. You'll see lots of resources for supporting those in your viewer's guide. But this is to add a bunch of visuals about supporting problem-solving. Remember we said that one of the more difficult things for young children to do is to generate multiple solutions that are different from each other.

I do always remember when I started doing a lot of social and emotional development, problem-solving in a classroom, in my preschool classroom, I had a student in there, a child in my classroom named Freddy. I loved that. It was the only Freddy I've ever had. Freddy ran up to me on the playground and he said, "Teacher Gail, I've got a problem.” I was like, "Perfect, so excited about this problem.” I said, "What is it?” "Jordan took the ball and won't give it back.”

Now, that is a real problem that happens on a regular basis in preschool classrooms. I said, "Well, what solutions did you try?” Because we were working on solutions. He said, "I tried five.” I was so excited because that's a lot. I said, "What were they?” He said, "I said, 'Please, please, please.'"

One of the things that this problem-solving basket or solution kit can provide for young children are different solutions. You want children to understand that it's not just trying the same solution over and over again or louder. But it is actually trying different solutions, like wait and take turns, hardest solution. I think to try, make another choice, play together. We could ask an adult if it becomes a big problem.

Gail: Just take a break. Lots of things that can be in there. And check your viewer's guide out because there's lots of visuals that you could cut out and use in your own classrooms and learning settings. We're on to the next. We are going to watch one of our favorite teachers ever. Teacher Heather is going to introduce the problem-solving solution basket to preschoolers in her care. And just pay attention. What do you notice? Share those in chat as you take a look.

Heather: We've been working really hard with the problem-solving basket. I think I'm ready. I'm still mad, but I'm ready. I'm going to use that problem-solving basket you guys told me about. Is that a good idea?

Child: Yeah.

Heather: No, no, no. We got it right here. Remember, guys, we planned it this time. Oh, Eddie, hey, I just happen to have it right here. OK, wait. Here's my mad card because I need to breathe some more. I feel better now. I'm going to get one of those books you guys told me about. Teacher, will you help me? I will. It's hard for Eddie to hold the book, huh? I'm going to find an idea because that's what you guys told me last time. Find an idea in my book. And I don't have to read it, right? We have to look at it, right, Marilyn, because there's pictures, right? Pictures for Eddie. Oh, yeah, I remember. We've been practicing a long time, ever since we started school. Okay, here we go. Sharon, can I trade a block with you? Say no.

Heather: Uh-oh, she said no. I'm so disappointed. I don't know how to fix this. What should we help Eddie say? Hey, Eddie, you know what? Our class does something funny when we feel disappointed. You guys want to help him again? Ready? We say, oh, pickle. And then we try another idea. I'm going to try another idea from a different book because that book didn't have the idea I wanted. Let me see. I'm going to share. Jocelyn, can I have one of your blocks? Great, great, great. Sharon, say yes this time. Can I give you this block and you give me back my three blocks?

Saameh: Love it.

Gail: So great. Oh, pickles.

Saameh: I told you about the puppets.

Gail: Yes, exactly.

Saameh: The puppets showed up.

Gail: Exactly. Puppets are so great for supporting and role-playing social and emotional problems because you can control their —

Saameh: Totally.

Gail: I mean, in a helpful way. You can control what they're saying and experiencing, and the children can help the puppet out. It's really great.

Saameh: I love that.

Gail: She does a great job of that, and our viewers agree. They are commenting that they're loving that, and hopefully we'll share that video with others.

Saameh: I just love that. It's sort of just a way of children stepping outside of the scene and being able to see what's happening.

Gail: It’s like a little fishbowl in a way.

Saameh: When you're in it, you're feeling so many feelings, so many things happening, it's hard to use those executive functioning skills around it. You're actually developing those executive functioning skills when you're like, okay, I wonder how I can support these puppets and planning and working it out and da-da-da. It's really wonderful. It's a great way. Very powerful.

Gail: Yes. Huge puppet family.

Saameh: Yes, we can do so much.

Gail: We're going to have to have a whole episode on puppets.

Saameh: Puppet Time. Yeah, both you and I. Great. We have our S now from our BASICS, and that is specific feedback. Providing specific feedback is another way educators can support problem-solving and relationship skills, and that's naming and acknowledging when we see a child engaging and building relationships. It's really important to be specific about what you see, and we have some examples here.

Like, you're helping me put Natalie's coat on, or I saw you get a tissue for Kai, which was so kind. And I can see that you were both feeling frustrated, and let's get the solution kit and get some ideas of how we might solve the problem. Noticing and acknowledging goes a long way. It's I see you, I hear you, and right there you have buy-in. It's like, OK, let's work together. I think all of us, children, and adults alike.

Educators can provide specific feedback to a child when they see them taking turns, sharing, trying to solve problems, or helping a friend. I can see you being a helpful friend and working with Isaiah to get his mat set up for nap time. That's probably a typical one. Nap time is a big one. Setting up for nap time is a big one. That itself is a whole thing. A lot of ripe opportunities for problem-solving.

Saameh: Providing specific feedback is also a helpful teaching tool. And we might provide feedback on how to be a friend or how to solve a problem, like another one that resonates with me. I hear that you would all like a turn on the tire swing.

Gail: Oh, yes.

Saameh: Many opportunities for problem-solving with a tire swing. Very popular tire swing. Let's try using the sand timer to make sure everyone gets a turn. Or I can see that you're both feeling frustrated. Okay, we talked about this one. Let's get the solution kit. Get some ideas how we might solve the problem. Offer specific ideas of what the child might do next. Remember that how feedback is given, including what you say, how you say it, it should really be individualized to meet the learning characteristics and temperament of each child. It's not just like one size fits all model.

Gail: Absolutely. I think like the key word is the specific here in specific feedback. Because I noticed all the examples that you gave, it wasn't like, a good job. It was really specific and it didn't even have to have a praise statement. It really could just be like saying what you noticed. You got a tissue for Kai. That was so kind.

It's just labeling the behavior that they're doing can be enough to provide them specific feedback that like, wow, that was important enough for my teacher to say or my educational support person to say. Then that specific feedback about like, let's try something new. Let's try something a little bit different. Also, very helpful. It's so great.

Saameh: Yeah.

Gail: I just think it's like the S in there is really important, that specific part. I really love that. Specific. It's almost more important than the praise is the specific sort of I see you.

Saameh: Because empty praise is not necessarily the most helpful.

Gail: Yeah. That's another whole thing that we're going to talk about.

Saameh: At some point.

Gail: But we are so excited that we're going to check back into Teacher Heather's classroom and see how she provides specific feedback while helping two children solve problems. See if maybe a few know this, some of that specific feedback that she's providing.

Heather: Uh-oh. Amy and Jami, what's the problem? You're getting it to make the fort. And it looks like Amy's holding it, too. Thanks, Elina, for moving so I could get up. What are we going to do about it? You both want the same block? What are we going to do about it? How are we going to fix the problem? I'm going to hold the block for a minute while you guys help figure it out. What's your idea? You want to play with it over there. Should we find out what Jami's idea was? What was your idea, Jami? Oh, and she thinks she needs it for that building. You both need this block for two different buildings.

Do you want to look for an idea in the basket? Grab the book. See what you can come up with. There's another one over there, right? I think Amy's got the book. What are we going to do? She's looking. Let's play together. That would be building the same building together. Take a break. You just take a break from building. Wait until she's done. One more minute. She would have it for a minute and then you would have it for a minute.

You build with something else. Maybe next time. Talk to me. Elina dropped it in there. Playing together. You would build it together. Do you want to build together, Jami? Look, Amy's talking to you. Sorry, I just said it and Amy was saying it. Sorry about that, Amy. Here. Amy, you're going to help Jami build her tower. Excellent. You guys are expert problem solvers.

Gail: So great.

Saameh: Live in action.

Gail: And people are providing some feedback on that as well. I mean, she does such a great job of providing that specific feedback along the way.

Saameh: Absolutely.

Gail: Along the way, absolutely.

Saameh: We are ready to move on to our Small Change, Big Impact segment. Small Change, Big Impact, where we share how small adjustments to the way we set up our learning environment, modify our curriculum, or engage with children can make a big difference for a child's learning.

We know that children vary in their learning characteristics and how they engage with the people and materials in their learning environments. These small changes, also known as curriculum modifications, are made based on the individual needs of the child to help promote their engagement and participation. We know that when children are more engaged, they have more opportunities to learn.

Some children might need more highly individualized teaching to help them learn problem-solving, such as embedded teaching or intensive individualized teaching, making curriculum modifications based on a child's individual learning needs. This can be a great place to start to support engagement.

Gail: Absolutely. And today we are focusing on using social stories. I would be so excited to hear how our viewers are using social stories. I imagine that some people are already using these. But for those of you who might not be familiar with social stories, they are a great little curriculum modification, or not little, because they actually take a little bit of time to put in place. But they are there to support a child who might have some more specific or individualized needs to navigate a social situation or just providing them with a little bit more information as to how to navigate a social situation or a change.

These are written from a child's perspective. And this is very individualized. They have the child's picture in them often. The child's name is used in them. The social story highlights and clearly describes to a child what the most important aspects of the social situation are, like what the appropriate behavior expectations are in that situation, how people, including the child, might be feeling or what they might be thinking about in that social situation.

Social stories, hard to say, sometimes social stories can help increase a child's understanding of a social situation. It can help prepare them to use that new focus skill or focus behavior that's going to help them navigate the situation as successfully as possible. They are very effective in introducing many types of new skills and behaviors to children that might need that, again, more focused and turning the volume up, as I like to think about it, on some of the social atmosphere that might be going on for a child to help them learn.

There is a great video, if you haven't seen it yet, because we've actually shown it before. But if you haven't seen it yet, there's a great video on "Teacher Time" Community in MyPeers about how to make and how to use social stories for teaching purposes. We are going to show a video of one preschool educator using a social story to support a child in the learning environment. As we watch, share what you notice about what the teacher is using, how they're using the social story, or anything else that you notice in the Q&A.

Teacher: Andy. Andy, not a big deal, okay?

[Children shouting indistinctly]

All right, Andy, check it out. You need to keep your hands and legs to yourself.

Andy: [Inaudible]

Teacher: And a calm voice.

Andy: It's too hard.

Teacher: Can you show me a calm voice like this? Hmm? Let's do one more.

Andy: I need some help.

Teacher: Look, Andy.

Teacher: If my friends do something I don't like, I can say, "Please.”

Andy: Please.

Teacher: "Stop.”

Andy: Stop.

Teacher: And get a teacher to help me.

Teacher: Well, what do you need help with, Andy?

Andy: That.

Teacher: You can use a calm voice and say, "Please stop.”

Andy: Please stop!

Teacher: This is what we're good at, right, David?

Gail: Well, I love that. That is a real situation. There's a busy, bustling classroom going on, and that teacher still has enough organizational support going on in that classroom to be able to go over and individualize the support for that young child. They are going through a social story, which the child is referencing with the teacher support, but eventually I think the child's able to use it independently on their own.

Again, if you want to know how to create social stories, or if you want some links to social stories, check out your viewer's guide. We've got lots of links to some social stories that you can use, such as using one for Tucker Turtle. There's also that video in MyPeers about how to get those set up.

Saameh: I see somebody in the chat who speaks so much to the relationship that the child has with the teacher, which, yes, as we can see how important that is to starting out, really building that relationship so the child is trusting the teacher to support.

Gail: Absolutely. And Roxanne's comment about being very calm and listening to the child, right, it just takes me back to what you had us do at the beginning. It takes a moment.

Gail: You have to be mindful as an educator to be like, OK, there's a lot going on in the classroom. This child is really needing my support. Taking a deep breath and then walking them through it.

Gail: It's great so that you can stay calm and support them. I love it

Saameh: Very important. Throughout this webinar, as you've noticed, we have been discussing ways to foster social emotional skills for all children. Today 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 it impacts how we interact with children and support them in building problem-solving and relationship skills.

The value that we place on peer relationships and the way we go about building and maintaining them are influenced by our families, our culture, our community, and our experiences. And sometimes subtle biases can interfere with our ability to support and partner with children and their families with an open mind. Uncovering these biases takes time and reflection.

What you may have noticed is that we paused and we took those reflective moments throughout this webinar today for reflective practice and starting to think about the following questions. These are ones that we've gone through today here at the webinar. What value do I place on peer relationships? How do I expect peers to act with each other? How do I feel about conflict? Do I listen openly to all children when there is a problem? Is there a child that I am more likely to make negative assumptions about when a problem involves that child?

It's really to take a moment to reflect on these things throughout our day or week or in certain situations. It can be really helpful to ask a friend, colleague, or coach to video record you during a time of day where there tends to be more conflict between children and then to watch that video and notice how you respond and interact with each child involved in a conflict. This is interesting because it reminds me of a puppet thing again. It's like taking a step outside and looking at yourself from the outside.

Saameh: It's kind of hard to see your own back is what somebody told me before.

Saameh: This is a way of doing that.

Saameh: And does every child receive the support and instruction they need?

Gail: That's right.

Saameh: We're going to wrap up with our BookCASE. This month, Dr. Gail Joseph had the chance to meet with our "Teacher Time" Librarian, Emily Small.

Saameh: I'm so excited to hear about the books this month.

Gail: I got to go to the library. It's pretty fun.

Saameh: Oh, nice. Let's watch them make the CASE.

Gail: Hi, everyone. It's time for one of our favorite segments, The BookCASE. And how lucky are we to have our very own "Teacher Time" Librarian, Emily Small.

Emily Small: Thanks for having me back.

Gail: We're so excited. This is just such a treat. Emily has brought a collection of fabulous books for us to talk about. And she’s going to make the CASE for one of them. If you're new to "Teacher Time," let me just remind you what the CASE is.

