problem solving activities for infants and toddlers

Discovery Play with Littles

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15 Powerful Problem Solving Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers

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

Not asking for help.

Not trying to solve her problem.

Just crying.

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

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

Know how I knew?

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

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

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

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

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

“I don’t know.” 

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

What is Problem Solving?

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

Why is Problem Solving Important? 

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

Other problems are significantly more complicated. 

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

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

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

What Are Problem-Solving Skills?

Problem-solving skills are:

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

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

The Problem-Solving Steps

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Doing Simple Chores

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

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

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

Stacking Rings

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

Playing Hide-and-Seek

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

Imaginative Play

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

Free Play 

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

Playing with Wooden Blocks

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

Playing Memory

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

Ask Questions

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

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

Read Books and Social Stories

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

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

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

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

Scavenger Hunts

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

When Your Kiddo is Ready, Add These Activities

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

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

Board Games  

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

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

Allow Opportunities for Hands-On Investigations

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

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

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

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

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

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

Another Essential Part of Problem-Solving

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

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

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

Want More? 

If you like this, you’ll love: 

The Ultimate List of Books that Teach Perseverance

7 Simple Ways to Encourage Independence in Young Children

How to Help Your Child Develop Self-Help Skills

Your Turn 

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

About Elizabeth

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

Reader Interactions

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

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

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

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

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

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Home • Toddler • Play And Activities

13 Problem-Solving Activities For Toddlers And Preschoolers

Intriguing ideas to boost their analytical and rational thinking skills.

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

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

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

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

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

What Is Problem-Solving?

Image: IStock

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

What Are Problem-Solving Skills?

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

Why Is Problem-Solving Important In Preschool?

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

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

How To Teach Problem-Solving Skills To Preschoolers?

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

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

13 Problem-Solving Activities For Toddlers

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

1. Simon Says

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

2. Tic–tac–toe

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

3. Treasure hunt

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

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

5. Hide and seek

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

6. Sorting together

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

7. Spot the difference

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

8. Matching animals with sounds

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

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

10. Memory games

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

11. Fort building

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

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

13. Stacking rings

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

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the stages of problem-solving?

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

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

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

3. How do toddlers develop critical thinking skills?

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

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

Infographic: Hone Your Toddler’s Problem-Solving Skills

Illustration: Momjunction Design Team

Key Pointers

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

Image: Stable Diffusion/MomJunction Design Team

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

Elisabeth Daly MSEd

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Easy Problem Solving Activities For Toddlers

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

These daily activities help toddlers develop important cognitive and motor skills while enhancing their creativity and imagination. By engaging in problem solving activities, toddlers learn to think logically, make decisions, and develop a growth mindset.

In this article, I have curated a list of easy problem solving activities for toddlers that help your kids learn through the power of play. These activities require minimal preparation and offer maximum fun for your child – all while promoting language skills and social skills.

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

Key Takeaways:

• Problem solving activities promote critical thinking and cognitive development in toddlers.
• Engaging in problem solving activities helps toddlers develop important motor skills.
• These activities enhance creativity and imagination in toddlers.
• Toddlers learn logical thinking and decision-making through problem solving activities.
• Curated a list of 50 easy problem solving activities for toddlers to enjoy.

The No-Stress Prep Principle to Toddler Activities

When it comes to toddler activities, the key is to keep it simple and stress-free. The last thing parents need is complicated setups and multiple materials to juggle. That’s where the no-stress prep principle comes in. By providing activities that require minimal preparation and materials, parents can ensure low-effort, high-reward fun for their toddlers.

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These no-stress activities not only provide entertainment but also contribute to cognitive development, fine and gross motor skills, as well as creativity and imagination. Toddlers engage in problem-solving tasks such as sorting and matching, which promote cognitive development and critical thinking.

At the same time, these activities focus on refining fine and gross motor skills. Toddlers can practice pinching small objects or jumping and hopping, enhancing their physical coordination and strength.

Moreover, these low-stress activities foster creativity and imagination in toddlers. Through open-ended play, they have the opportunity to express themselves and explore their ideas. Whether it’s building a tower with blocks or creating a pretend play scenario with dolls, these activities encourage imaginative thinking.

By following the no-stress prep principle, parents can provide their toddlers with enriching and enjoyable activities that support their cognitive, physical, and creative development. Let’s take a look at some examples of these easy and rewarding toddler activities.

Benefits of the No-Stress Prep Principle

With these no-stress activities, parents can create a fun and enriching environment for their toddlers while minimizing the effort needed to set up and prepare. Finding the balance between simplicity and engaging experiences is key to ensuring that both parents and toddlers can enjoy quality time together.

Sticky Wall Art

Looking for a simple and mess-free activity to engage your toddler’s senses and enhance their fine motor skills and creativity? Look no further than sticky wall art! With just painter’s tape and a few pieces to stick and re-stick, your little one can enjoy endless fun while developing important skills.

Sticky wall art offers a sensory experience that captivates toddlers as they explore the sticky texture of the tape. This tactile exploration stimulates their senses and encourages curiosity. As they peel and stick the pieces onto the walls or floors, toddlers also develop their fine motor skills by practicing grip and hand-eye coordination.

But that’s not all—sticky wall art is a fantastic opportunity for your toddler to unleash their creativity and imagination. They can arrange the pieces in any way they like, creating their own unique artwork. This open-ended activity allows them to express themselves and develop a sense of pride and accomplishment in their creations.

Create a designated area in your home for sticky wall art, whether it’s a wall or a large piece of cardboard on the floor. Stick the painter’s tape in various shapes and patterns, leaving plenty of space for your toddler to stick the pieces. Provide your child with a variety of materials they can use, such as foam shapes, fabric scraps, or even cut-up pieces of construction paper.

Encourage your toddler to explore the stickiness of the tape, experiment with different arrangements, and peel and re-stick the pieces as many times as they like. This interactive and sensory-rich activity will keep them engaged and entertained for hours while fostering their cognitive and motor development.

In conclusion, sticky wall art is a fantastic activity for toddlers that offers a sensory experience, enhances fine motor skills, and sparks creativity. With just painter’s tape and a little imagination, you can provide your child with a fun and educational sensory play opportunity that will keep them coming back for more.

Colander Pipe Cleaners

If you’re looking for a simple and creative activity to keep your toddler entertained, colander pipe cleaners are the perfect solution. All you need is a colander and some pipe cleaners. Show your little one how to thread the pipe cleaners through the holes in the colander, creating a colorful and tactile masterpiece. This activity not only helps develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination but also encourages creativity and imaginative play.

By manipulating the pipe cleaners and exploring different ways to thread them through the colander, toddlers can experiment with shapes, patterns, and colors. It’s a hands-on sensory experience that stimulates their senses and engages their curious minds.

Watch as their concentration levels increase while they focus on the task at hand. The satisfaction of completing their unique creation will bring a sense of accomplishment and boost their confidence.

Colander pipe cleaners are an excellent activity for both solo play and interactive play with siblings or friends. You can even turn it into a friendly competition, challenging your little ones to create the most elaborate designs.

So grab a colander and some pipe cleaners and let your toddler’s creativity run wild!

Nature’s Paintbrush

Are you looking for a creative and sensory painting activity for your toddler? Look no further than Nature’s Paintbrush! This activity allows your little one to explore the wonders of nature while enhancing their sensory perception and unleashing their creativity.

To get started with Nature’s Paintbrush, all you need to do is step outside and collect some leaves or twigs. These natural materials will serve as your toddler’s paintbrushes, providing a unique and textured painting experience.

With Nature’s Paintbrush, your toddler can create beautiful artwork using the vibrant colors and shapes of leaves or the interesting patterns and textures of twigs. This activity not only engages their senses but also encourages their artistic expression and imagination. As they experiment with different strokes and techniques, they will discover new ways to use nature’s paintbrush to bring their ideas to life.

Nature’s Paintbrush is a wonderful way to connect your toddler with the natural world and foster a love for nature. It provides a hands-on experience that allows them to appreciate the beauty of the outdoors while developing their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

So, why wait? Let your toddler’s creativity bloom with Nature’s Paintbrush and watch as they create masterpieces inspired by the beauty of nature.

Mega Block Jumping

Mega block jumping is a fun and interactive gross motor activity that promotes active play and coordination in toddlers. This simple yet engaging activity allows little ones to burn off energy while developing their physical skills.

All you need for mega block jumping is a few large building blocks and a soft surface. Set up a line or a small platform using the blocks and encourage your toddler to jump from one block to another. This activity challenges their coordination and balance while providing them with a sense of accomplishment as they successfully land on each block.

Mega block jumping not only helps toddlers build their gross motor skills but also promotes the development of strength and agility. It gives them an opportunity to explore their physical abilities and improve their balance and spatial awareness.

Benefits of Mega Block Jumping:

• Enhances coordination and balance
• Promotes active play and physical development
• Builds strength and agility

Mega block jumping is a fantastic way to incorporate active play into your toddler’s routine. It provides them with an enjoyable and stimulating experience while supporting their physical development. So grab some large building blocks and watch your little one have a blast while jumping to new heights!

Snowball Pick Up

Snowball pick up is a festive and engaging indoor activity for toddlers. All you need are some soft balls or crumpled pieces of paper to represent snowballs. Spread them out in a designated area and encourage your toddler to pick them up and put them in a container.

This activity is not only a great way to develop fine motor skills but also provides sensory play as toddlers feel the texture of the “snowballs.” It’s a fun and interactive way to bring a touch of winter magic into your home.

As your toddler engages in snowball pick up, they will develop their hand-eye coordination and grasp control, honing their fine motor skills. The sensory experience of touching and holding the “snowballs” stimulates their tactile senses, providing a multi-sensory play opportunity. It’s a wonderful indoor activity that keeps toddlers entertained while also promoting their physical and cognitive development.

The Big List Of Problem Solving Activities For Toddlers

• Sorting Games: Provide objects or toys for young children to sort by color, shape, or size, encouraging critical thinking and classification skills – there all kinds of possible solutions for shape sorting games.
• Sensory Bins: Create sensory bins filled with various materials like rice, beans, or water along with scoops and containers, prompting toddlers to explore and problem-solve through sensory play. You can use open ended questions to prompt the play scene, or encourage free play to help encourage independent play.
• Obstacle Courses: Set up simple obstacle courses using pillows, cushions, and other household items, challenging toddlers to navigate and problem-solve to complete the course.
• Water Play: Offer water play activities with cups, funnels, and toys, allowing toddlers to experiment with pouring, filling, and problem-solving through water exploration.
• Nature Walks: Take toddlers on nature walks, encouraging them to observe and problem-solve as they encounter different elements like rocks, leaves, and insects.
• Shape Matching: Provide shape sorting toys or puzzles for toddlers to match shapes to corresponding holes, promoting spatial awareness and problem-solving skills.
• Cooking Together: Involve toddlers in simple cooking activities like mixing ingredients or assembling sandwiches, fostering problem-solving and following instructions.
• Animal Matching: Introduce matching games with pictures or figurines of animals for toddlers to pair together, enhancing memory and problem-solving abilities.
• DIY Crafts: Engage toddlers in age-appropriate DIY crafts using materials like paper, glue, and recycled items, encouraging creative problem-solving and self-expression.
• Story Sequencing: Use picture cards or storybooks to prompt toddlers to sequence events in a story or solve a basic problem, enhancing comprehension and problem-solving through storytelling.
• Pattern Recognition: Create patterns using blocks, beads, or stickers for toddlers to replicate, promoting critical thinking and pattern recognition skills.
• Sensory Exploration: Offer sensory exploration activities with materials like playdough, slime, or kinetic sand, encouraging toddlers to encourage problem solving skills  through tactile experiences.
• Block Stacking Challenges: Encourage toddlers to build tall towers or structures with blocks, fostering spatial reasoning and problem-solving as they balance and stack and come up with creative solutions with creative thinking. Building toys are a must have for every toddlers toy box!
• Color Mixing: Provide paint or colored water for toddlers to experiment with mixing colors, promoting problem-solving and exploration of cause and effect.
• Shadow Play: Use flashlights or natural light to create shadows, prompting toddlers to explore and problem-solve by manipulating objects to create different shadow shapes.
• Music and Movement: Engage toddlers in music and movement activities like dancing or playing instruments, fostering problem-solving and creativity through rhythm and movement.
• Outdoor Scavenger Hunts: Organize scavenger hunt in the backyard or park, challenging young toddlers to find and collect items based on visual cues or descriptions – focusing on developing cognitive skills.
• DIY Sensory Boards: Create sensory boards with textures like sandpaper, fabric, or bubble wrap for toddlers to explore and problem-solve through tactile stimulation.
• Building Bridges: Provide materials like blocks, cardboard, and tape for toddlers to construct bridges or ramps for toy cars or animals, encouraging problem-solving and engineering skills.
• Imaginative Play Prompts: Offer props or costumes for toddlers to engage in imaginary play scenarios, prompting problem-solving and creativity through role-playing.
• Number Games: Introduce simple number games or counting activities using toys or everyday objects, promoting numeracy skills and problem-solving through counting and sorting.
• Shape Hunt: Go on a shape hunt around the house or outdoors, challenging toddlers to find and identify different shapes in their environment. This is a really simple activity that doesn’t require toys for young learners.
• DIY Marble Runs: Create simple marble runs using cardboard tubes, ramps, and tape for toddlers to design and problem-solve as they experiment with gravity and momentum. This is so great for brain development and fine motor skills as well.
• Building with Recyclables: Provide recyclable materials like cardboard boxes, tubes, and bottles for toddlers to build and problem-solve as they construct imaginative structures.
• DIY Puzzles: Make homemade puzzles using pictures or drawings mounted on cardboard for toddlers to assemble, promoting problem-solving and visual-spatial skills.

How can problem solving activities benefit toddlers?

Problem solving activities for toddlers are a great way to boost their critical thinking skills while also having fun. These activities help toddlers develop important cognitive and motor skills, as well as enhance their creativity and imagination. By engaging in problem solving activities, toddlers can learn to think logically, make decisions, and develop a growth mindset.

What is the no-stress prep principle for toddler activities?

When it comes to toddler activities, the key is to keep it simple and stress-free. The no-stress prep principle focuses on providing activities that are easy to set up with minimal materials, while still offering maximum fun and learning opportunities for toddlers. These activities promote cognitive development by involving sorting, matching, and simple puzzles. They also help toddlers refine their fine and gross motor skills through activities like pinching and jumping. Additionally, these activities encourage creativity and imagination, allowing toddlers to express themselves through play.

How can I create sticky wall art with my toddler?

Sticky wall art is a simple and mess-free activity that toddlers will love. All you need is painter’s tape and some pieces for your toddler to stick and re-stick on the walls or floors. This activity provides a sensory experience as toddlers explore the stickiness of the tape and work on their fine motor skills by peeling and sticking the pieces. Additionally, it allows toddlers to use their creativity and imagination as they create their own art on the sticky wall.

What is the nature’s paintbrush activity for toddlers?

Nature’s paintbrush is a fun and sensory painting activity for toddlers. Simply step outside, collect some leaves or twigs, and use them as paintbrushes. This activity not only allows toddlers to explore different textures and sensations, but it also promotes creativity as they create unique artwork using natural materials. It’s a great way for toddlers to connect with nature while also engaging in a fun and creative activity.

How can I engage my toddler in mega block jumping?

Mega block jumping is a simple yet engaging activity that helps toddlers burn off energy and develop their gross motor skills. All you need are some large building blocks and a soft surface. Encourage your toddler to jump from one block to another, challenging their coordination and balance. This activity promotes active play and helps toddlers build strength and agility. It’s a great way to keep your little one entertained while also promoting physical development.

What is snowball pick up for toddlers?

Snowball pick up is a festive and engaging indoor activity for toddlers. All you need are some soft balls or crumpled pieces of paper to represent snowballs. Spread them out in a designated area and encourage your toddler to pick them up and put them in a container. This activity is not only a great way to develop fine motor skills but also provides sensory play as toddlers feel the texture of the “snowballs.” It’s a fun and interactive way to bring a touch of winter magic into your home.

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17 Valuable Problem Solving Activities for Toddlers

Posted on February 24, 2023

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why are Problem-Solving Activities for Toddlers Important?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Important Skills that Problem-Solving Offers

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

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

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

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

A List of Problem-Solving Games and Activities for Toddlers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#2 Asking Open-Ended Questions (Imaginary Games)

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

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

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

#3 Scavenger Hunts

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

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

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

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

#4 Creative Play

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#5 Creating Patterns

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

Toddlers are more than capable of recognizing patterns around them.

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

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

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

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

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

As they get older their skills will also get better. 

#7 Stacking Blocks

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

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

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

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

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

#8 Magnatiles

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

#9 Hide n Seek

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

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

#10 Grouping Activities

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

#11 Playing Playdough

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

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

#12 Reading Together

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

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

#13 Gardening

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

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

#14 Shape Insert Toys

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

#15 Games (Think, Fun, Roll)

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

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

#16 Playing Memory

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

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

#17 Daily Activities

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

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

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

We really don’t need to overcomplicate things.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Importance of Problem-Solving Activities for Toddlers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. Building a maze

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3. Following patterns

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

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

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

4. Board games

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

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

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

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

Related Post: Perfect Board Games for 2 Year Olds

5. Storytime questions

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

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

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

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

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

6. Building with construction toys

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

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

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

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

7. Classifying and grouping activities

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

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

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

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

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

Author’s Bio

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

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• April 29, 2022

Play Activities for 12 to 24 Months

Whether you’re looking for games to build your toddler’s language skills, or games to keep the young ones busy, here are some great play ideas for your infant or toddler.

Action-oriented activities, squishy sponges.

Give the child some soaking wet sponges to play with outside. Let him wash his trike, the mailbox, or even stamp wet sponge-shapes onto the sidewalk. Show him how he can squeeze the sponge to make the water come out—this builds physical skills in his hands and fingers. “Important” jobs like washing a tricycle or baby doll help toddlers feel like confident and helpful members of the family. As with all water activities, it is critical to supervise children carefully as they play.

Leaf Collector

Give the child a small basket and take her on a walk around your neighborhood or a local park or school. See if she wants to pick up leaves and other “treasures” and put them in her basket. You might be surprised by how long your toddler will be happy to walk, snapping up leaf after leaf for her collection. This activity builds gross motor (large muscle) and fine motor (small muscle) skills as children walk, squat, and pick up their discoveries.

Freeze! Toddlers love freeze dancing

Play music and encourage the child to dance or move in whatever way he likes. Then instruct him to stop when the music ends. This kind of activity encourages listening skills and self-regulation as he practices stopping and starting. (This is a very useful skill for when he goes to school and has to follow a lot of directions!)

Pop Some Popcorn

Take a receiving blanket and have the child hold one side while you hold the other. Place some foam balls (“popcorn”) on the blanket and then shake the blanket so the balls bounce (or pop!) off. Your little one might like singing “POPCORN! POPCORN! POP, POP, POP!” while you shake. Once all the balls have “popped,” have your grandchild race to grab them and put them on the blanket to do it again.

Quiet Play Activities

Shadow play.

In a darkened room, shine a flashlight at your hand so that the shadow is reflected on the wall. Wave to the child and make silly shadow shapes with your hand. Does the child want to try to wave with his shadow hand too? He may also enjoy shining the flashlight on the wall all by himself.

Fill and Dump

Make 5-10 homemade balls (wad up waxed paper or newspaper and cover with masking tape). Put the balls in a shoebox or basket. Give the child another box and show her how she can move each ball from one box to the other. If the child is walking, place the baskets a few steps apart so they can toddle from one to the other. Games like this encourage toddlers to move their hands across their bodies as they transfer the balls, which helps them later on with many skills from athletics to handwriting. ##Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear Starting at about 18 months, children are just beginning to play pretend. A good way to build these skills is by playing with a doll or stuffed animal. You might say, “Oh, Teddy fell down and got a boo-boo. He needs a hug.” Then give it a cuddle. See if the child also wants to give Teddy a hug. Next, you might use a “prop”—like a cup or a blanket—and suggest that the child “give Teddy a drink” or “put Teddy to sleep.”

Make a Homemade “Wagon”

Attach a 12–18 inch length of string or ribbon to a shoebox using sturdy tape. Show the child how she can pull the string to make the box move. If she is walking, give her a job to do using her “wagon,” such as pulling some clean dishtowels into the kitchen or delivering mail in another room. This kind of activity builds physical and problem-solving skills as the child learns how to use an object as a “tool” (pulling the string to move the box.) Be sure to supervise closely and put this toy away when you are done playing.

Activities That Build Thinking Skills

How does your garden grow.

Plant some seeds that grow in summer, such as grass or flower seeds, in a patch of dirt outside or in a pot to keep inside. This is a fun project for toddlers who love to shovel, pour water, and get messy! At the same time they’re building fine motor skills (as they use their fingers and hands) and learning important science concepts as they watch their plants grow.

Try the Classic Shell Game

You’ll need a plastic cup and a small toy. Show the child the toy, then set it down and cover it slowly with the cup. See if he picks up the cup to find the toy. Once the child has mastered this game with one cup, try it with two cups and later, with three cups. This is a very challenging concept for toddlers to master so it’s important to be patient. Soon enough, the child will have no trouble at all locating the toy. This kind of activity builds thinking skills and hand-eye coordination.

Take Out Some Tubes

Put those empty wrapping paper tubes to work. String a scarf through the tube and let your toddler pull it out. Or, show your toddler how to drop a ball or foam block down the tube and watch it fall on the floor. Roll the tube and race across the room to get it. Make music by banging the tube on the floor. Games like this build the child’s thinking and imaginative play skills.

Practice Pouring

Wash out an empty plastic spice container and show the child how you can drop a few pieces of cereal inside. Offer it to the child and watch as she tries to figure out how to get the cereal out. She may shake it or drop it, but eventually, she will pour them out onto the high chair tray, a plate, or her hand. This type of activity builds problem-solving skills.

Activities That Build the Senses

Take a peek.

Remove the label from several small water bottles. Fill each bottle with interesting objects—one might contain small shells, another can be filled with sparkly glitter, water, and mineral oil, and another with a few pennies. Securely glue the lid on each bottle. Give them to the child to look at, shake, and explore.

Water, Water Everywhere

Fill a dishpan with water and place it on a towel on the floor (or better, outside). Give the child plastic cups, spoons, bowls, and a funnel. Watch her pour, splash, and more. Add some food coloring to the water for a new twist on water play. As with any water activity, supervise carefully and pour all water out when you are done.

Band Together

Gather several objects that make different noises—rattles, bells, tambourines, etc. Start singing a song and pick up an instrument—offer one to the child too—and make some music together. Games like this nurture a child’s language, physical, and thinking skills.

Make a Bubble “Mound”

Fill a small bowl with some bubble liquid and then use a straw to blow a mound of bubbles. Let the child explore the bubbles with his hands—but watch to make sure he doesn’t eat any. He may also enjoy watching you blow bubbles for him to catch.

Activities That Build Language Skills

During diaper changes, take a moment to play “what’s this?” Lift up her foot and say, “What’s this? It’s a foot. And what are these? They are toes.” You can name belly, belly button, knee, leg, parts of the face, and more. Through repetition, young toddlers learn new words.

Picture This

Snap photos of the child during an activity with you, such as making cookies. Take a picture of the beginning of the activity (getting the ingredients), the middle (adding ingredients, stirring), and the end (eating cookies). Glue each photo to an index card. Show the photos to the child and talk about the steps you took for each activity. Activities like this help develop the child’s thinking and language skills.

Point It Out

As you read books with the child, ask him to “point to the cat” or “show me the moon” in his favorite stories. He may not be able to follow through yet (so you should go ahead and do the pointing), but as the child approaches 2 years, you may be surprised by how many words he seems to know. Reading activities like this help children understand the connection between words and pictures and build their vocabulary.

Hello, Good-Bye

Make a tunnel from a large cardboard box by opening both ends. The child can be at one end of the tunnel. You sit at the opposite end. Peek your face in the tunnel and say, “Hi!” Then lean away from the tunnel (so the child can’t see you) and say, “Bye!” Does the child try to communicate with you by crawling to find you, or by making sounds to copy your “hi” and “bye?” This activity encourages language, problem-solving, and physical skills as a child figures out how to locate you.

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Problem Solving Activities for Toddlers

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7 Problem Solving Activities for Toddlers

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

Memory Games

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

Shape Sorters

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

Sorting/ Grouping by Category

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

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

Hide the Teddy Bear

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

Help Mommy/ Daddy

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

Constructive Play Toys

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

HelloParent

13 Problem-Solving Activities For Toddlers And Preschoolers

Problem-Solving Activities

Problem-solving skills are vital for a child’s cognitive development. They help kids think critically, make decisions, and become more independent. As a parent or caregiver, you can nurture these skills in toddlers and preschoolers through a variety of engaging activities. Let’s explore 13 problem-solving activities that will not only entertain but also educate your little ones.

1. Building with Blocks

Age Group: Toddlers and Preschoolers

Description: Encourage your child to build structures with blocks. Start with simple designs and gradually increase complexity. This activity enhances spatial reasoning and problem-solving abilities.

Playing with building blocks is a timeless and versatile activity that promotes problem-solving skills in young children. As they stack blocks to create structures, kids learn about balance, stability, and the concept of cause and effect. They discover that if they place a block in a certain way, the structure becomes more stable. This understanding is fundamental to problem-solving.

2. Shape Sorters

Age Group: Toddlers

Description: Shape sorters teach toddlers about shapes, sizes, and how objects fit together. It’s a fun way to introduce problem-solving concepts.

Shape sorters are classic toys that introduce toddlers to basic problem-solving. The child must figure out which shape corresponds to each slot in the sorter. This activity enhances their ability to categorize and match objects based on their attributes. It’s a simple yet effective way to lay the foundation for more complex problem-solving skills.

Age Group: Preschoolers

Description: Jigsaw puzzles challenge preschoolers to solve problems by finding the right fit for each piece. They improve spatial awareness and patience.