The CASE really stands for an acronym for four strategies that are really helpful to help you maximize the learning you can get from children's books. C is for connect. We want to think about how we can connect the content or the characters or the story of the book to one of the ELOF outcomes. And the A is for advanced vocabulary.

We know that children love big words and finding big words in books is a great strategy to help support their growing vocabulary. S is to support their active engagement with the book reading. And E is to extend the learning beyond the book. Finding ways that you can keep that magic of the book alive. With that, tell us about the books you have.

Emily: The first one we have is "Luli and the Language of Tea.” This book just came out in 2022. It is probably one of my favorites. It features some children that don't know each other because their families are going to an English language learning class. I also feel like we don't see that very often in picture books.

Gail: I've never seen it.

Emily: Luli is trying to connect with the other children in the space. And she discovers that tea is all a part of their culture. They have a tea party. It's just a great way for kids to learn that you are connected to others. And you just have to find that connection piece.

Gail: Love that. And the illustrations look amazing.

Emily: Yes.

Gail: So engaging.

Emily: We have "Amy Wu and the Warm Welcome.” This is the third one in the "Amy Wu" series. Highly recommend them all. There's a new child in Amy's class who doesn't speak English. And Amy really wants him to feel welcome. You see the steps she takes to help the child feel welcome in class. It's a really great story.

Gail: Again, illustrations are beautiful. I don't even know this book and I want to read it.

Emily: Yes, I love how bright the colors are. Just like, yes, it draws you in immediately. We have "I Forgive Alex: A Simple Story About Understanding.” This is a wordless picture book. Wordless books are fantastic to use for all families, but especially ones where English may not be their home language because anyone can tell a story in any language with a wordless book.

Gail: That is such a great strategy to bring in.

Emily: Yeah. I'll show you some of the photos. But basically it's a story of a child that accidentally ruins another child's artwork. It's just an accident and then the steps that are taken to rekindle that friendship.

Gail: It's such a beautiful story and I love it. Without words, but you can still tell the story.

Emily: And for the CASE, we have "The Little Book of Friendship.” This book is tiny but has so much great stuff in it.

Emily: For the connection, it has really good concrete examples of how to be a good friend, how to make a friend, and then it even addresses when you're not getting along with your friends and those challenges that come up.

Gail: Which happens. A lot.

Emily: Yes, yes.

Gail: Great. Emily, for our A, our advanced vocabulary, we see words like bloom, grumpy, amazing, complimenting. We've got a lot of good emotion words.

Emily: For our supporting engagement, this book asks a lot of questions. It would be great for people to pause while they're reading, maybe write them down so kids can reference them later.

Gail: Great strategy.

Emily: Then for our extend the learning, at the beginning it talks about making a friendship garden. And you could make a friendship garden in your classroom where they all work together to build a garden. Also taking photos of your own children in the classroom so that kids can reference back to them, maybe in a photo album or posting when they're having a hard time with friends.

Gail: Such a great way to make the CASE for this book, "The Little Book of Friendship.” We hope you will find all these books at your local library.

Gail: And bring them into your classroom.

Emily: Yeah.

Gail: Thanks for being with us.

Emily: Thanks for having me.

Saameh: Awesome. That was wonderful.

Gail: It was so fun to be in our "Teacher Time" Library.

Saameh: Thank you. That's about all we have time for today.

Gail: That's it.

Saameh: And thank you so much for joining us. Join us again next month for Responding to Challenging Behavior with Infants and Toddlers. And again in May for with Preschoolers. And bye for now. Thank you so much for being here with us.

Gail: See you on MyPeers. Take care.

Children are born ready to solve problems, and they 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 preschool children 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 in preschoolers.

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.

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Resource Type: Video

National Centers: Early Childhood Development, Teaching and Learning

Age Group: Preschoolers

Audience: Teachers and Caregivers

Series: Teacher Time

Last Updated: September 26, 2023

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Problem solving is challenging for young students (and many adults too)! To support my little friends, I teach them problem solving strategies that they can use when they encounter a problem. We want our students to become independent thinkers who can solve problems, control their emotions, express empathy, and help others.

I introduce the problem solving techniques a few at a time during a class meeting. Each week, I introduce three new problem solving techniques.  We then end up with nine to twelve techniques total based on what my students need that year.  I explain the technique to the students in concrete terms so they will understand what the technique is and what it can look/sound like.

We usually start with these four skills:  “please stop”, ask, get help, and say how you feel.  Many problems can be solved with those solutions, which is why I always start with those. Then, the following week, I introduce take turns, play together, trade, and share. Then, the last four solutions the next week.

Problem Solving Techniques

Singing with puppets is a fun and active way to practice the problem-solving techniques .  Preschoolers LOVE puppets!  This technique also allows students to role play.  Some students will be more verbal if they can pretend to be someone else.  At the end of each verse, students act out the problem-solving technique with a buddy using the puppets!As a transition activity to lunch, students took turns sharing a way they have solved a problem. You can also play, “What would you do if….”. State a real problem that could happen and have students pick a problem-solving solution to solve the problem. Some examples would be, “What would you do if your friend took your book?”, “What would you do if you got sticky glue on your hands?”, or “What would you do if you needed the red marker and your friend was coloring with it?” Once they have learned the strategies, stand back and let students try solving their own problems independently. Just a warning: this can take some time with lots of practice and support. As long as the student isn’t frustrated, let them try before you jump in to help. You will be amazed at the problems your child can solve given the opportunity to.

At first, you will be giving students lots of support and giving them the words to use to solve a problem.

• Always approach students at their level, in a calm supporting way.
• Ask, “what’s the problem?” If they don’t respond, comment on what you see such as “I see you have glue all over your hands and it looks sticky.”
• Restate the problem. “So the problem is ….”
• Brainstorm solutions and choose one together. This is the perfect time to use problem solving card visuals! “How can we solve this problem?” Flip through the solution cards and ask “Could we ….?”
• Praise and observe! Cheer on the students for solving the problem and stay close just in case they need more support.

Throughout the day, try to make EVERYTHING a problem to solve.  Then model, talk through your thinking out loud, and use visuals to support students as they try to solve a problem. For example, I may put out a big ball of playdough in the center of the table as a small group activity. Students have to problem solve so each student has play dough to play with. It only takes few extra minutes to sneak in problem-solving situations throughout the day. Each time students help solve a problem or observe a friend solve a problem, they learn to self-regulate, express emotions appropriately, develop empathy, and develop problem-solving skills.

State problems for students who look stuck. If a student is just standing there, they need support, but don’t solve the problem for them! It’s so easy to do. Simply state their problem or what you see and ask a probing question. For example, if a student is standing with an empty bowl in their hand, you could say “Your snack spilled on the floor. How can you solve the problem?”

Problem-Solving Necklace or Mini Book!

I hole punched the small cards, put them on a book ring and keep them on a lanyard I wear every day.  This way I can support students’ solving problems without having to go to the safe place where they are posted.  I can just show the picture cards as a visual on my necklace.  The mini book in the safe place works the same way.

Safe Place!

I keep my techniques posted in my circle area at the beginning of the year AND in my safe place. My safe place is a small spot in my classroom where students can go when they are upset, need to calm down, want to be alone, or have a problem.

Once I see students using the problem-solving techniques independently, I remove them from my circle area.  They are posted in my safe place ALL YEAR LONG for students to use when they are struggling to solve a problem.  In my safe place, you will find a mirror, feeling chart, bean bag, sensory bottles, calm down choices, a stuffed animal, problem solving mini book and problem-solving techniques chart. You can read all about how to set up a safe place in your classroom HERE . Children’s Books!

These are some of my FAVORITE children’s books to teach all about problem-solving.  As we read the book, we talk about how the character is or isn’t solving the problem, how it makes the character and others feel, any natural consequences that could occur, and which one of our problem-solving strategies the character could use to solve the problem.

Do you want to use them in your classroom?  You can!  I did the work for you.  Grab them from my TPT store HERE .

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I’m Jackie, your go-to girl for early childhood inspiration and research-based curriculum. 

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Dramatic Play

22 Problem Solving Activities for Preschool

Problem-solving activities can help children build resilience, think critically, and develop confidence in their ability to tackle challenges.

But it can be challenging to find engaging and age-appropriate activities that promote problem-solving skills in preschoolers.

We will share Problem Solving Activities for Preschool at home or in the classroom.

From simple puzzles to complex challenges, these activities will help your child develop problem-solving skills that will serve them well throughout their lives.

Shape Sorters :

Shape sorters are one of the best problem-solving activities for preschoolers. They are simple yet effective tools that help children develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Shape sorters come in different shapes and sizes, and they are designed to help children sort and match different shapes and colors.

Playing with shape sorters helps children develop their hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and cognitive abilities. As they fit the different shapes into the corresponding holes, they learn about shape recognition, spatial awareness, and cause-and-effect relationships.

Related: Free Printable Math Worksheets for Preschoolers

Building Towers with Blocks:

Building towers with blocks is a classic activity that encourages children to problem-solve as they work to create a stable structure. Children must figure out how to balance and stack the blocks to create a tower that won’t topple over. This activity helps children develop their spatial reasoning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills as they adjust their approach to create a more stable structure.

Related: 20 Best Pre-Writing Activities for Preschoolers

Treasure Hunts:

Treasure hunts are an exciting way to encourage children to solve problems and work collaboratively. Parents or caregivers can create a series of clues and riddles that lead children to a hidden “treasure.” Children must use their problem-solving skills to decipher the clues and find the treasure. This activity promotes critical thinking, spatial awareness, and teamwork.

Memory Games:

Memory games are a great way to challenge children’s cognitive abilities and improve their problem-solving skills. These games involve laying out a set of cards face down and having children flip over two cards at a time to try and match pairs. This activity helps children develop their memory, focus, and attention to detail.

Related: 20 Winter Math Activities for Preschoolers

Puzzles are a fantastic way to promote problem-solving skills in young children. These activities require children to use their critical thinking and spatial reasoning skills to fit puzzle pieces together. Puzzles can range in difficulty from simple shapes to more complex scenes, and they can be adjusted to fit the child’s developmental level.

Obstacle Courses:

Obstacle courses are a fun and engaging way to encourage children to solve problems and work on their motor skills. Parents or caregivers can create a series of obstacles that children must navigate to reach a specific goal. This activity promotes critical thinking, spatial awareness, and coordination. Obstacle courses can be adjusted to fit the child’s age and developmental level, making them a versatile and effective tool for promoting problem-solving skills in young children.

Storytelling:

Storytelling is an excellent way to promote problem-solving skills in preschoolers. By listening to stories, children are exposed to different scenarios and situations that require problem-solving skills. Parents or caregivers can encourage children to think about how the story’s characters solve their problems and ask them to come up with solutions to hypothetical problems.

Cooking is a fun and interactive way to promote problem-solving skills in preschoolers. Children must follow recipes, measure ingredients, and work collaboratively with others to create a finished dish. This activity helps children develop their critical thinking, math skills, and ability to follow instructions.

Role-playing is an excellent way to encourage problem-solving skills in young children. Children can pretend to be doctors, firefighters, or police officers and work together to solve problems and complete tasks. This activity promotes critical thinking, teamwork, and imagination.

Guessing Games:

Guessing games, such as “I Spy” or “20 Questions,” is an excellent way to encourage problem-solving skills in young children. These games require children to use their critical thinking and deductive reasoning skills to guess the answer correctly. This activity promotes memory, concentration, and attention to detail.

Science Experiments:

Science experiments are an engaging way to encourage problem-solving skills in young children. These activities require children to observe, hypothesize, and test their theories. Parents or caregivers can conduct simple science experiments, such as mixing baking soda and vinegar, to teach children about cause and effect. This activity promotes critical thinking, experimentation, and curiosity.

Sensory Play:

Sensory play is an excellent way to promote problem-solving skills in young children. By playing with different textures and materials, children can explore cause-and-effect relationships and develop their critical thinking skills. Parents or caregivers can set up sensory bins with materials such as rice, sand, or water to encourage children to explore and problem-solve.

Board Games:

Board games are a great way to promote problem-solving skills in preschoolers. These games require children to use their critical thinking and strategic planning skills to win the game. Games like Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, and Connect Four are excellent choices for young children.

Scavenger Hunts:

Scavenger hunts are a fun and interactive way to encourage problem-solving skills in young children. Parents or caregivers can create a list of items for children to find and encourage them to work collaboratively to solve clues and find the items. This activity promotes critical thinking, teamwork, and spatial awareness.

Creative Building:

Creative building activities, such as using play dough, clay, or craft materials, are an excellent way to promote problem-solving skills in young children. Children can use their imagination and creativity to problem-solve and create their structures and designs. This activity promotes critical thinking, spatial awareness, and creativity.

Sensory Bins:

Sensory bins are a fun and interactive way to promote problem-solving skills in preschoolers. Parents or caregivers can set up a bin filled with different materials, such as sand, rice, or beans, and hide different objects or toys within them. Children have to use their problem-solving skills to find and identify the objects hidden within the bin. Sensory bins also promote fine motor skills, sensory exploration, and creativity.

Art Projects:

Art projects are a great way to promote problem-solving skills in young children. By encouraging children to create their art projects, parents or caregivers can help them develop their problem-solving skills by encouraging them to think creatively and find solutions to design challenges. This activity promotes critical thinking, creativity, and fine motor skills.

Cooking and Baking:

Cooking and baking are great activities to promote problem-solving skills in preschoolers. Children can measure ingredients, follow directions, and problem-solve how to mix ingredients together properly. This activity promotes critical thinking, math skills, and following directions.