Puzzles are excellent tools for enhancing problem-solving skills in preschoolers. When kids work on jigsaw puzzles, they learn to analyze the shape, color, and pattern of each piece. They must figure out where each piece fits in the overall picture. This process involves trial and error, spatial reasoning, and the development of patience—an essential component of problem-solving.

4. Sorting Games

Description: Sorting games with colored objects or shapes help kids categorize and organize, promoting logical thinking.

Sorting games engage children’s problem-solving abilities by encouraging them to categorize and organize objects based on specific criteria. For instance, you can provide a mix of colored objects and ask your child to sort them by color. This activity promotes logical thinking as they identify patterns and make decisions about where each item belongs.

5. Scavenger Hunts

Description: Create scavenger hunts at home or in your backyard. Give clues to find hidden treasures, stimulating critical thinking and problem-solving.

Scavenger hunts are not only thrilling but also fantastic for developing problem-solving skills. You can organize indoor or outdoor hunts with clues that require critical thinking and problem-solving to decipher. Children must follow clues, make connections, and strategize to locate hidden treasures, fostering their problem-solving abilities.

6. Building Simple Machines

Description: Use everyday materials like cardboard, string, and pulleys to create simple machines. Children can experiment and learn about cause and effect.

Engaging in hands-on activities like building simple machines is a fantastic way to introduce problem-solving concepts. Children can use everyday materials to create pulleys, levers, or ramps. As they experiment with these simple machines, they observe cause-and-effect relationships, encouraging them to think critically and find solutions to challenges they encounter during the construction process.

7. Storytelling

Description: Encourage imaginative problem-solving by asking your child to come up with solutions to challenges in their stories.

Storytelling not only stimulates creativity but also encourages problem-solving in young children. When kids invent stories, they often encounter dilemmas that require resolution. By asking your child how the characters in their stories overcome challenges, you prompt them to think creatively and find solutions—an invaluable problem-solving skill.

8. Cooking Together

Description: Involve your child in age-appropriate cooking activities. They’ll have to follow instructions and make choices, enhancing decision-making skills.

Cooking together is a delightful way to introduce problem-solving to children. It involves following recipes, making choices about ingredients, and adapting to unexpected situations (like a spill). These activities encourage decision-making and critical thinking as children participate in the cooking process.

9. Obstacle Courses

Description: Set up indoor or outdoor obstacle courses with challenges that require problem-solving and decision-making.

Creating obstacle courses at home or in the yard provides opportunities for preschoolers to engage in problem-solving and decision-making. Children must figure out how to navigate the course, overcome obstacles, and make choices along the way. This physical activity complements cognitive development by promoting quick thinking and strategizing.

10. Pattern Recognition

Description: Use everyday objects or cards to create simple patterns. Ask your child to continue the pattern or identify what comes next.

Pattern recognition is a fundamental problem-solving skill that can be introduced through simple activities. You can use everyday objects like buttons or cards with patterns to engage your child. Encourage them to identify and extend patterns, which enhances their ability to recognize sequences and make predictions—a critical component of problem-solving.

11. Planting and Gardening

Description: Gardening teaches children about cause and effect as they care for plants and watch them grow.

Gardening is a hands-on activity that teaches children about cause and effect—a crucial aspect of problem-solving. When kids care for plants and witness their growth, they learn how their actions impact the world around them. Gardening fosters a sense of responsibility and encourages children to think about the consequences of their actions.

12. Role-Playing

Description: Role-playing scenarios where your child has to solve problems, like playing doctor or chef, fosters creativity and critical thinking.

Role-playing scenarios, such as playing doctor or chef, provide opportunities for children to engage in imaginative problem-solving. These activities encourage creativity as children devise solutions to various role-playing challenges. Whether they’re diagnosing a stuffed animal or creating a pretend meal, kids develop problem-solving skills through these scenarios.

13. Science Experiments

Description: Conduct age-appropriate science experiments that encourage hypothesis testing and problem-solving.

Age-appropriate science experiments are perfect for fostering problem-solving skills in preschoolers. These experiments often involve forming hypotheses, conducting tests, and analyzing results—key elements of problem-solving. Encourage your child’s curiosity by engaging in safe and enjoyable science experiments together.

These problem-solving preschool activities for toddlers and preschoolers not only promote cognitive development but also provide hours of fun and quality time together. Remember to adapt activities to your child’s age and developmental stage, allowing them to explore, learn, and grow at their own pace.

In conclusion, nurturing problem-solving skills in young children is essential for their overall development. These activities offer a balance between education and enjoyment, helping your child build critical thinking skills that will benefit them throughout their lives.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the problems in joining my kid in a Preschool?

Joining your child in a preschool can have several challenges, including separation anxiety, adjustment to a new routine, socialization issues, and concerns about the quality of education and care provided. It’s essential to communicate with the preschool staff, address your child’s needs, and gradually ease the transition to make the process smoother.

2. How to teach problem-solving skills to children and preteens?

To teach problem-solving skills to children and preteens, encourage them to:

Identify the problem.

Brainstorm possible solutions.

Evaluate the pros and cons of each solution.

Make a decision and implement it.

Reflect on the results and learn from the experience.

3. How to keep children busy during their pre-school time?

To keep children engaged during their preschool time, consider activities like art and craft, storytelling, outdoor play, educational games, music, and group activities. Preschools often offer a variety of structured and creative activities to stimulate children’s minds and bodies.

4. What are some preschool programs for kids?

Preschool programs for kids often include activities like early literacy and numeracy, creative arts, physical play, socialization, and learning through play. Many preschools also follow specific educational approaches like Montessori, Waldorf, or play-based programs to cater to different learning styles.

5. How preschool activities impact a child’s learning pace?

Preschool activities play a significant role in a child’s learning pace. They help children develop cognitive, social, and emotional skills, which are essential for academic success. Engaging in age-appropriate activities can foster a love for learning, improve attention span, and enhance problem-solving abilities.

6. What are problem-solving activities that kids can do at home?

There are various problem-solving activities kids can do at home, such as puzzles, board games, scavenger hunts, building challenges with blocks or LEGO, cooking and following recipes, and science experiments. These activities promote critical thinking and decision-making while having fun.

Also Check: Preschools in India

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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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I always look forward to your articles with active interventions. Thank you!

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Helping Your Baby Reach Greater Wonders

25 Cognitive Activities for Toddlers to Boost Development

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

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

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

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

All About Your Toddler’s Cognitive Development

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

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

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

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

Factors That Can Affect Cognitive Development During Toddlerhood

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

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

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

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

What Are the Cognitive Developmental Milestones for Toddlers?

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

From 1 to 2 Years

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

From 2 to 3 Years

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

3 Years Old

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

25 Fun Cognitive Activities for Toddlers

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

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

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Problem Solving with Others – Infant/Toddler

Problem solving with others.

With your help,  infants and toddlers can begin to learn the skills needed to solve problems with others

At a Glance

Most infants have a strong desire to engage with the people and objects around them. And, they rely on adults to guide and promote positive social interactions. As they develop, toddlers begin to show interest in playing beside their peers — and, later, with them. As they interact and learn the social rules of play, young children need help to develop social problem-solving skills. Educators can provide children with language to understand problems and feelings. They can also support children to find and accept fair solutions when issues arise.

• Get to Know This Skill - Infants
• Get to Know This Skill - Toddlers

What It Looks Like

A quick glance at how you can help infants and toddlers develop problem-solving skills, help children solve problems.

When challenges arise during play, help children identify the problem, provide language they can use to communicate, and guide children to consider different possible solutions.

Encourage Fair Solutions

Encourage children to reflect on a problem and help model potential solutions that are fair for everyone. Notice how this educator proposes a way for two toddlers to share a toy they both want.

Practice Taking Turns

STRATEGY LIBRARY

Social Problem Solving With Toddlers

In this short series of lesson, you’ll learn three simple steps to help toddlers engaging in social problem solving.

With your support, young children can develop the social, emotional and language skills they need to engage in positive play experiences.

TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE

The Power of Play

A brief video from the Harvard Center on the Developing Child explores how play in early childhood can reduce stress (including trauma-related stress) and scaffold problem solving.

• Watch the Video
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FAMILY CONNECTION

Families as a Resource

In this article from the Center for Responsive Schools, Carol Davis shares how educators can have conversations with families about problems that occur in the classroom.

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CONSIDERING EQUITY

Inclusive Social Interactions

In their latest magazine issue, Cultivate Learning shares collaborative strategies to support children of different abilities to develop social skills.

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PROBLEM SOLVING THROUGH BOOKS

That's (Not) Mine

Written by Anna Kang and illustrated by Christopher Weyant, this story highlights different ways to (not) solve problems with friends in a fun and engaging way.

Activity Cards for Infant and Toddler Classrooms

Part of the streamin 3 curriculum, these activity cards provide simple and fun ways you can prompt older infants and toddlers to collaborate and solve problems together.

Dance Party

As children dance, problems will naturally arise. Narrate what the problem is, then suggest a solution.

Find a Solution

Present a problem with puppets or characters from a story. Use picture cards to help them find a solution.

Partner Clapping

As children try this activity with partners, help them find solutions when things don't go quite right.

Partner Tasks

Assign pairs of children classroom tasks to complete together .

Get Our Resource Guide

Includes questions and activities to guide your use of the videos, book suggestions, and activity cards featured for each of the Core Skills

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• Map & Directions
• Core Skills
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17 Fun Problem Solving Activities for Kids

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As a child, I would spend hours putting together puzzles… whether it was 3-D puzzles or figuring out a crossword. I also loved it when teachers would give the class an open-ended question and we had to work in groups to figure out the answer in our own way.

Even something as simple as playing checkers with my brothers gave me the chance to use strategy as a way to win the game. I honestly believe that it’s so important for kids to solve problems at a young age, as it helps them think critically and outside the box.

Table of Contents

So, Why Is It Important To Teach Kids Problem Solving?

I think these kinds of activities are so important for kids to do because it helps them learn how to think analytically and solve problems on their own. It's a great way to get kids to use their imaginations and be creative.

Rote memorization simply does not have the same effect. This type of learning is great for learning facts like historical dates, but it’s not going to help kids figure out how events in history happened and the results.

We take these problem-solving skills into college, the workforce, and travel . My ability to problem solve since childhood has certainly got me through many sticky situations while in a new city or country.

Additionally, problem-solving helps children learn how to find creative solutions to challenges they may face both in and out of the classroom . These activities can also be fun and used in cohesion with school or playtime.

17 Fun Problem-Solving Activities for Kids

1. marble mazes.

This activity was selected because it requires them to think spatially. Spatial learning will benefit kids when they start driving, riding a bike, playing sports,etc.

To do this activity in its simplest form, you will need a piece of paper, a pencil, and some marbles. First, draw a maze on a piece of paper using a pencil.

Make sure to create a start and finish point. Then, place the marbles at the start of the maze. The goal is to get the marbles from the start to the finish by tilting the paper and using gravity to guide the marbles through the maze.

Another example of a marble maze can involve using toilet paper rolls taped together to create a three-dimensional maze. The larger the maze, the harder you can make it.

Check Price on Amazon!

If you are not into the DIY method, you can always buy a toy maze on Amazon. A good 48 piece puzzle is the Melissa & Doug Underwater Ocean Floor puzzle.

2. The Tower Challenge

Building a tower gives kids the chance to think about gravity, structure, and balance.

To do this activity, you will need some building materials like legos, blocks, or even toilet paper rolls. The challenge is to see how high they can stack the materials without the tower toppling over.

This can be done individually or in teams. An activity like this is good for younger kids and is the building block to learning about harder topics like engineering.

3. The Egg Drop Challenge

The egg drop challenge helps kids learn how to engineer a solution that prevents something from breaking. It requires them to think critically about which materials will best protect something fragile like an egg when dropped from a height.

To do this activity, you will need some eggs and various materials such as straws, cotton balls, bubble wrap, etc. The goal is to construct a device that will protect an egg from breaking upon impact.

This can be done individually or in teams . Teams can even have a competition for the best egg drop device.

As children begin handling, shopping for, and cooking their own food, activities like this will help them understand how to handle breakable items like bottles, eggs, delicate fruit,.etc. Ideally, this is best for age groups 8 and up.

4. The Penny Drop Challenge

This activity was selected because it requires kids to think about physics and how different materials affect sound.

To do this activity, you will need a penny ( or another coin), a cup, and various materials such as paper towels, cotton balls, etc.

The goal is to drop the penny into the cup without making any noise. Begin by placing different materials into the cup and then drop the penny into it. The children should also drop the penny from different heights into the same material to see if/how the impact from a higher drop affects sound.

Group kids into teams or let them try it on their own.

Kids should make note of what type of sounds are made when the penny hits different materials. This is a great activity for kids who are interested in science and physics.

5. The Balloon Race Challenge

This activity was selected because it helps kids learn about aerodynamics and Bernoulli’s principle . It also requires them to think creatively about how to design a balloon-powered vehicle.

To do this activity, you will need balloons, straws, masking tape, and markers. The goal is to design a balloon-powered vehicle that can travel a distance of at least 10 feet. Kids can begin this activity by sketching out their designs on paper.

After they have a basic design, they can begin building their vehicle from various materials. Then kids can explain why they think the balloon traveled or did not travel as far as it did.

6. The Marshmallow Challenge

Marshmallows are not only delicious, but they are also soft and malleable. So kids can have fun using it for some construction projects.

This activity was selected because it requires kids to think creatively about how to build a structure using limited materials. It also helps them learn about engineering and work as a team.

To do this activity, you will need marshmallows and spaghetti noodles. The goal is to build the tallest free-standing structure possible using only marshmallows and spaghetti noodles. If you don't have spaghetti noodles, use something similar like pretzel sticks.

You may even want to establish certain rules like each team can only use a certain number of marshmallows or noodles. A time limit can also make it more fun and challenging.

For more fun activities, check out our post on problem solving exercises for team building .

7. The Balloon Pop Challenge

If you remember your childhood, you probably remember popping balloons for fun at times. But this activity is different because it requires kids to use strategy and critical thinking.

This activity was selected because it helps kids learn about patterns and problem-solving. It is also a lot of fun for kids who like popping balloons. The goal is to create a device that will allow them to pop a balloon without using their hands.

To do this activity, you will need balloons and various materials such as straws, string, paper clips, etc.

8. Picture Pieces Puzzle Game

As mentioned earlier, puzzles are a great pastime – especially in childhood. Kids must think critically about how to put the pieces together to create a certain picture. It also helps them learn about shapes, colors, and other concepts.

You can take a medium to large picture and cut it into pieces. If you have younger kids, you may want to make the pieces larger. However, if you have kids closer to the 8-11 age range, you should be able to provide a challenge and make the pieces smaller.

9. Copy the Block Model

For this challenge, you can build a model out of blocks for the kids to copy. Put kids into groups and make sure each group has the same number of blocks you used for your model.

Make your model block as simple or complex as needed for your child's age group.

Set a time limit and make sure each group starts at the same time.

10. Team Scavenger Hunt

A scavenger hunt is great for kids because they have to search for items and use investigative skills. It is also a lot of fun and can be done both indoors and outdoors .

To do this activity, you will need to create a list of items for the kids to find. The items can be anything from common household items to things you would find outside.

These types of activities can also revolve around a theme like a holiday, movie, or book. For example, if the kids are fans of “Harry Potter” you can make a list of items to find that are related to the movie.

11. Obstacle Course

This activity requires kids to think creatively about how to get from one point to another while maneuvering around obstacles. If you have outdoor space, this can be done with common objects such as hula hoops, cones, etc.

If you don't have access to an outdoor space, you can use common household items to create an indoor obstacle course. For example, you can use chairs, blankets, pillows, etc.

Begin by setting up the course and then timing each child as they complete it. You can also have them race against each other to make it more fun.

Obstacle courses are also great because kids get to be physically active while they are thinking critically.

12. Reading Storybooks

There are many great benefits for kids that read storybooks.  One of the excellent benefits is the ability to problem-solve.  When they read the stories in the books, they see scenarios that cause them to be attached to the various characters they read about. 

So, when they encounter a real-life problem, it is often productive to ask a child how their favorite character would solve that problem.  Your kids can also be encouraged to come up with various options and possible outcomes for some of the situations they may encounter. 

This not only helps kids solve various problems but become more independent as well. 

13. Ask Them Open-Ended Questions

A good way to improve a child's ability to think critically and creatively and improve their ability to solve problems is by asking open-ended questions.  It also helps them to develop healthy personalities .

There are no right or wrong answers to these questions.  In addition, the solution requires more than a simple “yes” or “no” answer.  Furthermore, it allows kids to put some extra thought into their responses. 

Here are some examples of open-ended questions you may want to ask. 

• What did this experience teach you?
• Was this easy?  What was easy about it?
• What this difficult?  What is complicated about it?
• What may happen next in this situation?
• How did you come to this solution?
• What, if anything, would you do differently next time?
• What can we do to make things more fun next time?

14. Build Various Structures with Toys

Whether wooden blocks, LEGO blocks, or engineering blocks… giving your kid blocks to build whatever their minds can dream up is fun.  In addition, it requires them to think about how they will make a structure, put the pieces together, and creatively ensure the building's function and design. 

You may also want to challenge them to build something more complicated and watch them use their brain power to make it happen. 

15. Acting Out Skits

Impromptu activities like acting out skits help kids identify problems, develop solutions, and execute them.  This process works with multiple kids being divided into teams. 

First, you will want to write down different situations, such as resolving a disagreement between siblings or dealing with bullying on the playground on a piece of paper.  Second, you will fold the paper and place it in a hat or bowl.  

Third, each team will pick a scenario out of the hat.  Finally, you can give the kids a few minutes to discuss their solution and act out. 

16. Solving Moral Dilemmas   

In this simple game, you will help your kids solve simple dilemmas they may find themselves in.  You could write down a situation your child may find themselves in and help them learn the moral way to solve the problem.   

For instance, “The cashier gave them an additional $5 change back on my purchase.  What should they do?”  Another scenario could be, “I saw my friend cheating on a test.  Should I tell on them or let it go?”  A third one could be, “I caught my friends stealing some gum from the store.  What should I do?” 

After writing down the dilemmas and placing them in a bowl, get each child to select one and read it aloud.  Finally, you will help them devise morally correct solutions to the moral dilemma. 

17. Animal Pairing Game  

This is a fun and creative game to help your kids with focus, critical thinking, and team building skills .  In addition, this activity requires an even number of players to participate (4, 6, 8, etc.) 

Before starting the game, you will want to write the names of different animals twice, each on a separate slip of paper.  Then pass out the slips of paper to each individual or team member, instructing them not to share with anyone the name of the animal they received. 

Then the children will perform activities the animals might do without talking or making sounds.  Some of these activities might include:

• The way the animal cleans or grooms itself
• The way the animal sleeps
• The way the animal fights
• The way the animal eats or drinks
• The way the animal walks or runs

The goal is for each child to successfully pair up with the other child who has selected the same animal.

How Problem Solving in Childhood Helps in Adulthood

Children are not born with problem-solving skills. It is something that needs to be learned and developed over time .

From babies who learn how to communicate their needs to toddlers who figure out how to get what they want, to children who are starting to understand the consequences of their actions – problem-solving is a process that begins in childhood and continues into adulthood.

Some of the benefits of teaching problem-solving skills to children include:

• Improved critical thinking skills
• Better decision-making skills
• Enhanced creativity
• Improved communication and collaboration skills
• Increased confidence

There are many ways to teach problem-solving skills to children. The activities mentioned above are just a few examples. It is important to find activities that are appropriate for the age and abilities of the child.

With practice, children will develop these skills and be better prepared to face challenges in both childhood and adulthood.

Final Thoughts About Fun Problem Solving Activities For Kids

These are just a few ideas to get you started on teaching your child crucial problem solving skills. Perhaps they’ve inspired to come with some of your own, or seek out others? The important thing is to make sure the activity is age-appropriate and challenging enough to engage the kids.

Problem-solving skills are important for kids to learn because they can be applied to various situations in life. These skills also promote critical thinking, which is an important life skill.

There are many other problem-solving activities for kids out there. In time, you’ll find the ones that work best for your child.  And be sure not to forget about your own needs and self-improvement, both of which will make you a better parent and mentor. Here are some useful activities for adults to get your started.

Finally, if you want to level up your parenting skills, then check out this resource that will show you how to get your kids to listen WITHOUT yelling, nagging, or losing control .

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Rocking and Rolling: Empowering Infants' and Toddlers' Learning Through Scaffolding

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Ms. Tonya plays peek-a-boo with Anthony, 4 months old. She holds a blanket in front of her face, peeks out over the top of it, and says, “Peek-a-boo!” Anthony laughs. After she does this a few times, she notices that Anthony’s attention has waned. The next time she puts the blanket up, she moves it to the side of her face and peeks out from a different place. Anthony looks surprised and laughs, reengaged.

Shayla, 11 months old, lets go of the cart she is pushing and stands alone. Her teacher, Mr. Peter, sitting nearby, says, “Hi, Shayla!” He reaches his hand toward her, and she takes one step, then another, then falls down. Shayla’s eyes open wide, and Mr. Peter says, “Boom, you fell down, but you’re okay. Do you want to try again?” Shayla reaches up her arms and Mr. Peter helps her stand up. He holds her hands while she steadies herself, then gives her two small toys to hold so that she balances on her own. He says, “Okay, Shayla, can you walk to me?” Holding tightly to the two toys, she takes three steps and reaches Mr. Peter right before she falls down. “You did it!” Mr. Peter exclaims.

Twenty-two-month-old Aydin has just arrived at Ms. Evelyn’s family child care home. Ms. Evelyn has three other toddlers close to Aydin’s age. Recently, she has noticed that Aydin knows the color yellow. She places several yellow objects on a small table, along with a few red objects. Aydin immediately goes to the table and picks up a yellow block, saying, “Lellow!” Ms. Evelyn says, “Yes, that’s a yellow block. Can you find something else yellow?” Aydin looks back at the table and picks up a yellow toy car. He brings it to Ms. Evelyn, saying, “Lellow!”

Each of these scenarios shows skilled teachers setting up environments and facilitating infants’ and toddlers’ development and learning. Their process is called  scaffolding . Scaffolding is how adults support children’s development and learning by offering just the right help at just the right time in just the right way. Scaffolding is typically demonstrated with older children, yet adults’ natural interactions with infants and toddlers are scaffolding learning all the time. Understanding the process can help educators be more intentional in their interactions. In addition, by examining their beliefs, teachers can become more sensitive to the many opportunities to scaffold presented in everyday interactions.

Scaffolding allows children to solve a problem or carry out a task that is beyond their current abilities. It is a bridge teachers create to connect existing knowledge to new knowledge and understanding. Successful scaffolding happens in what Lev Vygotsky (1978), a pioneering psychologist, coined the  zone of proximal development  (ZPD). The ZPD is the difference between what a person can do and learn on his own, and what he can do and learn with the help of someone who is more experienced. As a result, scaffolding is collaborative in nature. Teachers need to join infants and toddlers in play and build from there. Scaffolding requires several considerations: understanding children’s overall development; understanding the ways individual children approach learning; establishing realistic learning objectives; and matching strategies to each child’s current interests, knowledge, and skills.

For example, in the peek-a-boo scenario, Ms. Tonya sensitively models how to play, but she also adjusts her play to match Anthony’s interest and attention. By slightly changing the game, she reengages Anthony and holds his attention a little longer. This type of play not only increases learning, but also encourages active participation in a game.

One in-depth study of three teachers demonstrated the many potential benefits of teachers scaffolding development by joining infants’ play in sensitive and responsive ways (Jung & Recchia 2013). These teachers were able to empower and enhance the self-motivation of the infants in their care. In the earlier scenarios, each teacher joined a child’s play and extended learning through careful observation, supportive environments, and active engagement. These strategies facilitated the children’s abilities to learn a little more than what they might have learned on their own.

Careful and intentional observing enabled the teachers to sensitively individualize their scaffolding to meet each infant’s needs.

How teachers view infants may influence how they approach scaffolding. The three teachers who participated in the in-depth study (Jung & Recchia 2013) saw infants as innately motivated and competent. They carefully observed the babies’ individual temperaments—how they liked to play; when they gave up; in what ways they liked to receive teacher support; how responsive and sensitive they were to teacher actions; how enthusiastic they were in their play; and to what degree they maintained their focus in play. This careful and intentional observing enabled the teachers to sensitively individualize their scaffolding to meet each infant’s needs.

We see similar observations and responsiveness in the opening scenarios. Anthony maintained his attention and joint play because Ms. Tonya slightly changed where she peeked out from behind the blanket. Shayla took a few more steps because Mr. Peter responded sensitively to her attempts to walk by providing props (toys) that helped her balance. And Ms. Evelyn prepared her environment based on her previous experiences with Aydin’s interest in the color yellow. Each teacher also allowed the children enough space to pursue their interests through play and supported learning by being present and actively engaged.

Reaffirming the large research base on scaffolding (see, for example, Head Start 2017), the three-teacher study (Jung & Recchia 2013) highlights how observing and reflecting help teachers to better understand each infant’s preferences, culture, and what support they may need to move forward. Providing that support in just the right context—or, to use Vygotsky’s term, within each infant’s zone of proximal development—leads to more effective scaffolding. Some of the effective strategies the researchers identified include:

• Modeling for children
• Encouraging children in verbal and nonverbal ways
• Following the child’s lead
• Physical intervention, such as what Mr. Peter did to help stabilize Shayla in her attempts to walk
• Offering and accepting choices
• Joining in a child’s play as a partner while still allowing the child to lead

Think about it

• How have you seen young children learn through play?
• What do you believe about infants’ and toddlers’ abilities to learn through play?
• How might your beliefs influence how you set the stage for young children’s learning?
• How have you seen an infant’s temperament influence her learning?
• What do you think the child is trying to learn through play?
• What temperament characteristics do you see the child displaying?
• What do you see as your role in supporting the child’s learning?
• What strategies do you want to use to support that learning?
• Take turns observing fellow teachers supporting children’s learning. Document which scaffolding strategies they use.