Outdoor Exploration:

Outdoor exploration is an excellent way to promote problem-solving skills in young children. Parents or caregivers can take children on nature walks or hikes and encourage them to explore and problem-solve by finding different types of plants, animals, and natural landmarks. This activity promotes critical thinking, creativity, and nature appreciation.

Science Kits:

Science kits are a fun and interactive way to promote problem-solving skills in preschoolers. There are many science kits available that are age-appropriate and designed specifically for preschoolers. These kits provide children with hands-on opportunities to experiment and explore scientific concepts, which promotes curiosity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Some science kits may include materials for making slime, growing crystals, or exploring the properties of magnets.

Dramatic Play:

Dramatic play activities provide opportunities for preschoolers to use their imaginations and problem-solving skills.

Related: Examples of Dramatic Play for Preschoolers

Parents or caregivers can set up a pretend play area with costumes, props, and toys that encourage children to use their problem-solving skills to navigate different scenarios and situations.

For example, children can play doctor and use problem-solving skills to diagnose and treat a patient, or they can play chef and use problem-solving skills to plan and prepare a meal. Dramatic play promotes creativity, social-emotional development, and problem-solving skills.

Recommended:

• 25 Pattern Block Activities for Preschool
• 25 Excellent Outdoor Games for 4 – 5 Year Olds
• 23 Matching Activities for Preschoolers

Sohaib Hasan Shah

Sohaib's journey includes 10+ years of teaching and counseling experience at BCSS School in elementary and middle schools, coupled with a BBA (Hons) with a minor in Educational Psychology from Curtin University (Australia) . In his free time, he cherishes quality moments with his family, reveling in the joys and challenges of parenthood. His three daughters have not only enriched his personal life but also deepened his understanding of the importance of effective education and communication, spurring him to make a meaningful impact in the world of education.

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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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How to Teach Kids Problem-Solving Skills

KidStock / Blend Images / Getty Images

• 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.

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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

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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.

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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How to Teach Problem Solving in Preschool

Problem solving is the way in which we find solutions to difficult issues. For young children, it is often social problems that they are needing to solve. Effective problem solving skills tend to lead to better outcomes, which make it possible for children to have positive interactions with their peers.

Preschoolers are beginning to seek out playful interactions with their peers, but those interactions are still a bit clumsy at times. This can lead to issues with effectively communicating, sharing, and playing cooperatively. As your preschoolers are learning how to interact with their peers and exploring how things work they will need strong problem solving skills. The best way to teach problem solving in preschool is through play because it offers many meaningful opportunities for them to solve problems.

USE STORIES

Stories are a very useful tool in teaching preschoolers problem solving. You can read relatable stories, or tell stories with puppets or dolls, in order to show different scenarios. Ask your preschoolers for suggestions on how the characters in the story can solve their problem. Write their responses down and then talk about what would be the most fair solution that everyone could agree to if it were them.

ENCOURAGE CREATIVE THINKING

When you provide your preschoolers with open-ended materials you are encouraging them to think creatively. Whether it is in the building, blocks, and loose parts center or the art and easel center, open-ended materials allow your preschoolers to come up with their own creations. This requires a lot of forward thinking for planning and experimenting with what will work and what will not.

LET THEM FIND THEIR OWN SOLUTIONS

It is important not to solve preschoolers problems for them. They need opportunities to find solutions to their own problems through trial and error. Finding solutions on their own have a more meaningful impact and therefore will reinforce their learning. Of course, if they appear to be struggling you can do things such as ask questions or make observations to help guide them towards a potential workable solution.

ALLOW FOR NATURAL CONSEQUENCES

With natural consequences, you do not have to interfere at all. Natural consequences are the naturally occurring effects of something that your preschoolers do. Natural consequences make for great teachable moments, as their peers or even nature determine the outcome.

For example, a preschooler may leave a toy that they are playing with on a table while they go to the bathroom. When they come back they find that it is gone and one of their friends is now playing with the toy. Now the child is unable to play with the toy that they were playing with before using the bathroom. Natural consequences showed that leaving the toy on the table was not a good solution. Next time, the child will most likely try leaving their toy somewhere else or asking someone to save it for them.

ACTIVITIES THAT PROMOTE PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS

Play allows for many naturally occurring problem solving opportunities. Here’s a list of activities that will help build problem solving skills in preschoolers.

• Memory games
• Construction toys
• Pattern blocks
• Sort by color, shape, or size
• Working with patterns
• Trains & train tracks
• Process art

Teach your preschoolers problem solving skills through their natural play experiences and they will be better able to solve problems independently. These skills help them with their social interactions and build their confidence and resiliency.

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Mastery motivation is persistence—continuing to do or to try to do something that is difficult—at mastering challenging tasks or activities.

Problem solving is natural for preschoolers. As teachers know, everyday routines can bring difficult challenges, like learning how to zip up a coat or ask for help before frustration sets in. Each challenge builds children’s skills in different areas of development: language, social and emotional, cognitive, and physical. But sometimes a problem can seem too challenging.

You may have seen this scenario play out in your classroom: Two preschoolers are trying to solve the same puzzle. Both make a mistake, but while one child gives up, the other child keeps trying different ways to solve the puzzle. Early childhood researchers call this persistence at mastering challenging tasks  mastery motivation , and it plays a key role in children’s learning and in their later academic achievement. Early childhood teachers are in a great position to help children foster this important skill.

Here are five ways to support mastery motivation:

• Provide lots of different types of challenging activities, like math games that have more than one way to solve a problem.
• Support children’s independence and let them make their own choices in activities or during play.
• Try to resist the urge to fix the problem—it can take away children’s sense that they are capable problem solvers.
• Do provide gentle guidance when frustration starts to set in, such as holding the puzzle board steady while a child adds a puzzle piece or offering a well-timed, “What if you turned that piece the other way?”
• Give children positive feedback by praising the problem-solving process and encouraging them to keep trying.

We know that children who are not provided with challenging activities or who receive negative or harsh feedback tend to show less mastery motivation. The same holds true for children receiving praise like “You’re so smart” and children whose environment is overly controlling.

When teachers appreciate children’s efforts, children learn that working hard and persisting are positive behaviors. As children grow, they will face more and more difficult problems. They need to know that it’s okay to struggle—it’s part of the learning process.

Photo © EDC

Jessica Mercer Young  is a research scientist and developmental and educational psychologist specializing in early learning at Education Development Center.

Kristen E. Reed,  project director at EDC, has worked as a teacher, curriculum developer, professional development facilitator, and researcher. For more ways to make math engaging, challenging, and fun, visit ym.edc.org .  [email protected]

Vol. 11, No. 1

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Building Problem-Solving Skills for Preschoolers

Definition and significance of problem-solving skills in preschoolers, overview of typical problem-solving scenarios for preschoolers, math problem-solving activities for preschoolers, creative problem-solving games and activities, utilizing problem-solving cards for interactive learning, how to teach problem-solving to preschoolers effectively, incorporating problem-solving steps into everyday activities, role of adults in facilitating problem-solving skills, recommended problem-solving books for preschoolers, reputable online resources, using problem-solving worksheets as a learning tool, real-life problem-solving scenarios for preschoolers to navigate.

In the early years of childhood development, problem-solving skills are foundational to cognitive growth and practical learning. This article explores engaging activities, scenarios, and resources designed to foster these critical skills in young learners. Through a variety of methods, including interactive games, math activities, and educational books, preschoolers can develop the ability to navigate challenges, leading to enhanced learning experiences and a solid foundation for future academic success.

To cultivate these essential skills in your preschooler and lay a strong foundation for their future, explore the wealth of problem-solving activities, games, and resources available. Embrace the joy of learning together and watch as your child’s problem-solving abilities flourish. Begin this exciting journey now and open a world of possibilities for your little learner!

Understanding Problem-Solving for Preschoolers

Problem-solving skills in preschoolers refer to their ability to understand a problem, think through solutions, and execute a plan to overcome it. This capability is vital for their cognitive development and helps in navigating daily challenges. Preschoolers encounter problem-solving scenarios in various forms, such as puzzles, social interactions, and play activities, where they learn to make decisions, analyze outcomes, and adapt to new situations. Engaging them in targeted problem-solving activities and games can significantly enhance these skills, preparing them for future more complex tasks and decision-making processes.

Preschoolers encounter various problem-solving scenarios daily, which are crucial for their cognitive, social, and emotional development. These scenarios typically involve challenges or situations that require them to analyze, make decisions, and find solutions. Here’s an overview of common types of problem-solving situations preschoolers might face:

• Social Interactions: Learning to share toys, taking turns, and resolving conflicts with peers are common problems requiring negotiation and empathy.
• Self-care Tasks: Dressing themselves, tying shoelaces, or managing basic hygiene tasks demand practical problem-solving skills and fine motor coordination.
• Academic Challenges: Simple puzzles, building blocks, and age-appropriate educational games encourage critical thinking, pattern recognition, and logical reasoning.
• Emotional Regulation: Identifying and managing their feelings, like frustration or sadness, when things don’t go as planned, teaching them to find constructive solutions.
• Environmental Navigation: Overcoming physical obstacles, like reaching a high shelf or navigating a new play area, requires spatial awareness and physical judgment.

Problem-Solving Activities for Preschoolers

Math problem-solving activities for preschoolers should be engaging and hands-on, helping them understand basic mathematical concepts through play and exploration. Here’s a list of activities designed to enhance their math problem-solving skills:

• Sorting and Categorizing: Children sort objects by color, size, shape, or type, which develops their ability to recognize patterns and categories.
• Counting Games: Using toys, beads, or blocks to count aloud helps preschoolers understand numbers and quantity.
• Simple Puzzles: Completing puzzles with different shapes and sizes teaches spatial awareness and geometric concepts.
• Matching Activities: Pairing matching items or numbers with corresponding groups of objects enhances number recognition and counting skills.
• Shape Hunts: Finding objects of specific shapes in their environment helps children identify and classify geometric shapes.
• Measurement Activities: Using rulers, measuring tapes, or comparing objects directly teaches basic measurement and comparison skills.
• Number Stories: Creating simple stories that involve addition or subtraction helps in understanding basic arithmetic operations.
• Pattern Making: Using colored blocks or beads to create and extend patterns teaches sequencing and predictive logic.

Creative problem-solving activities encourage thinking outside the box and foster innovation. Here are some games and activities that can help develop these skills:

• Story Building: Participants add to a story one sentence at a time, promoting creative thinking and collaborative storytelling.
• Invention Scramble: Children use random objects to create a new invention, encouraging imaginative thinking and resourcefulness.
• Obstacle Course: Setting up an obstacle course with specific challenges requires planning and strategy to navigate.
• Riddle Solving: Engaging in riddles and brain teasers enhances critical thinking and comprehension skills.
• Building Challenges: Using blocks or LEGO, children are tasked with constructing a structure based on a theme or specific requirements.
• Role-Playing Games: Children take on different roles and scenarios, promoting empathy and creative problem-solving in social situations.
• Art Projects: Encouraging free-form art or specific thematic projects helps in exploring creativity and expressing ideas visually.
• Treasure Hunts: Organizing a treasure hunt with clues and challenges promotes logical reasoning and teamwork.

Problem-solving cards are a versatile tool that can be used to promote interactive learning. They typically feature scenarios, questions, or challenges that prompt learners to think critically and develop solutions. Here’s how they can be used effectively:

• Scenario-Based Learning: Cards can present real-life situations that require learners to apply knowledge and critical thinking to solve problems.
• Group Discussions: Using cards to initiate group discussions encourages collaboration and the sharing of diverse perspectives.
• Role-Playing Activities : Cards can set up role-playing exercises where learners must navigate and resolve conflicts or challenges.
• Game-Based Learning: Incorporating cards into games can make learning fun and competitive, motivating learners to engage more deeply with the content.
• Skill Development Workshops: Cards can be used in workshops to practice specific skills, such as negotiation, decision-making, or creative thinking.

List of Necessary Elements for Utilizing Problem-Solving Cards

To effectively use problem-solving cards in interactive learning, certain elements are necessary:

• Varied and Relevant Content: Cards should cover various topics and scenarios relevant to the learners’ experiences and learning objectives.
• Clear and Concise Instructions: Each card should have clear, concise instructions to ensure learners understand the problem or task.
• Adaptability: Cards should be versatile enough to be used in different teaching methods and learning environments, whether in-person or online.
• Interactive Design: Engaging visuals and interactive elements on the cards can enhance the learning experience.
• Feedback Mechanism: Incorporating a way to provide feedback on the solutions or discussions generated from the cards helps in assessing understanding and progress.
• Scalability: The difficulty level of the cards should be scalable to cater to different skill levels and learning stages.
• Cultural Sensitivity: Content on the cards should be culturally sensitive and inclusive, reflecting diverse perspectives and experiences.
• Supplementary Materials: Providing additional resources or information related to the scenarios on the cards can deepen understanding and extend learning.

Teaching Strategies

Teaching problem-solving to preschoolers is about guiding them to think independently, make decisions, and learn from outcomes. Here’s how educators and parents can effectively teach problem-solving skills to preschoolers:

• Model Problem-Solving Behavior: Demonstrate how to approach problems calmly and thoughtfully, talking through the process out loud.
• Create a Safe Learning Environment: Ensure that the environment is supportive and non-judgmental, allowing children to explore solutions without fear of failure.
• Encourage Exploration and Play: Through play, children can experiment with different solutions and learn from trial and error.
• Ask Open-Ended Questions: Encourage thinking by asking questions that have no single right answer, prompting children to explore various possibilities.
• Facilitate, Don’t Solve: Guide children through the problem-solving process, helping them think of solutions, rather than providing answers.
• Use Storytelling: Stories can introduce problems in a relatable context, encouraging children to come up with creative solutions.
• Encourage Teamwork: Group activities can teach children how to collaborate, share ideas, and solve problems together.
• Teach Emotional Regulation: Help children recognize and manage their emotions, which is a critical part of solving problems effectively.

List of Necessary Elements for Teaching Problem-Solving to Preschoolers

To teach problem-solving effectively to preschoolers, certain elements are necessary:

• Patience and Time: Problem-solving skills develop over time, requiring patience and practice.
• Age-Appropriate Challenges: Problems should be relevant and challenging but achievable for their developmental stage.
• Variety of Materials: Provide diverse materials and resources to stimulate creative thinking and problem-solving.
• Positive Reinforcement: Celebrate successes and encourage perseverance, reinforcing the value of effort and learning from mistakes.
• Consistent Opportunities: Regularly integrate problem-solving activities into daily routines and learning experiences.
• Clear Guidance and Support: Offer clear instructions and support to help children understand the problem-solving process.
• Reflective Practice: Encourage children to reflect on the problem-solving process and outcomes to enhance learning.
• Cultural and Contextual Relevance: Ensure problems and scenarios are culturally relevant and relatable to the children’s experiences.

Incorporating problem-solving steps into everyday activities offers a practical and seamless way to enhance critical thinking skills. This approach involves identifying daily tasks or challenges and using them as opportunities to practice problem-solving. 

For instance, during meal preparation, children can be involved in deciding what to cook, which ingredients are needed, and how to follow the recipe. This engages them in decision-making, sequencing, and logical thinking. 

Similarly, when faced with conflicts or decisions, guiding children through identifying the issue, brainstorming possible solutions, evaluating these options, and then implementing and reflecting on the outcome can be very effective. This method makes problem-solving a natural part of daily life and helps children learn to apply these skills autonomously, preparing them for more complex challenges as they grow.

Adults play a crucial role in facilitating problem-solving skills among children by acting as guides, models, and supporters. They set the stage for learning by providing appropriate challenges and resources that encourage critical thinking and experimentation. 

Through modeling problem-solving behavior—like verbalizing thought processes, showing how to evaluate options, and demonstrating persistence in the face of difficulties—adults provide a blueprint for children to follow. They also create a safe environment where children feel free to explore solutions without fear of judgment, offering guidance and encouragement rather than solutions, which promotes independence and confidence. 

Additionally, by asking open-ended questions, adults can stimulate children’s thought processes and encourage them to see problems from different angles, further developing their critical thinking and decision-making skills. Adults are vital in nurturing an atmosphere where problem-solving can thrive, guiding children to become proficient problem-solvers.

Educational Resources

Books can be a fantastic resource for developing problem-solving skills in preschoolers. Here are some highly recommended titles that engage young readers in the art of problem-solving:

• “Rosie Revere, Engineer” by Andrea Beaty: This book encourages innovation and perseverance, showing that failure is just a step towards success.
• “Curious George” series by H.A. Rey: The adventures of Curious George teach problem-solving and curiosity, as the little monkey often finds himself in tricky situations that require clever solutions.
• “The Most Magnificent Thing” by Ashley Spires: This story is about a girl who learns about frustration and perseverance while trying to create something magnificent.
• “Ish” by Peter H. Reynolds: Reynolds’ book teaches children that thinking “ish-ly” is more important than perfection, encouraging creative problem-solving.
• “Not a Box” by Antoinette Portis: This book stimulates imagination and creativity, showing how a simple box can be much more through innovative thinking.
• “The Dot” by Peter H. Reynolds: Another book by Reynolds, it inspires children to start small and see where their imagination and problem-solving can take them.
• “What Do You Do With a Problem?” by Kobi Yamada: This book personifies problems as opportunities to learn and grow, teaching children to face challenges head-on.
• “Beautiful Oops!” by Barney Saltzberg: Saltzberg’s book encourages finding beauty in mistakes and learning from them, promoting a positive attitude towards problem-solving.

Here’s a list of reputable online resources that provide valuable content on teaching problem-solving skills to preschoolers, including activities, strategies, and educational insights:

• NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) : Offers a wealth of resources on early childhood development, including articles and tips on promoting problem-solving skills. 
• Teaching Strategies : Offers innovative, research-based teaching methods and resources for early childhood educators to enhance problem-solving skills in preschoolers. 
• Education.com : Contains a wide range of problem-solving activities, worksheets, and games tailored for preschool-aged children.

These websites are well-regarded in the field of early childhood education and provide a range of tools and insights for effectively teaching problem-solving skills to preschoolers.

Problem-solving worksheets are an effective learning tool for developing critical thinking and analytical skills. They provide structured opportunities for students to practice and refine their approach to solving various types of problems.

List of Necessary Elements for Problem-Solving Worksheets

For problem-solving worksheets to be an effective learning tool, they should include:

• Clear Instructions: Directions should be concise and easy to understand, ensuring students know what is expected.
• Relevant Content: Problems should be age-appropriate and connected to real-world situations to enhance relevance and engagement.
• Structured Approach: Worksheets should guide students through the problem-solving process, possibly outlining steps like understanding the problem, devising a plan, carrying out the plan, and reviewing the solution.
• Variety in Problem Types: Including different types of problems, such as puzzles, logic problems, and word problems, can cater to various learning styles and interests.
• Space for Workings: Providing ample space for students to write down their thought processes and calculations is important for developing their ability to solve problems systematically.
• Engaging Design: Visually appealing worksheets with illustrations or graphics can motivate students and enhance their learning experience.

Practical Application

Preschoolers can learn valuable problem-solving skills through real-life scenarios they can relate to and navigate. Here’s a list of scenarios that can help preschoolers develop and practice these skills:

• Sharing Toys: Navigating how to share toys with siblings or friends, deciding who plays with what, and for how long.
• Dressing for the Weather: Choosing appropriate clothing for the day based on the weather conditions, like selecting a raincoat on a rainy day or a sunhat when it’s sunny.
• Meal Choices: Making decisions about what to eat for snacks or meals, balancing between healthy options and favorite treats.
• Cleaning Up: Figuring out how to organize and clean up toys and supplies efficiently after playtime.
• Lost Items: Developing strategies to find a lost toy or belonging, retracing steps, and thinking of places where it could be.
• Turn-taking Games: Learning to wait for a turn and cope with the delay in gratification during group games or activities.
• Building Structures: Deciding how to build a stable structure using blocks or other materials, which involves planning and adjusting techniques.
• Resolving Conflicts : Finding peaceful solutions to disputes with peers, like taking turns, sharing, or finding a compromise.
• Planning a Playdate: Participating in planning activities, considering what games to play and what snacks to have.
• Handling Emotions: Identifying and managing emotions when things don’t go as planned, such as calming down after a disappointment.

Nurturing problem-solving skills from a young age is beneficial and crucial for children’s cognitive and emotional development. As detailed in this article, integrating problem-solving activities into the daily routines of preschoolers can significantly enhance their ability to navigate and overcome challenges, fostering independence, creativity, and resilience. 

Therefore, parents, educators, and caregivers must incorporate a variety of problem-solving activities into their interactions with young learners. From math games to social scenarios and creative play, every moment can be an opportunity to develop these vital skills. Let’s embrace the joy and responsibility of guiding our preschoolers through their problem-solving journey, equipping them with the tools they need to thrive in an ever-changing world. Encourage, facilitate, and revel in the process of discovery, and watch as the seeds of today’s problem-solving activities blossom into the critical thinking abilities of tomorrow.

Empower your little scholar with the gift of problem-solving! Join us at Little Scholars Daycare, where we turn everyday moments into exciting learning opportunities. Enroll your child today and watch them grow into confident, creative problem-solvers ready to take on the world!

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44 Powerful Problem Solving Activities for Kids

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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! 🚀💡

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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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25 Fun Problem Solving Activities for Kids

Problem-solving activities for kids : Explore 24 fun problem-solving games and activities, and learn effective tips and strategies to teach kids problem-solving skills. If you want to explore problem-solving strategies more in-depth, you can also grab our workbook “ Problem-Solving for Kids ” (printable resource).

Problem-solving is the cognitive process of finding solutions to challenges or complex situations.

A systematic approach to problem-solving tends to include defining the problem, gathering information and data, generating potential solutions, evaluating the pros and cons of each solution, making a decision, and implementing the chosen solution.

Effective problem-solving often requires critical thinking, a good dose of creativity, and the ability to consider multiple perspectives. It may also involve identifying patterns, breaking down a problem into manageable chunks, and applying our logic to develop solutions.

Problem-solving is present in everyday situations and across all fields: business, science, personal life, and education. There is not one single aspect in our lives where we don’t need to apply our problem-solving skills.

Table of Contents

• Problem-solving steps
• Development of problem-solving in childhood
• Benefits of developing problem-solving skills
• 10 Tips to teach kids problem-solving skills
• 10 Examples of problem-solving strategies
• 25 Problem-solving activities and games for kids

Problem-Solving Steps

Some key components of problem-solving include:

• Identifying the problem Recognizing and defining the issue or challenge that needs to be addressed.
• Analyzing the problem Investigating and understanding the underlying causes, factors, and relationships related to the problem.
• Generating solutions Generating potential solutions or strategies to address the problem.
• Evaluating all possible solutions (Pros and Cons Analysis) Assessing the feasibility, effectiveness, and potential consequences of each solution. Considering the positive and negative aspects of each solution.
• Decision-making Selecting the best solution based on our analysis and judgment.
• Implementing the best solution Actioning our chosen solution
• Monitoring progress and results
• Reflecting on the outcomes Reviewing and evaluating the outcomes of the implemented solution, learning from the experience, and making adjustments if necessary.

Development of Problem-Solving Skills in Childhood

Children begin to develop problem-solving skills from a very early age, and these skills continue to develop and refine throughout childhood and adolescence.

Babies soon learn about action and reaction. And, as early as eight months, they begin to acquire an understanding of cause and effect (they shake a rattle, it makes a sound; they push a toy, it falls)

Between 13 and 24 months, they start solving simple problems through trial and error and engage in symbolic play using their imagination.

As children progress into middle childhood (ages 7-11), they develop more advanced problem-solving skills. They become capable of understanding multiple perspectives and can consider multiple factors when solving problems. They start using logic and reasoning to solve increasingly complex problems.

During adolescence (ages 12 and up), problem-solving skills continue to develop. Teenagers can generate and test hypotheses and use deductive and inductive reasoning to arrive at solutions.

Each child will develop their problem-solving skills at their own pace. Some children may show advanced problem-solving abilities at an earlier age. Others may require more time and experience to develop these skills fully.

Benefits of Developing Problem-Solving Skills in Children

Problem-solving skills in children are crucial for children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development. It equips them to approach challenges, think critically, make informed decisions, and find creative solutions. 

The benefits of good problem-solving skills in children include:

• Positive impact on self-esteem and confidence Identifying, analyzing, and solving their problems contributes to our kids’ sense of competence .
• Fosters Independence and Autonomy When our kids are able to problem-solve on their own, they take one more step toward independence
• Academic Success Problem-solving skills contribute to academic achievement, as they help students analyze and solve complex problems across various subjects.
• Cognitive Development Problem-solving fosters cognitive skills such as logical reasoning, analytical thinking, and abstract reasoning.
• Critical Thinking Problem-solving enhances critical thinking abilities, enabling children to evaluate information, identify biases, and make informed judgments.
• Creativity Problem-solving promotes creativity by encouraging children to think outside the box, generate innovative ideas, and explore multiple solutions.
• Emotional Resilience Problem-solving skills enhance emotional resilience by enabling children to manage and cope with challenges effectively, reducing stress and promoting well-being.
• Improved Social Interactions/Relationships Problem-solving abilities contribute to better social interactions, conflict resolution , and peer collaboration, promoting healthy relationships.
• Future career success Problem-solving skills are highly valued in the workplace and can positively influence future career success.

10+ Helpful Tips to Teach Kids Problem-Solving Skills

Teaching problem-solving skills to kids is an important part of their cognitive development. It helps them develop critical thinking, creativity, and resilience.

But how can we help our kids and students to develop this essential skill?

We can help our kids and students develop and improve their problem-solving skills in many ways.  These are some helpful tips that you could consider:

• Model problem-solving behavior When you see yourself in a problem-solving situation, verbalize your thought process: “I wonder how I should address this issue. I guess my alternatives could be… They all have positives and negatives….”
• Let them participate in the problem-solving situation “Could you help me solve this puzzle?”
• Provide real-life problem-solving situations Real-life scenarios make problem-solving more meaningful for kids. For example, discuss how to resolve a conflict with a sibling or how to make the morning routine smoother.
• Teach them how to break down problems Show them how to break down complex problems into manageable sub-problems.
• Practice brainstorming Create brainstorming situations where all the family (or the classroom) can contribute to solving a problem
• Teach the value of perseverance Sometimes, we must stick to a situation and persevere before finding a solution. Encourage kids to persevere through challenges and setbacks, emphasizing that mistakes and failures are opportunities for learning.
• Encourage critical thinking Encourage kids to analyze situations, consider different perspectives, and evaluate possible outcomes.
• How could we make your school lunch healthier but still yummy?
• How could we reuse/recycle all this paper?
• What could we do to help you remember all the steps in your night routine?
• Encourage reflection When they can find a solution for a problem, don’t jump to solve it for them. Encourage them to reflect on the problem and find and evaluate alternatives. And after a problem is solved, think about the whole process and the learnings. “How did this work?” “What did you learn” “Do you need to change anything?”
• Foster creativity Provide them with opportunities for imaginative play, creative projects, and brainstorming sessions.
• Teach the value of teamwork Teach kids the importance of working together to solve problems. Engage them in group activities or projects that require teamwork and collaboration. This helps kids learn the value of different perspectives and work together towards an objective while they practice their communication skills.
• Teach decision-making skills Teach kids how to approach problems systematically by going through the steps we have mentioned in our first section.
• Encourage both structured and free play. Structured play can help you create good problem-solving situations, while free play will foster creativity.