Teachers of infants and toddlers shape the curriculum by carefully setting up the environment and by watching and wondering about children’s current interests and abilities. They act on those observations by extending each child’s learning through playful interactions and scaffolding. In this way, teachers set the stage for children’s future learning and success!

Note: The term “teacher(s)” is used to describe the adult working with the child in the setting.

Head Start: An Office of the Administration for Children and Families Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center (ECLKC). 2017.

Jung, J., & S. Recchia. 2013. “Scaffolding Infants’ Play Through Empowering and Individualizing Teaching Practices.”  Early Education and Development  24 (6): 829–50.

Vygotsky, L.S. 1978.  Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Photograph courtesy of iStock

Linda Gillespie , MS, is a senior training, technical assistance, and engagement specialist at ZERO to THREE. She is coauthor of Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect: Parent/Provider Partnerships in Child Care and currently supports the work of the HealthySteps Program. [email protected]

Jan D. Greenberg, MA, is a senior subject matter expert–child development with the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning, in Washington, DC. She develops resources to support education services in Early Head Start, Head Start, and child care programs.  [email protected]

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Problem-Solving Brain Games for Babies

January 30th, 2017 | 2 min. read

By Gryphon House

It can be daunting to come up with infant classroom ideas. There are so many ways babies learn, and so many things to teach them! One of the most universal things educators can work with is problem solving activities for infants. Problem solving strategies can be introduced to children pretty early, usually starting around 6 months. 

It can be daunting to come up with infant classroom ideas. There are so many ways babies learn, and so many things to teach them! One of the most universal things educators can work with is problem solving activities for infants. Problem solving strategies can be introduced to children pretty early, usually starting around 6 months. These activities can apply to universal problem solving—determining that individual actions can effect and fix problems—or specific problem solving like communicating with a caregiver. Cognitive activities for infants build these skills and pave the way for effective problem-solving abilities later in life.

There are several books that focus on puzzles for babies. One of them is Jackie Silberg ’s 125 Brain Games for Babies . This book serves as an excellent resource for parents and educators seeking advice on how best to engage with their children. Below are a few brain activities for babies that provide a foundation for problem-solving skills.

Pick Up, Throw Down

Infants are very observant. They notice when two things happen close together and strive to make a connection. When babies begin to hold and drop things, they notice if people stop to pick them up.

What to Do:

• Sit your baby in her high chair and give her several large toys to play with. Play with her and talk about the toy’s texture, what they are, and how they look
• After a while, drop one of the toys on the floor. Draw your baby’s attention to it by saying “Uh oh” or “Where did the rattle go?”
• Bend down and pick up the toy. Do this a few other times if your baby has not yet caught on
• When your baby drops or throws one of the toys on the ground, immediately pick it up and give it back to her. Over time, you can encourage her to point or vocalize to tell you where the toy is

Seek and Find

Once infants discover object permanence, a whole array of problem-solving opportunities open up. This activity facilitates that knowledge by encouraging babies to look for an object they can hear but not see.

• Find a wind-up clock that makes a ticking noise. Hold it up in front of your baby and say a little tick-tock rhyme, such as: “Tick tock, tick tock / Goes the clock / Tick tock”
• After a few moments, cover the clock with a scarf, blanket, or towel. Ask your baby where the tick-tock went
• Encourage your child to locate the clock using the sound it makes. When he pulls on the scarf, reveal the clock and say “Hooray!”
• Practice the game a bit more until your baby gets the hang of it. For an added challenge, move the clock to different places that your child can crawl towards

Quite Puzzling

One-piece puzzles help build motor skills as well as problem solving. Infants have to use trial and error as they attempt to figure out which way the piece fits inside the puzzle.

• Provide your baby with a simple one-piece puzzle with a wooden knob for them to grasp
• Talk to your baby as she tries to put the piece in its place. Ask her what she is doing and periodically turn the puzzle board slightly to help her put the piece in
• When your baby finally puts the piece in the puzzle, celebrate with clapping and praise

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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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WELL BEINGS WITH ALYSIA

Cognitive Activities: Ideas for Toddlers 1 to 3 Years Old

As a developmental therapist working in early intervention, I’m excited to share my favorite cognitive activities for toddlers aged 1 to 3. These fun and developmentally appropriate activities can be enjoyed at home or in the classroom.

Support toddlers’ cognitive development with interactive activities that enhance executive function and problem-solving.

Cognitive Development

Cognitive development is the building of mental and intellectual skills. For toddlers, this is thinking, learning, and understanding. Here’s what it looks like:

• Curiosity about the world and how things work
• Knowledge of objects and their functions
• Longer attention span for activities
• Pretend play and role-playing with objects
• Learning numbers, counting, and “more”
• Sorting and noticing similarities and differences
• Creative problem-solving in various ways

Check at FAQs at the end of this post to learn more.

Cognitive Activities for Toddlers

Nature play.

Nature play offers toddlers an open-ended, sensory-rich experience, fostering cognitive development and executive function skills. From exploring the outdoors and experiencing different weather to engaging in risk-taking play and moving through obstacles, these activities promote emergent science, recognition, and motivation, enhancing attention and persistence in playful ways.

• Exploring outdoors
• Experiencing different weather
• Na ture scavenger hunts
• Fill + dump with rocks, pinecones, or sticks
• Sink or Float with nature objects
• Moving through obstacles (over, under, around, through)

Cognitive Skills : emergent science, recognition, motivation, attention, persistence

Loose Parts Play 

Loose parts play offers toddlers open-ended materials to explore, promoting cognitive development through creative manipulation. This unstructured play fosters emergent math and science skills, encouraging persistence, reasoning, and the ability to watch and imitate others. Learn more about the  benefits of loose parts play   and check out a  giant list of loose parts materials .

• Plastic bottles and jugs
• Electric Tea Lights
• Fabric Squares
• Nature Objects

Cognitive Skills : using objects in a new way, emergent math, emergent science, persistence, reason/logic, watching and imitating others

Imagination Games

Imagination games play a vital role in toddler cognitive development by encouraging role-play and introducing symbolism. Favorite imagination play toys include costumes, toy animals, and toy vehicles. These activities enhance cognitive skills, such as imaginative play, motivation, and memory, while fostering discovery and self-expression.

• Pretending to be an animal
• Cars, trains, construction vehicles
• People figures
• Animal figures
• Find the toy
• More imagination games for toddlers

Cognitive Skills : imaginative play, motivation, using objects in new ways, memory, exploration/discovery, watching and imitating others, finding hidden objects

Books and reading are wonderful cognitive activities for toddlers, introducing early literacy skills and broadening understanding of objects, living things, and people through symbolism. Engage your child by exploring illustrations, adding actions to books, and reading books about your child’s interests.

• Find and name objects in the pictures
• Connect stories to real life
• Play with the sounds of letters and words
• Emphasize rhyming and alliteration
• Choose books that match your child’s interests

Cognitive Skills : identifying objects when they are named, attention, reason/logic, exploration/discovery

Sensory Play

Sensory play is a fantastic cognitive activity for toddlers, providing an immersive body-mind experience. Engage your child with sensory bins, dough play , sensory books, painting, and eating new foods. Sensory play allows toddlers to begin building early science skills.

• Water tables
• Sensory bins
• Eating new foods

Cognitive Skills : reason/logic, emergent science, emergent math, persistence, motivation, exploration/discovery

Music and Fingerplays

Music and fingerplays are excellent cognitive activities for toddlers, fostering memory, attention, and cause-and-effect understanding. Engage toddlers with singing, dancing, and musical instruments to promote emergent math and science skills while encouraging imitation and following instructions. Learn how dancing supports the vestibular and proprioceptive systems .

• Scarf dancing
• Pot and pan band
• Rhythm sticks
• Fingerplays (The Itsy Bitsy Spider or Patty Cake)
• Music set with children’s instruments

Cognitive Skills : memory, attention, following instructions, watching and imitating others, cause and effect, emergent math, emergent science

Block play offer a fun cognitive activity for toddlers, nurturing creative, early science, and math skills. Engage your child with open-ended building with anything from tree blocks to Magnatiles for a perfect blend of STEM learning and imaginative development.

Discover all our favorite block activities for toddlers ages 1 to 3.

Cognitive Skills : emergent science, emergent math, imaginative play, using objects in a new way, reason/logic, problem-solving

Puzzles & Close-Ended Toys

Close-ended toys benefit cognitive development, building trial-and-error and problem-solving skills and instilling confidence. However, they should not replace other play experiences as they can lead to frustration. Striking a balance between close-ended and open-ended toys is key for fostering holistic cognitive growth in toddlers.

• Puzzles (chunky or knob puzzles)
• Shape sorters
• Stacking/nesting cups and rings
• Pop-up toys
• Hammer and peg toys

Cognitive Skills : emergent science, emergent math, cause and effect, attention, reason/logic, problem-solving, persistence

Cognitive Activities in Daily Routines

You can also enhance toddlers’ cognitive development through daily routines. Explore these simple ways to nurture their learning and understanding in day-to-day activities.

• Counting with food at meals
• Sorting toys at clean-up time
• Water play in the bathtub
• Completing household chores together 
• Practicing dressing and undressing
• Singing in the car

Cognitive Skills : cause and effect, attention, reason/logic, problem-solving, persistence

FAQs: toddler cognitive development

Cognitive skills for a toddler include the ability to think, learn, and understand as they explore and interact with the world around them.

Here is a list of skills related to cognitive development for 1, 2, and 3-year-old toddlers:

Executive Function

• Reason/Logic
• Persistence
• Following simple directions
• Finding hidden objects
• Imaginative play
• Using objects in new ways

Recognition

• Identifying objects when they are named
• Understanding the purpose of familiar objects

Emergent Science

• Problem-solving
• Exploration/curiosity
• Cause and effect
• Observation

Emergent Math

• Spacial awareness
• Matching/sorting
• “More”

Created with: Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, Teaching Strategies Objectives for Development and Learning , and the CDC Developmental Milestones .

Signs of cognitive development delays in toddlers may include:

• Not pointing at items
• Losing skills once had
• Not searching for items they saw you hide
• Not learning familiar items
• Not mimicking others
• Not able to follow simple instructions

This is not a comprehensive list of potential delays. Contact your pediatrician if you have concerns about your child’s development. Remember, while checklists like the CDC Milestone Tracker help, there is no replacement for intuition. 

For those in the United States, you can also contact your  local early intervention services  for an evaluation. 

While limited use of educational apps and programs can be beneficial, it’s essential to balance screen time with other forms of play. Hands-on, interactive learning experiences are vital for cognitive development during the toddler years.

Adding cognitive activities at home and in the classroom is crucial for supporting and nurturing your toddler’s brain development. Engage in nature play , imagination games, reading, sensory play, music, blocks, and close-ended toys to foster holistic cognitive growth. By integrating these activities into daily routines, you create a strong foundation for your toddler’s future development and learning.

More activity ideas

The Magic of Container Play: Boost Baby & Toddler Learning

Literacy Ideas for Babies: Easy Activities from My Infant Classroom 

The Best Block Play Activities & Environments for Young Children

My Ultimate Guide to Nature-Based Early Childhood Education

Developmental Therapist

Hello, I'm Alysia (uh-lee-shuh), a developmental therapist for infants and toddlers with a B.S. in Early Childhood Education and a minor in Special Education. As the founder of Well Beings with Alysia, I'm demystifying child development for parents and early educators. Learn how to introduce the play-based activities, books, nature materials, and toys I use in classrooms and early intervention. Contact me: [email protected]

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Activities for Toddlers (18 months-4 years)

Last updated December 4th, 2023 .

Article by:

Cara Dumaplin

RN, BSN, Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant

Just so you know, I do review everything I recommend. When you buy through links on this page, we may earn a commission. Learn more about affiliate links

Need some inspiration for activities for toddlers? Let’s walk through things to do with toddlers (18 months - 4 years), ideas for indoor and outdoor activities, sensory play, gross motor activities, and more. 

For little ones 0-18 months, check out these Baby Activities .

Did you know how your toddler spends awake time plays a role in their sleep? It’s true! Just like adults, toddlers sleep better when they move their bodies and use their brains during awake time.

Of course, awake time isn’t the only important factor in toddler sleep. If you need help piecing together the whole picture of toddler sleep, I have classes for you! Whether your little one is under 2 years old or 2-4 years old , my classes will meet your toddler right where they are developmentally and give you a customizable plan to help you meet your sleep goals so your family can thrive.

A note about development and choosing activities for toddlers: # anchor

If you have a toddler, you’re probably noticing some big developmental strides. Toddlers typically have a big burst of language and show interest in pretend play. They’re improving their gross motor skills, like running and climbing. They’re also expressing an increased desire for independence.

These months (and years) tend to be full of your toddler experimenting with cause and effect and testing boundaries. They’re learning about their ability to impact the world around them and that their actions can cause reactions. You may even notice some changes in your toddler’s sleep .