Developing problem-solving skills is an ongoing process that will also continue in adulthood. Provide your kids with guidance and support, and celebrate their efforts and achievements along the way.

10 Examples of Problem-Solving Strategies

There are different strategies that can help us solve a wide range of problems. Here are some commonly recognized problem-solving strategies:

1 . Trial and Error : This is the first problem strategy that we ever learn. We start using trial and error strategies in infancy, and it continues serving its purpose in many situations. This strategy involves trying different solutions or approaches and learning from the errors or failures until a successful solution is found.

2. Algorithm: An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure or a set of rules that guarantees a solution to a specific problem. It is a systematic approach to problem-solving that follows a predetermined set of instructions.

3. Heuristics: Heuristics are mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that help simplify problem-solving by providing quick and efficient strategies. While heuristics can be effective in many situations, they may also lead to biases and errors.

4. Divide and Conquer: This strategy involves breaking down a complex problem into smaller, more manageable chunks or steps that make the overall problem easier to tackle.

5. Working Backwards: This strategy involves starting from the desired outcome and working backward to determine the steps or actions needed to reach that outcome. We often use this problem-solving strategy when we set goals.

6. Analogical Reasoning: Analogical reasoning involves drawing parallels between the current problem and a similar problem that has been solved in the past. By applying the solution from the previous problem to the current one, individuals can find a solution more efficiently.

7. Brainstorming: Brainstorming gets lots of brains working on the same problem. It is a great collaborative problem-solving strategy that can bring different perspectives and experiences to the table and may result in lots of creative ideas and solutions. 

8. Decision Matrix: A decision matrix is a systematic approach to evaluating and comparing different options or solutions. It involves creating a matrix that lists alternatives and the criteria for evaluation. It assigns weights or scores to each criterion to come up with the optimal alternative.

9. Root Cause Analysis: Sometimes, we need to understand what is causing a problem before we can attempt to solve it, as different causes may require different approaches (for example, when you are sick, your doctor may need to understand what is causing the problem before prescribing a medicine)

10. Simulation and Modeling: Simulation involves creating a simplified representation or model of a problem situation to gain insights and test different scenarios.

Our choice of strategy will depend on the problem, available resources, and our own personal preferences and circumstances. We may also need to combine strategies or apply different ones to different aspects of a complex problem.

(Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. You can also read our Disclosure & Disclaimer policy  here )

Best Problem-Solving Activities for Kids

Play-based activities are centered around play and are designed to engage children in active learning and exploration. And fun problem-solving activities are a great way to develop children’s critical thinking, creativity, and decision-making skills.

In this section, we will review some problem-solving games and activities that will engage your kids’ critical-thinking skills and creativity.

1. Puzzle Games Puzzles are a fun activity for children of all ages. Young children will enjoy simple puzzles, while older children (and adults!) can have fun with more complex ones. Encourage them to use logical thinking and problem-solving strategies to complete the puzzles.

2. Crosswords A crossword is another fun type of puzzle and a good source of mental stimulation.

3. Sudoku Sudoku is a popular logic-based puzzle that involves filling a grid with numbers.

It can be extremely easy or very challenging, adaptable even for young learners.

Let’s go now for a couple of building challenges!

4. Build the Tallest Tower Give the child a set of materials (Legos, building blocks, wooden blocks, or other construction materials) and ask them to build the tallest tower they can. This simple game will encourage them to problem-solve as they build and figure out how to make the tower stable.

5. Build Towers with Different Materials Ask your child to build three different towers with different materials. Then assess how stable they are and how much weight they can hold. Analyze the pros and cons of using each type of material.

6. Treasure Hunt Set up a treasure hunt with clues leading to hidden objects or rewards. Children will have to follow the clues and solve puzzles to find the ultimate prize. This activity encourages problem-solving, critical thinking, and teamwork.

7. Scavenger Hunt Playing Scavenger Hunt can be a fun way for our kids to put their creative problem-solving skills to good use. Provide them with clues and puzzles that they must solve in order to find the next clue.

8. Mystery Bag Fill a bag with random objects and ask children to come up with creative uses for each item. Encourage them to think outside the box and find innovative solutions.

9. Memory Game While memory games primarily focus on memory retention and recall, they can indirectly contribute to problem-solving skills by developing cognitive abilities such as attention, information processing, and adjusting their strategies.

10. Role-Playing Scenarios Create role-playing scenarios where children have to solve a problem or make decisions. For example, pretend to be stranded on a desert island and ask them to decide what items they will take and how they will survive.

11. Role-Play Social Situations Work in developing social skills with social problem-solving situations.

12. Brainstorming Sessions Choose a topic or problem and hold brainstorming sessions where children can generate as many ideas as possible. Encourage them not to limit themselves (even if alternatives feel unfeasible!)

13. Team Building Activities and Games Engage children in team-building games like building a balloon tower. Each team member will need to collaborate, communicate, and problem-solve together to complete the project.

14. Escape Rooms An escape room is a super fun team problem-solving activity.

In an escape room, participants are locked inside a themed room and must work together to solve puzzles, find clues, and accomplish tasks within a given time limit in order to “escape” from the room.

15. Science Experiments Conduct simple science experiments that involve problem-solving. For example, in the classic “sink or float” experiment, children predict and test which objects will sink or float in water.

Problem-Solving Board Games

There are many board games that will test our kids problems solving activities. These are just a few examples:

16. Cluedo Players must solve a murder mystery by deducing the murderer, the weapon used, and the location of the crime. Players collect and examine clues to eliminate possibilities and make logical deductions.

17. Codenames Another classic game where players are split into two teams and must guess words based on clues from their teammates.

There are many codenames games available, including themes like Disney or Harry Potter.

18. Mastermind Game In this strategy game players take turns setting and solving secret codes

19. Scrabble Scrabble is a classic word game where players form words on a game board using letter tiles.

Kids must use their problem-solving skills to analyze the available letters, consider the best word combination and strategically place those words to score the highest points.

Learning Problem-Solving with Card Games

Card games provide opportunities for kids to develop problem-solving skills such as strategy, memory, pattern recognition, decision-making, and observation.

Just a couple of examples:

20. Uno Uno is a classic card game where kids match cards based on color or number. They need to assess their cards, strategize and make decisions about which cards to play to get rid of their cards while also considering the cards in their opponents’ hands.

21. Go Fish Go Fish is a classic card game where players try to collect sets of cards by asking other players if they have specific cards. Players need to remember which cards they have and make decisions about who to ask and what sets to pursue.

22. Coding Challenges Introduce children to coding activities using platforms like Scratch (or ScratchJr for younger kids), Code.org, or Tynker. Coding involves problem-solving and logical thinking, and children can create interactive stories, games, or animations.

23. Outdoor Problem Solving Take children outside and present them with challenges that require problem-solving, such as building a shelter using natural materials or finding their way through an obstacle course.

24. Problem-Solving Worksheets Help your child follow a systematic approach to problem-solving with these helpful worksheets

25. Goal-Setting Activities for Kids Learning to set goals and make plans to achieve them is also a problem-solving activity. I have several resources to teach kids about goal-setting that I will list below:

• Goal-Setting Activities for Kids
• SMART Goals for Kids
• Goal Tracker Thermometer

Remember to provide guidance and support during these activities while encouraging children to think independently and come up with their own solutions.

Problem-Solving Worksheets

Looking for kid-friendly examples of problem-solving strategies ?

This workbook explores the following  problem-solving strategies  (with child-friendly examples and activities):

• Trial and Error
• Heuristics (Clever shortcuts)
• Divide and Conquer
• Working Backwards
• Brainstorming
• Decision Matrix
• Root Cause Analysis
• Systematic problem-solving

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Problem Solving Activities for Preschoolers

Written by: Kokotree

Last updated: October 16, 2022

H ere are a bunch of great problem solving activities for preschoolers. Actions like these can help your child learn how to think critically and come up with solutions to problems. Plus, they’re lots of fun too!

What are problem solving activities?

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Problem-solving activities are interactive games or tasks designed to challenge children and promote their critical thinking, creativity, and decision-making skills. They often involve puzzles, matching games, pattern recognition, or role-playing scenarios. These activities encourage children, including toddlers and preschoolers, to identify problems, think of solutions, and test their ideas, ultimately enhancing their cognitive abilities and resilience.

Problem-solving is the process of reducing or eliminating the cause of a problem. When faced with a problem, your priority is determining whether it can be solved and, if so, how. You can then address the underlying cause(s) and restore order to your life.

Kids learn best when they’re having fun. Introducing them to problem-solving games like Shape Sorter, Traffic Jam, True or False Questions , or Feed the Monster is a great way to combine entertainment and learning. These games teach children about shapes, spatial reasoning, and matching, developing their problem-solving skills along the way.

Teaching preschoolers problem-solving skills can start with small, everyday choices like picking out their clothes or deciding on lunch. Open-ended questions like, “What do you think would happen if…?” can help them think through situations and explore possible outcomes.

Childcare providers can develop problem-solving abilities by promoting creativity and collaborative play. Materials like blocks, puzzles, and art supplies encourage kids to think creatively. Facilitating group preschool activities allows children to negotiate, communicate, and solve problems together. Outdoor play and exploration can also help kids learn from experiences, develop resilience, and embrace problem-solving.

Regular practice can turn problem-solving into a habit for kids. Include problem-solving tasks in their daily routine, such as figuring out how to clean up toys fastest or deciding the best order to do their homework. This practice will make them comfortable with problem-solving and help them apply these skills in other areas of their life.

Here’s a quick refresher on some critical steps to follow when you are trying to solve a problem:

• Identify the cause of the problem. If you can determine what caused the situation in the first place, it will be much easier to find a solution.
• Consider all possible solutions before making any decisions or taking action. This will help you avoid rash decisions and ensure that you are solving the root cause of the problem rather than simply addressing its symptoms.
• Take action and implement your solution as quickly as possible. Once you have identified a viable solution, don’t hesitate to take action and put it into practice right away. This will help you focus on finding a resolution and restoring order to your life.
• Evaluate the outcome of your solution and make any necessary adjustments. Even if you take action immediately, it is essential to step back and evaluate your results before moving forward. This will help you identify areas where further improvement is needed to solve problems effectively and efficiently.

If you follow these steps, you can effectively solve any problem that comes your way. Whether it’s a minor issue or something more complex, by taking the time to understand and address its underlying cause, you can restore order to your life and get back on track.

Here’s a list of problem-solving games for preschoolers:

Shape Sorter — This game involves a container with different shaped holes and a set of blocks with different shapes. The child must figure out which shape block fits into which hole.

Traffic Jam —This game involves a set of cars and a board with a picture of a traffic jam. The child must figure out how to move the cars around to clear the traffic jam.

Feed the Monster —This game involves a board with a picture of a monster and a set of different shaped food pieces. The child must figure out which food pieces the monster will eat by matching the shape of the food to the shape of the monster’s mouth.

Puzzle matching —This game involves a set of puzzles with different pictures, the child must match each puzzle piece to complete the picture

Color Mixing —This game involves a set of color cards, the child must mix and match the cards to form new color

Memory Match —This game involves a set of cards with pictures or patterns on one side and a blank on the other. The child must remember the location of the cards and match the pairs.

Connect the dots —This game involves a picture with numbers on it. The child must connect the dots in numerical order to reveal the picture.

Tangram —This game involves a set of seven flat pieces that can be arranged to form a square or other geometric shapes. The child must figure out how to arrange the pieces to form the correct shape.

These games are designed to be fun and engaging while helping preschoolers to develop problem-solving skills.

Provide opportunities for your child to practice making decisions, such as choosing between two choices, asking them open-ended questions, giving them simple tasks, being a role model, and identifying different parts of a problem. Reading books is also a great way to strengthen problem-solving skills.

Ask your child to choose between two outfits or what to have for lunch . As your child ages, expand on these experiences by having them choose between more than two options.

Another way to help your preschooler learn problem-solving skills is to ask open-ended questions . Questions like “What do you think would happen if…?” or “How could you fix that?” give your child an opportunity to explore options and come up with a solution.

Providing your child with simple tasks to complete independently is another way to help her build problem-solving skills. Ask your child for help picking out a shirt for school or deciding what’s for dinner, and then allow him to try it on his own or figure out how to prepare the meal.

Besides providing opportunities for your child to practice problem-solving skills, you can also help by being a role model . Show your child how to take on challenges or look at things from new perspectives. Thinking through problems and navigating solutions is a valuable skill that will serve your child well throughout life.

You can also help your child to develop problem-solving skills by teaching them how to identify different parts of a problem and brainstorm possible solutions . As your child gains experience with solving problems, they will become more confident and better equipped to handle whatever life throws their way.

How do you promote problem-solving in childcare?

As a parent, you want to ensure that your child has all the tools to succeed. One of the most critical skills is problem-solving, and here are a few ways to promote problem-solving for preschoolers.

One way to promote problem-solving in childcare is to encourage creativity . This can be done by providing materials that can be used in various ways, such as blocks, puzzles, and art supplies. It is also essential to allow children the time and space to explore and experiment with these materials.

Another way to promote problem-solving in childcare is to encourage collaboration. This can be done by planning activities that require children to work together, such as building towers out of blocks or putting together puzzles. Providing opportunities for children to practice communication and negotiation skills is also essential.

Another critical aspect of promoting problem-solving in childcare is to provide opportunities for exploration and discovery. This can be done by encouraging children to play outside, engage with nature, or explore different materials and textures. It is also essential to allow children the space and freedom to experiment, make mistakes, take risks, and learn from their experiences.