Expert Tip: When it comes to toddler sleep, it’s vital that we consider your child’s emotional, mental, and physical development. I’d love to share more about filling your toddler’s tanks and the importance of looking at your little one as a complex, whole human.

Let me share activities for toddlers by age:

Activities for your 18-24 month old: # anchor

Activities for an 18 month old # anchor.

Invite your toddler to help you with everyday tasks. They love imitation! This could look like wiping the table, filling a water bottle, or feeding a pet.

Build an obstacle course using soft objects, like pillows or cushions. Add in some soft balls to entice your little one to try rolling, throwing, and chasing.

Read board books together. Books with rhyming and repetition are great for this age. Ask your toddler to point to familiar pictures in the book (“Where is the doggy?”) to help build language skills.

Promote fine motor skills by playing with large letter or animal magnets on the fridge. Don’t have any? Taping pom poms or other small toys on the fridge works too! (Safety Tip: Please be sure to closely supervise your little one with any small objects.)

Here are ideas for the best toys for 18 month olds to use in your activities.

Activities for a 19 month old # anchor

Explore a local playground or library! Check with your local library or community center to see if they offer free activities for toddlers. 

Set up a shallow storage bin with some water, add some small floating objects (like ping pong balls or small plastic blocks) and let your toddler scoop out the objects with measuring cups. (Safety Tip: Be sure to keep a close eye on your toddler with any water-related activity.)

Encourage pretend play using a stuffed animal. Let your toddler pretend to feed their doll with a play spoon and bowl, change their diaper, or wipe a pretend stuffy nose. This helps develop imagination, social skills, and creativity! 

Grab a paintbrush and a cup of water and let your toddler paint the driveway!

Practice stacking blocks and see how many your toddler can do on their own.

Here are ideas for the best toys for 19 month olds to use in your activities.

Activities for a 20 month old # anchor

Play with plastic toys and water! You can use a shallow storage bin, a water table, or even the bathtub to give plastic toys a bath with a scrub brush or wash cloth. Think plastic baby dolls, dinosaur toys, or plastic trucks. (Safety Tip: Be sure to keep a close eye on your toddler with any water-related activity.)  

Try a sorting activity. Grab a few colors of construction paper and toys around the house that match those colors. Let your toddler sort the toys by color (They might need your help.). (There are also some great non-DIY options available. I linked them below.)

Go outside! Grab some sidewalk chalk and watch your little artist explore. Draw some shapes and name them for your toddler. 

Practice starting to kick a ball. (This usually works better with a larger ball at this age.)

Bake something together. Let your toddler pour in some ingredients and mix them up! 

Hand over the crayons and a blank piece of paper and let your toddler create a masterpiece. 

Here are ideas for the best toys for 20 month olds to use in your activities.

Activities for a 21 month old # anchor

Make a simple memory game. Print or draw 4 pictures of familiar objects or animals. Turn them face down and ask your toddler to find them. Example: “Where’s the dog?” When your toddler flips over the correct picture, leave it facing up, and repeat for the remaining pictures. 

Play in water! Make some different shapes out of sponges (or buy some premade sponges). Have your toddler squeeze water out of the sponges, while becoming more familiar with shapes at the same time. You can also use the sponges for sponge painting! (Safety Tip: Please be sure to closely supervise your little one with any water-related activity.)

Try a color matching activity. Color some craft sticks (or buy already colored sticks) and have your toddler match them to the same colored construction paper, a container of the same color (like a cup or bowl), or objects around the house that match the color. 

Practice making animal sounds! Bonus: add in animal pictures or figurines for more fun.

Here are ideas for the best toys for 21 month olds to use in your activities.

Activities for a 22 month old # anchor

Take turns by doing a stacking activity together. Use “my turn” and “your turn” to help your toddler practice this concept. 

Help your toddler identify body parts by placing a gift bow on different body parts, like head, belly, and feet. Once they seem to get the hang of this, you can practice following directions by having them put the bow on their own body parts (“Put the bow on your head”).

Play “Hide and Seek” around the house. Hide a familiar object, like a stuffed animal, and then find it together. You can help your toddler’s vocabulary by using descriptive words like “under," "on," and "in” to describe where the object is hidden. 

Get creative with toilet paper rolls. Make tunnels for toy cars, slides for pom poms, and binoculars to play “I Spy.” 

Offer large wooden beads (think BIG so that they aren’t a choking hazard) and have your toddler string them on a shoestring. 

Encourage your toddler to use items in different ways. Model using a block as a toy phone or a play bowl as a hat. 

Here are ideas for the best toys for 22 month olds to use in your activities.

Activities for a 23 month old # anchor

Play search and find as you read. “Do you see the car on this page?” “Which animal is on the rug?” This can help with language development. 

Promote fine motor skills with a threading activity by having your toddler pull pipe cleaners from the holes of a colander. Once they get the hang of pulling, give them a chance to put them through the holes on their own (You’ll probably need to guide them to start.). 

Build with blocks- make towers to knock over or play with!

Try to keep a balloon in the air by taking turns batting it around. You can also try kicking for gross motor skill development. 

Allow your toddler to be in control of turning the pages when you read a book.

Hold your child’s hands and practice “jumping” off the lowest stair or a curb. That small jump down with your support helps your child learn to jump on their own on the floor.

Here are ideas for the best toys for 23 month olds to use in your activities.

These are suggestions for activities for toddlers 18-24 months. Keep in mind, every toddler develops at their own pace. You can try these activities before, throughout, and after these months. Your toddler will continue to learn and explore their world with the same activities even at different ages.

If you need help setting up your toddler’s day, I have sample schedules for you.

Activities for 2, 3, and 4 year olds: # anchor

Activities for 2 year olds # anchor.

Encourage motor skill development by building with toys like Duplo blocks, foam blocks, or suction cup builders.

Read your favorite books together. Encourage language development by asking your toddler to point to different objects “Can you find the cow’s baby?” “Which ball is red?” “Which monkey has a banana?”

Build a fort! Set up some chairs and throw a big blanket over them. Read together in the fort, use a flashlight, or bring some toys in! 

Promote your toddler’s independent play along with problem-solving skills and hand-eye coordination with puzzles. 

Grab a small spray bottle and fill it with water. Let your 2 year old help “wash” the windows, wipe down a table, or spray plants outside. 

Use a toy dollhouse made for toddlers to let your child play out familiar stories about their day. They will love reenacting bedtime, a parent leaving for work, etc. with small figurines.

Try a play kitchen to let your toddler serve and cook food. 

Toddlers love to use stamps to create artwork. Find washable stamp pads, give them stamps that fit well in their hands, and let them create their best work!

Here are ideas for the best toys for 2 year olds to use in your activities.

Activities for 3 year olds # anchor

Try a scavenger hunt around the house or in the yard. Make a list of 5-7 familiar objects (use images instead of words for even more independence) and then send your toddler to go find them. 

Have a picnic (real or pretend) together in the yard or at a park. If it’s rainy outside, you can also have a carpet picnic!

Engage in imaginary play. Maybe this looks like play “cooking” using measuring cups and bowls from your kitchen, playing “farm” with farm animal figurines, or playing “doctor” with a toy doctor set. 

Promote creativity through art. You can use crayons or paint sticks with paper. A great mess-free option is a magnetic doodle board.

Use painters’ tape to create a road on the floor. Let your 3 year old drive their cars all around. Add blocks or other structures to make a whole city!

Use a pretend tool set to let your toddler build and “fix” things around the house.

Try out magnetic dress up dolls as a fun way to let your toddler create new scenes and characters.

Have your toddler lay down on a large sheet of paper and trace their body. Let them color in clothes, facial features, hair, etc.. 

Grab a plastic baby doll and an empty plastic tub (or use the sink) and let your 3 year old give the baby a bath. (Safety Tip: Please be sure to closely supervise your little one with any water-related activity.)

Here are ideas for the best toys for 3 year olds to use in your activities.

Activities for 4 year olds # anchor

Have a “freeze” dance party! Play music for 10-15 seconds, then stop the music, and shout “Freeze!” Demonstrate this for your toddler until they get the hang of it and join you. 

Work on fine motor skills and your child’s creativity with arts and crafts. Think chalk on the driveway, letting your child decorate with stickers, or making patterns with beads on pipe cleaners.  

Play “I Spy” together to develop your toddler’s observational skills. This can be a great game when you’re in the waiting room, when you’re exploring the park, or even when you’re reading a book.

Give your toddler a chance to use their imagination by creating a pretend restaurant. Boxes from the pantry, toy food, or even drawings of food can all be part of the fun. (There are some good already-made kid versions available as well. I linked them for you below.)

Find toys with small figurines to let your 4 year old play out social scenes or create their own stories.

Bake and decorate cookies together. 4 year olds love to help in the kitchen!

Make a dress up bin with old Halloween costumes, random hats, scarves, aprons, or other accessories. 4 year olds love to dress up in character. 

Here are ideas for the best toys for 4 year olds to use in your activities.

Need help with toddler nap schedules or setting up your 2, 3, or 4 year old’s day? I have a blog on nap schedules for you.

What are sensory activities for toddlers? # anchor

Sensory activities are those that engage our senses: sight, touch, taste, sound, or smell. These activities play a vital role in development. Your child’s motor, language, social, and emotional skills all grow through sensory play. These activities can also be calming and promote self-regulation. 

Here are some ideas for sensory activities for 2, 3, and 4 year olds: 

Splash around at a water table or in the bath. Use measuring cups and funnels and watch how the water moves. Bring a few small toys and have your toddler guess which ones will sink and which will float. (Safety Tip: Please be sure to closely supervise your little one with any water-related activity.)

Dig for buried treasure. Fill a shallow bin with oats or rice and hide small objects like pom poms or puzzle pieces to let your little one explore with their hands or scoops.

Play with play dough. Let your toddler create whatever they can imagine. If needed, provide some prompting to get started. Try a small rolling pin or craft sticks for extra fun. 

Try finger painting. This kind of creative sensory activity helps your toddler use their senses and decision-making skills. 

Make music together. Let your toddler use their imagination with wooden spoons, bowls, and pots. 

Here are ideas for sensory toys for toddlers .

What are gross motor activities for toddlers? # anchor

Gross motor skills typically use whole body movements and involve large muscles like the arms, legs, and torso. 

Whole body movement and gross motor activities are so important because:

They can lead to increased coordination and development of other skills like fine motor and language. 

They allow your toddler to better understand and control their body. 

They help fill your toddler’s tired tank™ .

Here are some ideas: 

Practice climbing. Take a few trips up and down the stairs- add in counting or singing for extra entertainment. Allow your little one to explore at the park. Or try out a climbing triangle. 

Practice balancing. Place a long strip of painter’s tape along the floor and have your little one try to stay on the line as they walk. Try out a balance bike (Don’t forget a helmet!). Balance stepping stones can be a fun addition to an obstacle course at home. 

Practice jumping. Place a few strips of painter’s tape on the floor and have your little one jump to each piece (only a few inches apart for a 2 year old and 1-2 feet apart for 3 and 4 year olds). Try jumping in and out of hoops laid on the floor. Pretend to be frogs or bunnies and hop around the room. 

Here are ideas for gross motor toys for toddlers .

Fine motor activities for toddlers # anchor

Fine motor skills involve movements using the small muscles in our body like hands, lips, tongue, and eyes. When little ones do fine motor activities, they are improving their hand-eye coordination, preparing their mouth for improved speech, and developing the skills that will allow them to grasp a pencil and write in the future.

Here are some fine motor activities for 2, 3, and 4 year olds:

Play with play dough. You can use store bought or make your own at home. Squeezing and interacting with play dough helps to strengthen those tiny hand muscles.

Have fun with art. Holding pencils, crayons, markers, or a paintbrush are all ways that your toddler can build those fine motor skills. Let art be a process, instead of worrying about a “perfect” craft or finished product.

Try out stickers. Pulling stickers off a sticker sheet and place them on paper (or even on an arm or hand) is a perfect game to practice fine motor skills.

Make eating fun! Try adding foods with different textures to your toddler’s plate, foods that need utensils, and finger foods. Experimenting with using these tools, their hands, and coordinating bringing food to their mouth are all part of developing fine motor skills.

Cut with plastic scissors or safety scissors. Practice cutting paper, cooked noodles, or play dough. If your toddler isn’t quite ready for cutting, using their fingers to tear paper is a great first step.

Dress up your stuffed animal. Use doll clothes or even newborn clothes and let your toddler practice putting clothes onto a doll, buttoning buttons, zipping a zipper, and pulling on socks. 

Here are ideas for fine motor toys for toddlers .

What are indoor activities for toddlers? # anchor

Looking for ideas for indoor rainy day activities for your toddler? Even if the weather is keeping you from getting outside, play and movement are building blocks to sleep success. Many of the activity ideas above can be done inside, but here are some more indoor activities for 2, 3, and 4 year olds:

Play Hide and Seek in different ways. 

Take turns hiding a stuffed animal and then finding it together. 

Take turns hiding from each other. Start with small increments your toddler’s first few times playing. Count until 10 to hide and come out from hiding if they’re having a hard time finding you after 30-60 seconds. Increase the time as your toddler gets the hang of the game. 