It is also important to model and discuss different approaches to solving problems to promote problem-solving in childcare. You can do this by providing real-life examples of children’s challenges, such as conflicts with friends or frustrations with a difficult task.

It is also essential to talk with children about different ways they could explore and approach these situations, such as brainstorming possible solutions or taking a break to regroup.

Additionally, you can provide children with tools for reflection and self-evaluation, such as journaling prompts or goal-setting exercises. By providing these opportunities and resources, you can support children in developing problem-solving skills and strategies they can use throughout their lives.

Ask open-ended questions, such as “What do you think will happen if we put this block on top of that one?”

Providing opportunities for children to experiment and make mistakes is also essential. For example, you could encourage children to try a new activity or game and then talk with them about how it went and how they might change their approach next time. This can help children get in the habit of learning from their experiences and thinking creatively about ways to solve problems.

In addition to encouraging critical thinking and trial and error, it is vital to provide opportunities for reflection and self-evaluation. Set aside quiet time for children to think about their experiences or journal about them.

You could also encourage children to set goals for themselves and reflect on how they are progressing toward them. By providing these opportunities, you can help children build the skills to recognize problems, evaluate possible solutions, and develop creative approaches that work best for them.

Praise effort and encourage children to keep trying when they encounter difficulty. Providing opportunities for children to practice problem-solving skills in a safe and supportive environment is also essential.

Demonstrate how to solve problems calmly and patiently by offering help when needed but not doing the work for the child. It is also essential to provide opportunities for children to see adults solving problems in their everyday lives.

Model positive communication skills and encourage children to share their ideas and feelings with others. Providing opportunities for children to work together on tasks or projects is also essential.

Teach them about different emotions and how they are expressed. Provide opportunities for children to practice recognizing and managing emotions.

Teach them about setbacks and how to cope with them. Providing opportunities for children to practice problem-solving skills in a safe and supportive environment is also essential.

What are the five problem-solving skills?

Like most parents, you want to see your child succeed in everything they do. One crucial way to help them succeed is to give them the skills they need to solve problems. Here are five problem-solving skills that every child should learn: 

One of the most critical skills in problem-solving is the ability to define the problem clearly. This may seem simple, but it cannot be easy. People will frequently try to solve a problem before taking the time to understand the problem. This can lead to a lot of wasted effort and frustration.

Once you have a clear understanding of the problem, the next step is to generate possible solutions. This requires creative thinking and brainstorming. It is crucial to come up with as many possible solutions as possible, even if some seem far-fetched or impossible. The goal is to get your creative juices flowing so that you can eventually find a workable solution.

After you have generated a list of possible solutions, it is time to evaluate each one. This evaluation should be based on criteria specific to the problem at hand. For example, suppose you are trying to solve a financial situation. In that case, you will want to evaluate solutions based on their economic feasibility. Suppose you are trying to solve a personal relationship issue. In that case, you will want to consider solutions based on their potential impact on your relationship.

Once you have evaluated all possible solutions, it is time to select the best one. This selection should be based on the criteria you established in the previous step. Choosing a solution you are confident will solve the problem at hand is essential. Otherwise, you will end up with another issue that needs to be solved.

The final step in problem-solving is implementation, which means putting the chosen solution into action. This step will require some planning and effort, but it is necessary for the answer to work. If you do not implement the solution properly, the problem will likely persist or worsen.

Thirteen problem solving activities for preschoolers.

One problem-solving activity for preschoolers is sorting. This can be done with various materials, such as buttons, blocks, or food.

You could give your child a mixture of colored buttons and ask them to sort them by color. This activity helps to develop critical thinking skills by requiring the child to identify similarities and differences.

Patterning is another critical thinking activity for preschoolers . This can be done with various materials, such as beads, blocks, or crayons.

You could give your child a string of beads and ask them to create a pattern. This activity helps to develop critical thinking skills by requiring the child to identify patterns and replicate them.

Classifying is another critical thinking activity for preschoolers. This can be done with various materials, such as rocks, leaves, or toys.

You could give your child a selection of rocks and ask them to classify them by size, shape , or color. This activity helps to develop critical thinking skills by requiring the child to identify similarities and differences.

Counting is another critical thinking activity for preschoolers. This can be done with various materials, such as pennies, pieces of candy, or even cars on the street.

You could ask your child to count how many cars are parked on your street. This activity helps to develop critical thinking skills by requiring the child to identify quantities.

Comparing is another critical thinking activity for preschoolers. This can be done with various materials, such as apples, oranges, or crayons.

You could ask your child to compare two apples and identify which one is larger or redder. This activity helps to develop critical thinking skills by requiring the child to identify similarities and differences.

Inventing stories is another great critical thinking activity for preschoolers. This can be done with various materials, such as playdough , crayons, or stuffed animals.

You could give your child a few items and ask them to invent a story about what they might be doing or where they might have come from. This activity helps to develop critical thinking skills by requiring the child to use their imagination and think creatively.

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Creative drawing is another tremendous critical thinking activity for preschoolers. This can be done with various materials, such as drawing paper, markers, or even chalk on the sidewalk.

You could give your child a piece of drawing paper and ask them to draw whatever they want. This activity helps to develop critical thinking skills by requiring the child to think creatively and express themselves artistically.

Role-playing is another tremendous critical thinking activity for preschoolers. This can be done with various materials, such as dolls, stuffed animals, or household items like pots and pans.

You could give your child some dolls or stuffed animals and ask them to act out a scene from their favorite book or TV show together. This activity helps develop critical thinking skills by requiring the child to think critically about situations and develop creative solutions.

Making connections is another critical thinking activity for preschoolers. This can be done with various materials, such as books or movies.

You could give your child a book and ask them to connect it to something they’ve read or seen in the past. This activity helps to develop critical thinking skills by requiring the child to think critically about different topics and make connections between them.

Asking questions is another great critical thinking activity for preschoolers . This can be done with various materials, such as toy people or stuffed animals.

You could give your child some toy people and ask them to create their own story about what might have happened before the toys came in from the playground.

This activity helps develop critical thinking skills by requiring the child to think critically about different situations and ask many questions.

Another way to help your child develop critical thinking skills is to have them put things in sequence.

You could give them a stack of cards with numbers and have them put the cards in order from smallest to largest. This activity will help your child learn to order objects according to a specific criterion.

Analogies are another great way to help your child develop critical thinking skills. An analogy is when two things are compared because they share similar characteristics.

You could say that “a cat is like a dog because they are both animals” or “a chair is like a table because they are both furniture items.” This activity will help your child learn to see relationships between different things and understand how some of them might be similar to one another.

Illusions are another great way to help your child develop critical thinking skills. An illusion tricks the senses, such as a picture that looks moving or an object that looks bigger than it is.

For example, you could show your child a pencil and paper bag and ask them why they think the pencil seems to disappear when it goes inside the pack. This activity will help your child learn to pay attention to details and notice when things seem out of place or don’t quite make sense.

Yes. Puzzle games help preschoolers develop essential skills such as pattern recognition, planning, and spatial awareness. As they play, preschoolers learn to think creatively and persevere when facing challenges.

Puzzle games can also help to improve fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. And because they are enjoyable to play, puzzle games can help to motivate preschoolers to keep practicing and improving their skills.

Preschoolers should have at most 1 hour of screen time a day. If you allow them to play video games, make sure they are high-quality and age-appropriate educational games. Playstation, Xbox, and other popular gaming consoles may be challenging since they have many buttons. Ideally, you can find mobile games for iPhone, iPad, and android devices.

If they are not educational, your child probably isn’t getting much benefit from them at this age other than entertainment and giving you a break. Games requiring fast reactions or flashy graphics and loud music aren’t appropriate for preschoolers.

Consider playing the game with your preschooler to help them understand it better and to offer guidance when needed.

Overall, preschoolers have many great critical thinking activities that can help them develop essential skills. These activities include role-playing, making connections, asking questions, sequencing, analogies, illusions, and many others.

By engaging your child in these activities regularly, you can help them develop critical thinking skills that will serve them well throughout their life.

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Home / The 10 Most Important Skills for a Preschooler’s Development

The 10 Most Important Skills for a Preschooler’s Development

A child’s preschool years are a time of critical growth in all developmental areas: adaptive, cognitive, language, physical and social.

Most children are at least three years old when they begin preschool and remain in preschool for approximately two years before entering kindergarten. 

Here in this article, we’ll introduce you to the skills developed during a child’s preschool years and how preschool teachers help children to develop into their greatest potential.

WHY IS PRESCHOOL IMPORTANT?

At our preschool in Harrisonburg, VA , our nurturing teachers personally invest in every student to make sure your child receives a holistic developmental foundation that will prepare them for their next steps in life. 

During a child’s first five years, their brains develop faster and more significantly than during any future time in their life. 

That’s why supplementing your at-home parenting with the expert support of a preschool teacher—as well as providing your child with social interactions with preschool classmates—is such an invaluable investment in your child’s future.

WHAT SKILLS SHOULD CHILDREN DEVELOP IN PRESCHOOL?

Preschool provides your child with the opportunity to broaden and deepen their essential skills which will ready them for a life of learning and empower them to make positive contributions to the world around them. 

Here are ten skills your child should develop in preschool:

• Emotional Development Your child’s preschool experience should contribute to helping them to understand his or her feelings as well as understand the feelings of others.  This includes both learning to recognize feelings and to manage those feelings and their associated behaviors.  
• Social Skills Through collaborative play and learning alongside each other, preschool children learn how to respect and get along with others which further develops their language skills, self control and overall social skills.  Teachers guide children through resolving conflicts that may arise during creative play or structured learning projects.   
• Early Literacy Development By the age of three, children can begin to learn to write their names and read simple words. The practice they receive during preschool sets them up for success in literacy development in kindergarten and elementary school.  
• Listening Skills To be able to follow directions and to understand what is being taught to them, a child’s development of their listening skills is crucial to their overall social and academic learning. Preschool environments promote activities that grow your child’s listening skills.  
• Communication Skills Your child’s ability to ask questions, express their feelings and convey their needs, both through spoken words and through body language are of utmost importance to their ability to succeed socially and academically. Preschool activities and their teacher’s feedback are designed to hone all of these communication skills.  
• Fine Motor Skills Preschool-level craft activities which require children to use markers, work with scissors, sculpt objects and other dexterity-focused creative play develops children’s fine motor skills which will be necessary for more complex projects as they get older.  
• Attention Span We all can sympathize with how difficult it is for young learners to sit still and pay attention for more than a few minutes. The structured but nurturing environment of a preschool is key for children to develop their attention spans in preparation for the more challenging classroom environments ahead.  
• Early Math Skills Learning to recognize numbers and begin counting things during preschool helps children to begin to comprehend how mathematics is used in the world and provides their foundation for each subsequent year’s more complex mathematical curriculum.  
• Problem-Solving Skills Every aspect of life demands problem-solving skills. Foundational to success in school, personal relationship and in even life’s simplest of activities, problem-solving skill development should begin in preschool. Teaching and stretching children’s problem-solving skills can occur through personal interactions, games and assignments.  
• Creativity When a child is encouraged to self-express through creativity, they build confidence in themselves and can approach challenges from new perspectives. Creative activities help children to develop their individual sense of self and can be a way for the adults in childrens’ lives to celebrate each child’s uniqueness.  

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A PRESCHOOL TEACHER?

At preschools where children are given a great deal of personalized attention, such as ours at Cornerstone Christian School in Harrisonburg, VA , teachers ensure your children are supported in every area of their learning.

According to the individual and unique interests of each child, preschool teachers design lessons, educational games and other activities that engage and grow your children’s love for learning and support your child’s development in all of the skills described above.

Preschool teachers also ensure that the Early Learning Standards of their state are applied to classroom curriculum. 

These are standards which state what children are expected to know and to be able to do by a certain age. You can view more the Virginia Department of Education’s early childhood curriculum and instruction . 

Here are a few examples of the ways preschool teachers help children to develop age-appropriate skills:

Thinking Skills Development:

• Ask children questions that will expand their thinking
• Provide opportunities to explore engaging materials 
• Suggest ways children can make their thinking and playtime more challenging or complex

Language Skills Development:

• Introducing new vocabulary
• Asking questions that require more than a yes or no answer to stretch your children’s use of spoken language
• Reading stories and encouraging children to make up their own storylines
• Designing collaborative games that require conversations or other language exchanges among classmates

Reading Skills Development:

• Supporting children in learning the alphabet
• Providing engaging materials that illustrate examples of writing
• Singing songs, playing rhyming games and reading books with fun language
• Labeling items in the classroom to help children connect written words with spoken language

Writing Skills Development:

• Helping children to practice writing letters of the alphabet and spelling their names
• Encouraging children’s writing by providing a fun assortment of paper and writing tools
• Giving children different kinds of paper and writing tools, like crayons, markers, and pencils
• Encouraging children to write as part of their everyday activities
• Teaching children to spell words of objects they encounter in the classroom

Math Skills Development:

• Providing assorted engaging objects for children to count and sort
• Point out numbers that exist throughout a child’s day: inside the classroom, outdoors and on food packages during snack time
• Encourage children to compare and measure different objects

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PRIVATE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL IN HARRISONBURG 

At our Christian Pre-K school in VA , we offer students a variety of ways to grow as individuals and to feel a true sense of belonging as a member of their class. 

Cornerstone Preschool operates in accordance with the regular Cornerstone Christian School calendar. Hours of operation are 8:30 a.m.–3:05 p.m. Monday through Friday. 

Scheduling within that time period is flexible, based on the needs of students and their parents. Children who are 5 and older can also attend Cougar Care, an afternoon daycare program which is available from 3:05 to 5:30.