Add in a matching game. Use different colored sticky notes or draw different shapes on sticky notes and then hide them around the house. Have your little one find them and then sort them in matching categories. 

Hide plastic eggs around the house (It’s an Easter egg hunt year round!).

Create an obstacle course. Use pillows to walk across, painter’s tape to jump to, soft balls to toss into bowls, and a tent made from chairs and a blanket to crawl under. Add in whatever activities your little one enjoys. Bonus: this is also a great way to build gross motor skills!

Build together. Use blocks to make a tower. Cushions and chairs to build a fort. Cups to stack. A house made of boxes. Encourage them to use their imagination to guide this activity. 

Sing songs that help your little one identify body parts, like “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,” “The Hokey Pokey,” or “Tooty Ta.” Movement songs like these are both sensory and gross motor activities!

Here are ideas for indoor toys for toddlers .

What are outdoor activities for toddlers? # anchor

If you’re able, try to get outside with your little one! Exposure to light during the day helps with sleep pressure , which is key to falling asleep and staying asleep. Many of the above activities for toddlers can be done outside, but here are some more outdoor activities for 2, 3, and 4 year olds: 

Catch bubbles! Use a bubble machine or blow bubbles. Running and jumping to catch them also helps with gross motor skills. 

Go on a nature or neighborhood walk. Think of things you want to find together: Can we find a red bird, a blue bird, and a yellow bird? Can we find a red car, black car, and a white car? 

Create a nature collection in a bucket or a brown paper bag. Can we find 5 leaves? 3 rocks? 1 stick? Then let your little one use their imagination for how they want to play with their collection. Tip: Before starting this activity, be sure to let your toddler know that this collection will stay outside (unless you’re okay with it coming inside). 

Engage in sensory play with sand. Play in a sandbox or put some sensory sand in a shallow bin and let your little one explore. Use shovels or other utensils to move sand around or bury some small toys. 

Find outdoor things to paint with like a pinecone, stick, or leaf and see what you can make.

Do you have a slide in your backyard? Let your little one pile leaves (or snow) at the bottom to slide into.

Are you in an area with acorns or other small objects? Use a wrapping paper tube as a chute to drop them from one space to another, like down the stairs or from the seat of a bench to the ground. 

Play follow the leader and let your toddler lead. Crawl, climb, and play following them around.

Head to the park! Parks can be a great space to practice gross motor skills, meet friends, and use up some of that toddler energy.

Here are ideas for the best outdoor toys for toddlers .

If you're overwhelmed, exhausted, or just not sure where to start. I was there too. Let me show you everything you need to confidently handle sleep so your whole family can thrive!

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Supporting Initiative and Curiosity in Infants and Toddlers

Teacher Time: Supporting Initiative and Curiosity in Infants and Toddlers

Gail Joseph: Hi, everyone. Welcome to Teacher Time. We are so excited that you're here. I'm Gail Joseph.

Maria Alvarez: [Speaking Spanish] I am Maria Alvarez. Welcome. We welcome you.

And we are from the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning. We are so excited to have you here with us today for the third infant toddler episode of Teacher Time. I would also like to call your attention to the Viewer’s Guide. You will find it in the resource widget as well. If you are new to Teacher Time, the Viewer’s Guide is for you. Use it. You can download the guide and use it throughout our time together for taking notes, reflecting, and planning how you will use Teacher Time practices in your own setting. This month's Viewer Guide is full to the brim of reflections, printable resources, and information. OK, I think that's all for logistic scale. Let's get started.

Gail: Yes, let's get started. I love that Viewer’s Guide, so make sure to get that Viewer’s Guide. Now again, if you've joined us before, you know that we are very excited to be focusing this entire season of Teacher Time on supporting young children's self-regulation and learning. Supporting self-regulation and learning is also referred to as “approaches to learning,” and sometimes you might hear us use the term “executive function.” But you know, approaches to learning is one of the domains in the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, or as we call it, ELOF . So far this season, we've focused on emotional, behavioral, and cognitive self-regulation skills in some of our previous episodes. You can always find those on demand on Push Play by the way, and today we are focusing on initiative and curiosity. I love the picture of that child because they look like they're taking a lot of initiative and looking very curiously at that water meter.

Maria: Yes. Let's dive a little deeper and learn about the initiative and curiosity ELOF goals for infants and toddlers. This subdomain is made up of two goals. The goal that we will focus on today is the second one, the initiative and curiosity goal, the one that says, “Child shows interest in and curiosity about objects, materials, or events.” But don't worry, we'll also touch base on that first goal on how we can support children's emerging initiative and independence in our basic section later on.

Gail: Absolutely. Now we are going to play the game Jeopardy. The answer is … Now get your fingers ready because we want you to type things into the Q&A. Find the Q&A box there. Here it is: The answer is “It supports infants in learning about cause and effect. It's as important as intelligence in student achievement. It's as important as persistence in student achievement. It leads to better relationships. People with more of it have greater life satisfaction. It helps us live longer. It predicts leadership ability.” What do you think it is? Put that in the Q&A box. We're already starting to see some things coming in. We're seeing some really great answers. Now remember, we're playing Jeopardy, so you put it in the form of a question here. And I know we're building some interest here or otherwise known as … Here it is the answer is, or the question is, what is curiosity? So many people already had that, but we saw some other great answers as well. But we're going to focus on curiosity because that is great. Decades of research have demonstrated that curiosity is related to so many positive life outcomes.

I didn't even realize that Maria. I did a lot of research as we were – I knew we were going to be talking about initiative and curiosity – I did a lot of reading, a lot of research into what we know about curiosity. I had no idea that it has been connected to so many of those positive life outcomes. And curiosity … I know, isn't it? It's fascinating.

Maria: It makes sense, though. Once you research and you learn, it's like, "Oh, yep, it makes sense.” And what you see in the classroom, it makes sense.

Gail: Right, so much is related to curiosity. And what's great about curiosity is that it can happen anywhere and everywhere. It's just always so fascinating to see that what we can teach young children in those early years, like really impacts things long term. Like, that list of things, who wouldn't want that list of things that we just covered? And you all, our Teacher Time viewership, you get to be a part every day of building this foundation for children's lifelong learning success, and a lot of that has to do with building some curiosity.

Maria: And can I just say, this picture is amazing. Look at the – look at his eyes. He's just wide eyed, looking at that – what looks like maybe a mirror, I believe that's a mirror – and then trying to reach at it. It's showing – it's like a great reflection of that initiative that he's showing and that curiosity about, “I want to look at myself. I want to explore this further.”

Gail: And you can see, like, how developmental domains are connected right there too, right? So curious, you can see like some motor movement that's happening because he's curious and he wants to move closer. Here you already see this connection between approaches to learning and motor development. It's very, very exciting. My guess is that there's also some talking to the cute baby in the mirror too. We see like language. We can go on and on, we got to get back into our script. We're so excited about this.

All right, now as we've been doing all season long with Teacher Time, we've really been, first, turning our attention to ourselves with the topics. We're curious to know about what sparks your curiosity? How do you keep that fuel, that passion, that like fire lit for learning yourself? How do you keep yourself curious? Put those responses, what you do to keep yourself curious and always learning in the Q&A. We're looking at these responses. We know that our Q&A support team are pushing some of these out for everyone to see too. I see some people talk about listening to podcasts. That's one thing I do.

Maria: And that's so popular.

Gail: I love that because I'm always learning something that maybe is outside of my work that is interesting to me. Taking classes.

Maria: Yeah, talking to colleagues.

Gail: Yes, reading the paper. I mean, if anyone gets a paper anymore, but, like, reading probably the digital paper.

Maria: Right, digital journal.

Gail: Spending time in nature, that is – that's so interesting. We're going to talk about that later on. Yeah. Oh, watching documentaries. OK. What a great list, and that's so great because we know that curious teachers can really help support and develop curious children. Well done, keeping yourself curious.

Maria: Especially when you're modeling it in the classroom in front of them, that's really powerful. All right. Why is initiative and curiosity important? We're so glad to hear about so many ways that you're keeping yourself curious, because what you said, Gail, curious adults help foster curiosity in children. I've seen that firsthand in the classroom. And curiosity is very important for young children. Why? Because curiosity helps children be more observant and to think about things, and then try to figure them out, and you can see those facial expressions once they're trying to figure them out. Curiosity helps infants and toddlers discover, they can make things happen, and have an impact in the world. And just like you said before, Gail, curiosity also supports language development. When infants and toddlers explore, you'll hear some different sounds that they make. Some babies make higher pitch sound when they're really excited about something curious about something and want to attract that attention from you. And sometimes you may see raised eyebrows or a focus gaze. It's really cool to see their reaction when they're curious about anything around them, because that's what they're doing, they're exploring their whole space.

Gail: That's great. Now, we are so excited to learn about the curious types and find out what curious type you are. We're going to take a closer look at this. We promise we're not going to be spending all of our time on these things, we're going to get back to young children. But we wanted to show you how developmental scientists regard curiosity. I find this kind of interesting. Curiosity can be divided into what is called state and trait curiosity. Think about that, state and trait curiosity. State curiosity, the stuff that you see up there in the blue, is like a – it's like a spontaneous and short-term kind of curiosity, right? Like I'm in a curious state right now. The kind of curiosity is usually triggered by something outside of us. Something catches our interest. It provides little spark or some initiative. I want to explore the environment, an idea, or a topic.

And developmental psychologists divide this even further into what they call exploratory state curiosity and specific type. And we're not going to do any kind of quiz here, you don't have to keep all that in mind, but just to kind of think about like how this shows up for you. Exploratory curiosity is really just this – it's like a momentary impulse to learn, and it's something that, like I think about this as – this probably like is too limiting – but I think about this as kind of like the tabloid curiosity. Like when I'm waiting in line at the drugstore, at the supermarket, and I see a magazine and I'm like – and something on the front cover piques my interest. I'm curious to find out about someone's relationship or blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, those kinds of things that seems so silly, but perhaps other people have felt the same way. You can make me feel better by typing that in if you have. But it also might be that you are in a restaurant and you're overhearing a conversation, and you're so curious to hear more. That's this like, “I'm in a curious state right now. Something piqued my interest, and I just want to explore it a little bit more, listen a little bit more, turn a couple more pages and learn a little bit more.”

The other type of state curiosity is this idea of specific or informational curiosity. And that really is a drive to understand something more deeply. And this is, I don't know if this happens to anybody else, but like, you just, you maybe see something or you learn something and you just want to learn a lot more about it. You almost want to like, kind of master that content. And I have this example I was in Austin, Texas a couple weeks ago. Shout out to all of our Austin Texas viewers if you're there, such a lovely place to be. And I was there for a conference, and I walked under the Congress Bridge, and if you've been to Austin or, certainly, if you live there, you know that there's a lot of signs you start seeing about bats and like how to handle bats. And that got me so curious, what is it about these bats? You learn that there's like, like tens of thousands of that actually live under this Congress Bridge during that summer months.

Anyways, I got so curious about bats migrating patterns and bats, like baby bats, what happens, all these things. That's just a really great example of specific state curiosity. I just wanted to learn so much more and I couldn't like fill my brain enough about bats, and then I got to where I felt like I was satiated, and it was done. That's this kind of like state curiosity, it's kind of short term it can be just fleeting exploratory, or it can be like specific, and I really learn and learn and learn a lot more. Whereas trait curiosity is on the other hand, trait curiosity, down in the green, is about being a curious person. You have inhabited this earth as a curious person, you have a hungry mind where you're always excited to learn more about many things. Trait curiosity can, you know, they also think about different types here, intellectual curiosity, which is this joyous exploration of all kinds of topics. It's about social curiosity, like some of us might be like socially curious people, we just want to know people, we want to know everything about them, we want to know about their families, we want to know about their backgrounds. That's social curiosity. There's problem solving, people that are always like, wow, there's got to be a different way that we can do X, Y, or Z. I'm always trying to solve a problem. That's this trait curiosity. There are those that are just really have a high tolerance for ambiguity to like, I'm just exploring but there is no known answer, but I'm OK with that, I like really want to kind of hold have multiple ideas in my mind. And then there's this idea of thrill seeking, being open to new novel thrilling experiences, people that are real adventures. Going out and trying out new places, new – trying new cuisine, that kind of – that "I'm just curious to know all about that.” That's trait curiosity. And it sounds like, when we when we talk about state and trait, sometimes it makes it sound like we're talking about kind of nurturant in nature, that like trait is something maybe you're born with or without. But researchers, and they've been exploring this for decades and decades, researchers really only think that about 20% of that trait curiosity, that like being a curious person, actually comes from our genes, comes from nature. The rest of it, which is a whole lot more, is either fostered or squashed by the environment children live in. That's huge, that means we have so much to do with helping to keep those hungry minds hungry, to keep people curious, to keep our infants and toddlers so curious about their environments. We know that what we do is so important, and now you know, it's even more important. Research shows that babies learn more when they have an attentive adult present, helping keep them curious. And we're going to talk about that a lot today, but first, we're going to take a look at some curiosity in action. I think we've, hopefully we've boosted people's curiosity about being here.