Visiting us in person is the best way to understand the investment of a lifetime that you can make for your child’s future through enrollment in our Christian school. 

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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

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A parent primer on preschool problem solving skills.

Want to Improve Your Child's Problem Solving Skills?

Enroll your child for the Atlas Mission – the ultimate learning companion for kids.

The last time you drove your know-it-all babysitter home, you were not so subtly informed that your child is lacking in problem solving skills. As if he shouldn’t have had that tantrum when she ate the last piece of his birthday cake!

You have to admit, though, that the meltdowns have been a little too frequent lately. Whenever your little one encounters a challenge, she doesn’t have a clue how to deal with it. It’s a rare case of agreeing with your babysitter: your child needs help learning to solve problems.

You’d love to get started on teaching those preschool problem solving skills. The only problem is: you don’t know where to start.

You’re pretty good at solving problems for other people — by now you’ve become an expert at finding your spouse’s lost keys — but how do you teach a four-year-old to solve problems for himself? The answer can be found in the following Parent Primer on Preschool Problem Solving Skills.

Think of it as a short course with guaranteed results. PPPPSS 101, if you will. Pssst: here’s a little secret. There won’t be a T (test) at the end!

Now, don’t get discouraged by the word, “primer.” Maybe you say “pry-mer” and I say “prim-mer.” Either way, please don’t call the whole thing off! (Fans of George Gershwin — or anyone over the age of 75 — will know what I’m talking about.)

A primer is just a brief introduction. This one is designed to get you “primed” to teach problem solving skills to your problem  child, and it will make those conversations with your babysitter so much more pleasant.

Why not start at the beginning, with the letter “P”?

P is for Problem

Situations that can be problematic for preschoolers include turn taking, sharing, frustration, disappointment, teasing, and waiting. You know, the same things that are problems for us adults.

Before your child can learn to tackle a problem, she will have to come to an understanding of what a problem is. So whenever you see your little one struggling with something, you can help her put the situation into words, and then identify it as a problem.

For example: “You want this cookie but you haven’t had dinner yet. That’s a problem.” (You can relate to this one all too well.)

Or: “You’d love to play in the pool but we’re all out of sunscreen and Daddy’s got the car. That’s a problem.” (Just don’t use “Daddy’s got the car” every time, or you might have a problem with Daddy.)

R is for Routine

Young children can learn to problem solve naturally during routine day-to-day activities (with help from Mommy or Daddy). There’s nothing like those “teachable moments” to drive the lesson home.

Let’s say your child’s beach ball just bounced over the fence into Mr. Crabby’s back yard. Turn that into a teachable moment. Label it as a “problem” and then let your ball bouncer know that problems can be solved.

Pro Tip: Help Your Child Become Better at Problem Solving

Enroll your child for the Atlas Mission and let your child play with this award-winning educational program. Your child will become better at problem solving without even realizing it!

I is for “I could …”

In other words, brainstorm with your little idea-monster and come up with several possible solutions. This gives your child time to calm down and get out of frustration mode. It also encourages him to start thinking critically, or outside of the box, when needed.

Your child might say something like: “I could … ring Mr. Crabby’s doorbell and ask him nicely for my ball.” “I could … just go buy another ball. “I could … ask you to climb over the fence and get my ball.” (Don’t worry, as a parent, you do have veto power.)

M is for Modeling

Try demonstrating smart problem-solving skills in the vicinity of your child. (Or, as they say, actions speak louder than words.)

Remember that your little monkey is likely to imitate what you do, so it’s critical that you model being hopeful and reasonable when faced with a problem of your own. Next time you’re in the throes of frustration, stay calm and verbalize the steps you’re taking to solve the problem.

By the way, shouting “We’re about to go bankrupt!” probably isn’t a good example of using your words to model problem solving. Try looking excited and saying something like, “We’re going to need a stay-cation this summer!” instead.

M can also stand for Materials, such as puzzles, building supplies, and books. The classic book, Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina, is a cute account of someone trying many solutions until finally (and accidentally) coming up with one that worked.

Two other picture books depicting characters solving problems are: The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister, and Stuck by Oliver Jeffers.

E is for Emotional

Expand your preschooler’s emotional vocabulary by using words like “frustrated,” “angry,” “sad,” or “disappointed” to describe what she may be feeling.

When we can put our feelings into words, we’re more likely to relax, take a step back, and come up with rational solutions instead of acting out physically to release those difficult feelings.

Don’t I know it! Saying the words, “I’m so disappointed” after seeing the price of groceries has saved me countless times from having a tantrum in the supermarket. It’s even more effective while ripping my losing lottery tickets to shreds.

R is for Results

Make sure your preschooler tries out one or more solutions that he thought up during the “I could …” step above. Talk about what happened afterward. If the results weren’t satisfactory, help him to see the benefit of trying other solutions.

Learning the process of problem solving is just as important as getting a wanted result – even more important, because the process can be applied to a multitude of situations in your child’s future.

And remember not to hover over your child, coming to her rescue for every little thing. Once you have helped her learn to identify problems and have exposed her to the problem solving primer, give her time to feel her feelings, express them, and brainstorm solutions on her own.

So there you have it, a preschool problem solving skills primer, from P to R. Problem solved!

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About the Author

Lori Bonati creates educational content for the Atlas Mission . She is a mother, grandmother, and retired school psychologist who enjoys writing (books, poetry, articles, and songs), photography, and playing the guitar. She lives in Arizona.

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Preschool Problem-Solving

Discover five ways parents can help preschoolers develop problem-solving abilities..

Three-year-old Sarah tries to display the leaves she has collected on a sheet of paper, but they keep falling off. She remembers seeing her teacher use the glue in a plastic bottle to stick a picture onto the paper. Fascinated with exploring new materials, Sarah decides to try to solve her problem by using the glue. Sarah squeezes streams of glue into a pile on her paper and then pushes the leaves on top. Like most three-year-olds, she's solving a problem through trial and error, relying primarily on her senses rather than reasoning. So it may take several experiments before she understands that the leaves won't stick readily to the big pile of glue.  

Focused but Frustrated Threes enjoy using their imagination to solve problems as they arise. Wanting a construction worker's hard hat for his dramatic play, Max enthusiastically decides to use an upsidedown plastic bowl. Delighted, he then repeatedly demonstrates how to use the pretend supervisor's walkie-talkie he creatively made from a juice box. At this age, children can sometimes become frustrated in their problem-solving attempts because they can see only one possible solution — which may not be workable. For example, when Tommy's jacket zipper is stuck, he keeps pulling it up, convinced that this is the only available approach.

If at First ... Adventuresome four-year-olds frequently charge ahead in their quest to solve problems. While they may need some help in focusing on the actual problem, they are more patient than three-year-olds and can try out different solutions.

For example, several four-year-olds struggle to get their wagon out of the mud on the playground. First they try pushing it. Then they attempt to pull it. When these methods fail to budge the wagon, they decide to take the heavy rocks out and then try again. Typical of this age, the children then boast about how strong and what good thinkers they are!

Team Efforts Using their larger vocabularies, four-year-olds are ready to negotiate with one another. Their developing language skills help them as they work together and engage in group decision-making. With practice, they learn to choose from among several different solutions. For instance, a few of the children decide to build a house. They gather a variety of materials — colored foil, corrugated cardboard, twigs, dandelions, tree bark — and then work together to decide which ones to use. They discuss their predictions about which of the materials might work and how best to use them.

What You Can Do Preschoolers learn best when they're given frequent opportunities to solve problems that are meaningful to them — those that arise in their day-to-day life.

• Provide opportunities for hands-on investgations. Offer children interesting items to explore, such as magnets, found objects, and broken (but safe) appliances. Rotate your materials to keep them fresh and thought-provoking.  
• Foster creative- and critical-thinking skills by inviting children to use items in new and diverse ways. Strings of colored beads, for example, can become reins for a racehorse, hair for a doll, links for measuring, or tools to press into clay to make designs.  
• Encourage children's suggestions and solutions. Promote brainstorming by asking openended questions: "What can you do with a...?" "How many ways can you...?" Listen carefully to children's ideas.  
• Allow children to find their own solutions. Offer help when they become frustrated, but don't solve their problems for them.  
• Use literature as a springboard. Share books that show how characters solve problems, such as King of the Playground by Phyllis Naylor and Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina.

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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. She is passionate about teaching reading and writing, and loves finding engaging books for reluctant readers. Read full bio of Elisabeth Daly

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 three years in the banking industry, Kavita took up teaching before moving to writing. Read full bio of Kavita Kankani

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 masters in Business Administration at Osmania University. Read full bio of Rohit Garoo

Vibha is a coder turned content writer. She holds a Masters degree in Computer Applications from Osmania University, Hyderabad and a certificate in 'Introduction To Child Psychology'. Her passion for writing fresh and informative content made her a full-time writer in 2019. Read full bio of Vibha Navarathna

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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

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How to Build Problem-Solving Skills in Preschoolers?

As parents and educators, we strive to equip our preschoolers with essential skills that lay the foundation for future success. One of the most valuable abilities we can foster in young children is problem-solving. Developing problem-solving skills at an early age not only enhances critical thinking but also boosts confidence and resilience. We at Tulip Kids Academy believe in empowering our preschoolers to tackle challenges head-on. In this blog, we’ll explore effective strategies and activities to build problem-solving skills, ensuring your little ones are prepared for a lifetime of learning.

Encourage Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is at the core of problem-solving. Encourage your preschooler to ask questions, explore ideas, and think independently. Engage in open-ended conversations, allowing them to express their thoughts and opinions. Encouraging curiosity and challenging them to think beyond the obvious will help sharpen their problem-solving abilities.

Foster a Growth Mindset

Teach your child that setbacks and mistakes are opportunities for growth. By fostering a growth mindset, preschoolers learn to view challenges as exciting puzzles to solve rather than obstacles to overcome. Encourage them to embrace challenges, persist through difficulties, and celebrate their efforts, regardless of the outcome.

Provide Problem-Solving Opportunities

Integrate problem-solving opportunities into everyday activities. Present age-appropriate challenges, such as puzzles, building blocks, or simple tasks that require logical thinking. Encourage your child to come up with multiple solutions, fostering creativity and flexibility in their problem-solving approach. Teachers play a vital role in such activities, preschools in Lawrence Station,Sunnyvale are enriched with such curriculum where preschoolers get to explore and solve hurdles through activities.

Teach Decision-Making Skills

Decision-making is a crucial aspect of problem-solving. Offer your preschooler choices throughout the day, allowing them to practice decision-making skills. Start with simple decisions like choosing their outfit or snack, gradually progressing to more complex choices that require weighing pros and cons.

Engage in Imaginative Play

Imaginative play is a powerful tool for problem-solving. Encourage your child to engage in pretend play scenarios where they can create and solve imaginary problems. Whether they’re playing house, building a fort, or acting out a superhero adventure, imaginative play nurtures creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.

Collaborative Problem-Solving

Promote collaboration by engaging your preschooler in problem-solving activities with peers or siblings. Encourage them to communicate, share ideas, and work together to find solutions. Collaborative problem-solving not only develops their social skills but also exposes them to diverse perspectives and strategies.

Use Real-Life Examples

Connect problem-solving skills to real-life situations. Point out everyday challenges and discuss possible solutions. Whether it’s finding a lost toy or figuring out how to share resources, these scenarios provide valuable learning opportunities for preschoolers to apply problem-solving skills in meaningful ways.

Read Books that Highlight Problem-Solving

Select age-appropriate books that feature characters who face and resolve problems. Engage your child in discussions about how the characters overcame challenges. This helps preschoolers understand that problem-solving is a universal skill and provides inspiration for their own endeavors.

By encouraging critical thinking, fostering a growth mindset, providing problem-solving opportunities, teaching decision-making skills, engaging in imaginative play, promoting collaboration, and using real-life examples, we empower our young learners to become confident problem solvers. Through these strategies, we create an environment where preschoolers thrive, develop resilience, and embrace challenges with enthusiasm. Together, let’s nurture their problem-solving abilities and set them on a path to success in school and beyond.

To enroll your preschooler in our preschool at Sunnyvale, California , contact us at (408) 245-0602

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From inspiring a global mindset to enhancing your career prospects, studying abroad opens doors for a world of opportunities. 

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Soft Skills You Build When Studying Abroad

On this page, soft skills you develop when studying abroad, communication, adaptability, decision making, time management, problem solving, get advice on your study abroad plans with intake.

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• 17 June 2024

Studying abroad will provide you with a unique environment to learn, work and socialise, where you can develop your language skills and be educated in a world class institute. At the same time, studying abroad will also develop your soft skills and foster personal growth; which might not become immediately apparent. Here, we will go through some soft skills which you will be building constantly when studying abroad, and the ways they will positively impact your life. 

Although it might seem you will learn most of your lessons in the classroom, you will also learn invaluable soft skills constantly when studying abroad. Whilst you are absorbing a new environment, making new friends and socialising, you are actually building skills in:

You will constantly be meeting and interacting with new people when studying abroad; either other students, teachers or the general public. Learning how to express yourself clearly and confidently depending on the context is a valuable skill which can be utilised in education, jobs or in your personal life. Likewise, if you are naturally shy, or want to practise a foreign language, being immersed into a new environment when studying abroad will give you the push you need. Along with general communication skills, studying abroad can help you build cross-cultural communication skills as well, as you interact with many cultures and other international students constantly.  

Living in a new environment means gaining independence and adaptability, as you organise plans, classes, work, travel and socialising based on different personal schedules. Additionally, you will understand the new status quo of the nation you study abroad in, which includes unchangeable aspects of the lifestyle, attitudes and beaurocracy that you will need to adapt to. At first, you might experience culture shock; however, with time, you will easily acclimatise to your new environment. The ability to be adaptable is valuable as it will allow you to become resilient, making you more tolerant to stress.  

Studying abroad involves making lots of decisions for yourself, as you are in a unique situation where only you can decide what's best for you. Doing this for the first time can be difficult, however over time, decision making becomes easier as you understand yourself more. Every day decisions become automatic, and you will develop ways to make important decisions with confidence. Additionally, the friends you make when studying abroad will provide you with unique perspectives which can help you weigh up your decisions from a different mindset.  

As you have freedom and control over your schedule when you study abroad, time management is a skill which you will quickly develop. Having responsibility over your classes, extra curricular activities, work and free time means you will learn how to prioritise and allocate your time for maximum efficiency. Time management is a skill that can carry over into other areas and is highly sought after in many careers. 

As you build skills in adaptability, decision making and time management, your problem solving skills will naturally improve as well. Studying abroad will present you with challenges that might be unique to you; the ability to calmly solve problems and resolve conflicts by yourself will improve your self-confidence and help you work better under pressure. Studying abroad also means you need to handle everything independently, even during stressful, difficult or urgent situations. Handling difficult moments without the safety net of family and friends can be stressful, but ultimately strengthens your problem solving skills. Problem solving also utilises your communication skills, where you will learn how to say things diplomatically and with tact. 

Making new friends from around the world, and being immersed into a new culture is integral to the study abroad experience. However, this constant exchange of culture and unique perspectives will develop your creativity as well. Creativity does not necessarily have to be utilised artistically; you might become more creative in problem solving, communicating and in thinking as well.

If you want to know more about how studying abroad can positively impact you, speak to an advisor at IDP Education today. Our advisory team can assist with the study abroad application process and help you plan a unique study abroad experience.

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2024 KIDS COUNT Data Book

2024 state trends in child well-being.

The 35th edition of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT ® Data Book examines the unprecedented declines in student math and reading proficiency brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on education . The latest data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress reveals that between 2019 and 2022, fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade math scores plummeted, representing decades of lost progress. This alarming trend underscores the urgent need for action to address the growing academic disparities among U.S. students.

Today's students, who will comprise America's future workforce, are ill-prepared for the high-level reading, math and problem-solving skills required in a competitive global economy. The failure to adequately prepare our children will have dire consequences for their futures and for the economic vitality of our nation.

Learn more about pandemic learning loss and Casey's recommendations to ensure student success

National Trends in Child Well-Being

In 2022, as COVID-19 restrictions eased, the impact of the pandemic on child well-being became evident. Six indicators worsened between 2019 and 2022, including educational achievement and the child and teen death rate. Between 2019 and 2021, the percentage of children scoring proficient or above in reading and math declined sharply. While this trend may have stabilized in 2022, the data indicate a significant setback in educational attainment. The child and teen death rate also remained elevated in 2022, with 17.0 deaths per 100,000 children and adolescents, compared to 14.7 in 2019.

However, some positive trends emerged:

• Parents' economic security improved significantly, with 62.4% of children living in economically secure homes in 2022, compared to 58.4% in 2021.
• The child poverty rate decreased from 17.2% in 2021 to 15.9% in 2022, returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Health and Family

Positive trends were also observed in the family and community domains. Fewer children lived with parents lacking a high school diploma, and the number of children living in high-poverty communities decreased. The teen birth rate reached a record low in 2021 and remained stable in 2022 at 14 births per 1,000 teen females.

These positive changes demonstrate how effective policies that address the root causes of challenges can contribute to significant improvements and create a brighter future for young people.

Trends in Racial Inequities

Racial inequities in America persist, with American Indian/Alaska Native, Black and Latino children facing significant disparities. Nearly all well-being indicators show disparate outcomes by race and ethnicity, with American Indian/Alaska Native children and Black children experiencing the lowest well-being levels.

Generations of inequity and discrimination contribute to these disparities. Black children have higher rates of single-parent households and poverty, while American Indian/Alaska Native children are more likely to lack health insurance and live in resource-limited neighborhoods. Latino children have higher rates of obesity and live in households where the head may lack a high school diploma.

And despite overall better outcomes for Asian and Pacific Islander children, disaggregated data reveal significant disparities within this population. Burmese, Mongolian and Thai children experience higher rates of poverty and lack of high school diplomas in their households. Today, children of color constitute the majority of the nation's children, highlighting the importance of ensuring their success for the future of America.

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State Data Profiles on Child Well-Being

View the national data profile or download your state's data profile as a PDF below:

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State Data Profiles on Child Well-Being in Spanish

View the 2024 national data profile in Spanish or download your state's data profile as a PDF below:

• Distrito de Columbia
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• Pensilvania
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State Trends in Overall Child Well-Being

The Foundation calculates a composite index of overall child well-being for each state by combining data across four domains: (1) Economic Well-Being, (2) Education, (3) Health and (4) Family and Community. These scores are then translated into state rankings. Explore overall child well-being in the interactive KIDS COUNT Data Book .

Northeast States Rank High for Overall Well-Being

Distinct regional patterns emerge from the state rankings. Five of the top 10 states in terms of overall child well-being are in the Northeast — Vermont (fourth), New Jersey (sixth) and Connecticut (eighth).

Household Income Has a Direct Effect on Well-Being

States in Appalachia, as well as the Southeast and Southwest — where families have the lowest levels of household income — populate the bottom of the overall rankings. In fact, except for Alaska, the 15 lowest-ranked states are in these regions.

Some States' Rankings Vary Dramatically

Although most state rankings did not vary dramatically across domains, there are a few exceptions. For example, North Dakota ranks 40th in Education but first for Economic Well-Being. New York ranks 44th in Economic Well-Being and 8th for Health. For all states, the index identified bright spots and room for improvement.

Economic Well-Being

To help children grow into prepared, productive adults, parents need jobs with family-sustaining pay, affordable housing and the ability to invest in their children’s future. Explore economic well-being in the interactive KIDS COUNT Data Book .

The Child Poverty Rate Has Improved

Nationally, 16% of children (11.6 million) lived in families below the poverty line. The child poverty rate has improved since 2019 (17%).

When parents are unemployed or earn low wages, their access to resources to support their kids’ development is more limited, which can undermine their children’s health and prospects for success in school and beyond. The negative effects of poverty on kids can extend into their teenage years and young adulthood, as they are more likely to contend with issues such as teen pregnancy and failing to graduate from high school.

Parental Employment Instability Returned to the Pre-Pandemic Rate

In 2022, 26% or 18.6 million children lived in families where no parent had full-time, year-round employment. The large increase seen between 2019 and 2021 in parental employment instability was erased by the economic recovery the country experienced in 2022. The rate in 2022 returned to the pre-pandemic rate.

Secure employment is a key contributor to families' financial stability and well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed the unemployment rate to near-record highs and caused millions to leave the labor market. In 2022, job openings reached a record high as the labor market recovered. Even so, employment insecurity is a reality for more than a quarter of families living in the United States. It disrupts daily living and relationships and limit families’ access to resources to invest in their children’s development, which can, in turn, diminish children’s achievement in school and chances of future success.

High Housing-Cost Burden Remains Unchanged

In 2022, 30% of children (21.8 million) lived in families with a high housing cost burden. The rate remained unchanged since 2019.

Housing is typically one of the largest family expenses. High housing costs weigh more heavily on low-income families, who are more likely to struggle with finding affordable housing, often spending more than 30% of pretax income on a home, whether they rent or own. Paying too much for housing limits the resources families have for other necessities such as child care, food, health care and transportation as well as their ability to save and achieve financial stability.

The early years of a child’s life lay the foundation for lifelong success. Establishing the conditions that promote educational achievement for children is critical. Explore educational well-being in the interactive KIDS COUNT Data Book .

Low-Income Families Continue to Lack Access to High-Quality Early Education

During 2018–2022, 4.3 million children, ages 3 to 4 were not in school. That accounts for more than half of all children in that age group (54%).

High-quality preschool programs for 3- to 4-year-olds help set the stage for future skill development, well-being and learning, particularly for those from low-income households. These programs play an important role in preparing children for success and lead to higher levels of educational attainment, career advancement and earnings. Although Head Start and the expansion of state-funded programs since the 1990s have increased access to preschool and kindergarten, many kids — especially 3-year-olds and children living in low-income families — continue to be left out, exacerbating socioeconomic differences in educational achievement.

Improvements in Fourth-Grade Reading Mastery Erased by Pandemic

Sixty-eight percent of fourth graders in public schools were not proficient readers in 2022, an alarming rate that increased from 2019, when 66% were not proficient. Any improvement made over the past decade was erased by the pandemic.

Reading proficiency by the end of third grade is a critical marker in a child’s educational development. By fourth grade, children use reading to learn other subjects. Therefore, reading mastery at this level becomes important for students to keep up academically. Children who reach fourth grade without being able to read proficiently are more likely to struggle academically and eventually drop out of school. Low reading proficiency also can reduce earning potential and chances for career success as adults. Although there have been some improvements since the early 1990s, progress has been slow on literacy gains, and racial and income disparities remain. Unfortunately, the pandemic has erased progress made in reading proficiency levels.

Match Achievement Worsened Across Eighth Grade Groups

Eighth-grade math achievement worsened across all racial and ethnic groups between 2019 and 2022. The largest percentage point drops in proficiency were seen among white and multiracial students.

As technology continues to transform the economy, the demand grows for a workforce with aligned math and science skills and training that can keep pace with technological advancement. Students with strong math and science skills are more likely to graduate from high school, attend and complete college, earn higher incomes and take advantage of future opportunities. Even for young people who do not attend college, basic math skills and numerical literacy help with everyday tasks and personal financial management and improve employability. Ensuring kids have early and ongoing access to high-quality math education is critical for their success in school and life.

Children’s good health is fundamental to their overall development, and ensuring kids are born healthy is the first step toward improving their life chances. Poor health in childhood affects other critical aspects of children’s lives, such as school readiness and attendance, and can have lasting consequences on their future health and well-being. Explore health indicators in the interactive KIDS COUNT Data Book .

The Rate of Low Birth-Weight Babies Increased

Nationally, low birth-weight babies represented 8.6% of all live births in 2022. An increase from 2019 (8.3%). This is the highest rate witnessed in the last decade.

Birth weight is an important indicator of an infant’s health. Babies born at a low birth weight (less than 5.5 pounds) have a high probability of experiencing developmental problems and short- and long-term disabilities. They also are at greater risk of dying within the first year of life. Infections, multiple births, obesity, poor nutrition, poverty, smoking, stress and violence can increase the chances of a baby being born at a low birth weight. Compared with other affluent countries, the United States has among the highest percentage of babies born at a low birth weight, right behind Japan, Greece and Colombia.

Close to Four Million Children Lacked Health Insurance

Across the nation, 5% of children aged 18 and under (3.9 million) lacked health insurance in 2022.

Children with health insurance are more likely to have a regular source of health care they can access for preventive care services and developmental screenings, to treat acute and chronic conditions or to address injuries when they occur. Children without coverage are less likely than insured children to receive care when they need it. Having health insurance can protect families from financial crisis when a child experiences a serious or chronic illness and can help kids remain active, healthy and in school ready to learn.

Child and Teen Mortality Rate Increase Stalled

In 2022, 23,137 children and youth ages 1 to 19 died in the United States, which translates into a mortality rate of 30 deaths per 100,000 children and teens. After seeing a 20% increase between 2019 and 2021, the child and teen mortality rate increase stalled in 2022.

Accidents, primarily those involving motor vehicles, were the leading cause of death for children and youth, accounting for 28% of all deaths among children ages 1 to 14.46 As children move further into their teenage years, they encounter new, and potentially deadly, risks. In 2022, accidents, homicides and suicides accounted for 76% of deaths for teens ages 15 to 19.47. For the second year, in a row firearm-related deaths are the leading cause of death among teens.

Family and Community

Children who live in nurturing families and supportive communities have stronger personal connections and higher academic achievement. Explore familial and community well-being in the interactive KIDS COUNT Data Book .

The Percentage of Children in Single-Parent Families Did Not Change

The percentage of children living in single-parent families remains unchanged between 2019 and 2022, at 34%. In 2022, 23.3 million children lived in single-parent families.

Even with the best efforts of parents, children growing up in single-parent families typically have access to fewer economic resources and valuable time with adults than children in two-parent families in which child-raising responsibilities can be shared. For example, in 2022, 28% of single-parent families had incomes below the poverty line, compared with 6% of married couples with children. The effects of growing up in single-parent families go beyond economics, increasing the likelihood of children dropping out of school, being disconnected from the labor market and becoming teen parents.

The Rate of Parents Who Lacked a High School Diploma Improved

In 2022, 11% of children lived in households headed by an adult without a high school diploma. This is a slight improvement from 2019, where the rate was 12%. While this is only a slight improvement, the rate has been cut in half since 1990, when 22% of children lived with parents who lacked a high school diploma.

Children growing up in households with highly educated adults are better positioned for future success. These parents often are better able to provide the financial stability and security they need to foster their children’s development. Higher levels of parental education are strongly associated with better outcomes for children, including kids’ own higher educational attainment and achievement.

Fewer than 10% of Children Lived in High-Poverty Areas from 2018–2022

During the period from 2018–2022, 8% of children lived in high-poverty areas, representing a total of 5.7 million children.

High-poverty neighborhoods — where poverty rates for the total population are 30% or more — come with several challenges that affect the children and families who live there. Residents of these neighborhoods contend with poorer health, higher rates of crime and violence, poor-performing schools due to inadequate funding and limited access to support networks and job opportunities. They also experience higher levels of financial instability. These barriers make it much harder for families to move up the economic ladder.

Additional Resources on Child Well-Being

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