Maria: I think we did. Let's watch this video and you can note in the Q&A, what the child is doing, how they demonstrate their curiosity. Make sure you're watching and sharing your thoughts with us in the Q&A. I love that video. Did you all see how interested and focused this child is? I see some answers in the Q&A coming in right now. Yeah, he is curious about how the containers are fitting together, and the sound Yeah, the sound, possibly the sound that it makes, and how, he took initiative to act on these materials. Just grab materials and see what to do with it and try to figure out what ways you can use it. That's the beauty of open-ended materials, that's the beauty of using those. All right, let's watch another example. I love videos. Let's watch another example of curiosity in action. How does this child demonstrate their curiosity? Go ahead and get ready to enter your thoughts in the Q&A as soon as you start watching this video.

[Video begins]

Teacher: Oh, my goodness!

Teacher 2: Oh, got it!

Teacher: They go to Jagtar! Yay! Down, down, down. Yay!

Teacher 2: Green ball! You got a green ball now. You got another ball?

Teacher: Oh, pulled it closer, that's a good idea. Two balls, one for each hand.

Girl: Whoa!

Teacher: Oh, once it goes, it tends to go down the hill. Uh-oh, what happens? [Gasps] Yay! One helped the other one.

[Video ends]

Maria: I love it. They love ramps. I know – My son is a big fan of ramps and cars and balls and seeing where they go, and I noticed this teacher fostering curiosity, and I noticed some of you said in the Q&A that she had such a encouraging tone, such a warm affect, and that definitely makes them feel more comfortable to just keep exploring and keep sharing those wonderings with their teachers. She also gave immediate feedback to the child, which is so important. As we've known from research, feedback is never as relevant as when you give it in the moment in real time. I know sometimes it's hard because of scheduling, but we try our best to provide it right when it's happening. And yeah, I saw a lot of you notice she was asking questions and commenting on what the child was doing. We know that when adults are close and present, responsive, just like in this video, and adding language for the child and encouraging the child's curiosity, that's also the language development piece, which is so important. This child was engaged in trial and error, sending ball after ball down the ramp, seeing where it was going to land, and curious to observe how the ramp works. And you could take it further and move the ramp around and see where it takes the balls then. I love ramps, I just think it's such a good activity for pre-engineering and STEM skills. Oh, I love it.

Gail: Absolutely. Those are great videos and I know we've got a few more throughout our episodes, so I'm so excited about that. I too, like the ramps, they're always so much fun to do, and the endless, a great open-ended activity, like you said, those open-ended activities so great for curiosity. I've, go ahead.

Maria: No, I totally agree, I'm a big fan of ramps.

Gail: Big fan of ramps. Here we are, ramp fan club. And now we want to get back to the – to the basics, and these are a collection of strategies that we've been highlighting in each webisode, so maybe they're familiar to you. I hope they are. They can be used in any setting interacting with infants and toddlers. The basics are teaching practices you can apply no matter what content you're trying to teach. We've talked about them and in different kind of curricula [inaudible], if you will. But you can talk about it, you can use the basics to teach math, to teach literacy, to teach social emotional skills. We just think it's always important to remember the BASICS because they're very helpful. Here is, it's a little acronym and this is what it stands for. B is for behavioral expectations in advance. A is to attend to and encourage appropriate behavior. S is to scaffold with cues and prompts. I is to increase engagement. C is to create or add challenge. And S is to provide specific feedback, something you already talked about, that was really great.

Today we're going to provide examples of how to apply the Teacher Time basics in a way that will foster young children's initiative and curiosity. We're going to start with B, the behavioral expectations in advance. Here, you can just read what's on the screen there. These are some examples of providing behavioral expectations in advance that support young children's learning. One way we can support infants and toddlers is engaging them fully in activities, routines, everyday routines, and experiences to let them know ahead of time what is going to happen. This lets them know what to expect and so that they aren't surprised by what's coming, but it also help them to anticipate the next step and join in and work together. Here, you see some of those examples. We're going to paint this morning. I have everything ready you see. Now we need to put on your schmuck, and your arm goes right in this hole. Really providing kind of the expectations of what is going to happen. The next one, it looks like you need a diaper change. You were so focused on your book. I'll get the changing table already and then come back to get you. Giving behavioral expectations in advance. "And let's wash our hands before lunch. I'm going to turn the water on and then you put your hands under the water.”

Here you see, when it's infants and toddlers it's really a lot also about explaining what the adult will be doing in advance, right? That is one part of what that looks like. Now, behavioral expectations in advance also looks like talking with an infant about what's happening during a diaper change. We see a beautiful picture of that happening on the left. This really supports them and being a part of the process. Definitely great for language learning, but also it looks like the child's reaching out for the seek in this other picture during handwashing, that picture on the right, because the child has learned what it is to expect during handwashing time, so by providing those expectations in advance, keeping that consistent really helps develop a child's initiative, because we're talking about initiative and curiosity, initiative and independence since they're learning about the steps in a process or a routine. Again, what we want to kind of emphasize here is that behavioral expectations, what's happening or what's going to happen is told in advance, and what the expectations are for the child is in advance, right? I'm going to turn the sink on and you're going to put your hands under the sink to wash them.

Maria: That's right. We're moving on to the A in BASICS for attend and encourage appropriate behavior. And just like everything is really important here that we're discussing, but it turns out this is extremely important in fostering young children's curiosity. When children are exploring or engaging in independent play trial and error, like we saw in one of the videos, and acting on their curiosity in other ways, teachers can take a step back and just observe, let the child work through their thinking process, but if you see the child pause, you can comment on what they're doing and learning. Provide those encouraging words that you see on the screen, like it looks like you're really trying to figure out how to get your toes to your mouth. I wonder what they will taste like or what they'll feel like in your mouth.

When we take a moment to acknowledge out loud – I love those think alouds – what a child is doing, it lets them know that we see them and they're important to us, and so is what they're doing. And another way to support curiosity, independence, and initiative is to praise the process, not the product. There's so much that goes in the process to get to that goal that we, so there's so much treasure there. You could say something like, you are really thinking, when you see a child trying to figure out a problem or a different way to approach something. Like we mentioned earlier, more learning happens when the adult is there responsive, attentive, present to what the child is doing, and it sends them that powerful message of support and encouragement, and that's everything to motivate any child to explore further and be more curious. And remember to smile. Nonverbal encouragement is just as important as what we say.

Let's watch a video of a teacher supporting a child's curiosity with encouragement. And as we watch it, make sure to use that Q&A and write any thoughts or any questions you may have, but you can also use the viewers guide and just think about what the teacher is saying, write it down, maybe you want to use it in your classroom, and think about those encouraging words that she's using.

Teacher: All right, Cam, you sat in the chair! Yay! You sat in the chair all by yourself!

Maria: I love it. Oh! Notice the first thing I read in the Q&A, and I also noticed, is that she didn't do, "Good job, you sat in the chair," or just, "Good job," or "Great, you did it.” But she was more specific, and she was – she was celebrating the child and she was saying specifically, "You sat in the chair.” I could hear that encouragement, that specificity in her feedback, excitement in her voice. I also saw, used a warm tone, that's right. Yeah, and lots more specific comments, less general comments. You can, you notice when they see that you're so specific and you see through them and what they did, they opened their eyes like, "Whoa, yes, that's exactly what I did. Yes, I did it!” Instead of that general good job that really is – it doesn't really connect as much with what they just managed to do, all on their own, independently. And yeah, let the child take initiative in her exploration, she gave her space to explore, to figure it out on her own, she didn't intervene. And the child was celebrating too at the end of it. The child was so happy. That child clearly gets a sense that being curious and experimenting with that physical movement that she was doing is OK, and she's going to try it again in other contexts, in other things, she's going to get those milestones because she's so comfortable in her setting.

Gail: So great. And I want to just reiterate something you said, Maria, about the smiling. Remember to smile. There actually was this really fascinating study that I read about what created more curious classrooms? Now, that research was done with older children, but still, what was so fascinating to me is that the difference between classrooms where children felt like they could take initiative and be curious, and those that didn't feel that way, the major difference was the amount of smiling that the teacher did. That's why we can't underestimate how important it is to be smiling. And sometimes I think when I was teaching, it really helped to have somebody observed me or to like videotape myself and rewatch it, because maybe there were some moments where I was like, "Oh, my gosh, I look like I'm like upset, but I wasn't. I must have just been concentrating or thinking about something.” But it's something that can kind of, like help you or, like – I had a teaching partner once that also was like not always the most smiley-est, but she really meant to be, so we put up some cues around the room so that she would remember to like, “Oh yeah, I should be smiling.” I have to just like reinforce that.

All right, but let's talk about scaffolding. A very important part of helping a child learn is providing them with scaffolding. Now scaffolding is a term that we use that really just means it's providing just the right amount of assistance to help them reach the next level, right? It's like, it's just like a little support, it's temporary, it's there just to make sure that they're safe and getting to the next level of their learning, and then you don't need it anymore. Scaffolding children's curiosity can include the adult modeling, wondering aloud, for example, saying, I wonder why? Like that's such a powerful way to talk about it. My cat agrees, if you heard her. You can use questions to prompt thinking, you can use your questions, not to get a correct answer, that's actually not what we want. We want those questions that are really open ended that really prompt thinking. For example, you can say, I'm so curious about what is happening. Why does the water stay in this bucket, but not in this one? What do you think the difference is? Really powerful questions that prompts that thinking. And you can see that scaffolding is for, that scuffling for children to think more deeply, it's not necessarily to arrive at the right answer, right? What we're trying to do is ask questions that get them to just think more. And it's important with infants and toddlers to pause after you ask a question, to wait until you think you've waited long enough, and then wait a little bit more for them to respond in some way. You can look for verbal or nonverbal responses, and acknowledge their response. You can also scaffold curiosity by pointing out changes in patterns throughout the day and comment on what is the same and what is different. Here's another place where we are leaning on research because research suggests that when adults encouraged children's natural tendency to notice differences, they let children know that it's OK to make observations around the world. And this relates to children's later ability to use the scientific method, that cycle of inquiry and scientific reasoning. Scaffolding turns out is pretty important. And now we're going to watch a video of a teacher who is supporting curiosity by scaffolding. What you just learned about scaffolding and what you already know about scaffolding, write down your observations in the viewers guide about the behaviors you see the teacher using.

Teacher: Whoa. Does that feel different? Does it feel different now?

[Girls shouting "Look!"]

Teacher: Whoa! Look at that. See, look at the difference. Look. This sand can go right through my fingers, but this sand can't. It's clumpy.

Girl: It's clumpy.

Teacher: Ew! No, thank you. Do you want more?

Girl 2: No.

Teacher: All right.

Gail: Oh my gosh. I love that. I love the "Whoa!” Like that teacher was really exaggerating that, like, "Whoa," like, "Wow, that's so cool.” What did other people notice? Oh, yep, asked questions about the difference in the sand and talked about what was different, that, "Clumpy, this one can run through my hands, this one can't.” Definitely had a warm tone of voice. Encouraged the child who asked for more. Very responsive, right? Wanted more of the water to squirt on it because that's what was making it a clumpy there. And we saw a nice little redirect too, right? When the child was going for the water bottle and it was like a redirective, "No, thank you.” Well, definitely the children are very engaged and seemed excited to explore, that could have gone on for many more minutes for sure. And they were really curious about the changes in the sand and their – and then they took some initiative there to put some more water in it.

Maria: That's right. The I is for increase active engagement, and another way we can support curiosity is to do just that, increase the children's active engagement. Active engagement is a very important strategy to support curiosity. One strategy to increase active engagement and curiosities to provide diverse experiences. Babies, for example, spend 1/5 of their waking hours in focus gazing, just looking and taking everything in, just curious about everything, exploring, you know, they explore through their senses and that visual. Just open wide, those eyes opened wide, I can just picture it in my head. Another way is to set up the environment with new experiences and materials. Maybe some children will have a sensory, you know, some sensory differences that you could say, well, he, or she, or they, don't like to touch sand. This is where that diverse experience comes into play and you're respecting that child's needs and providing diverse experiences and activities that can still get them to foster that initiative, independence, curiosity. Setup different experiences, different materials, lay on your tummy to get a toddler's perspective or a babies perspective, are a toddler, or go down to toddler height and look around the room to see what items you can put at their height, at their level, so that they can show that initiative. Crawl over there, walk over there and get them on their own, show that initiative, show that independence. Moving those materials a little bit lower.

And try setting up different experiences for the children, like Play-Doh, tools that are on the table, bringing things from outside, pinecones, leaves, go with different seasons, if you have some different seasons. Florida doesn't have a lot of different seasons, but we certainly have some differences and some leaves do fall from the trees at some point in the year. Or bring new books, rotate the toys that you're using. It's always a good thing to give new things out to explore and keep that rotating going, based on what you know your children like and love and would like to explore further. Another strategy is to follow a child's lead, that is super important, and sometimes that diverts us from our plans, and sometimes that's even more, that's even more of a treasure, of something that can, we can get more out of them if we just follow their lead, and they can get so much more language and learning because they are showing initiative on what they want to do. Supporting that initiative and independence by setting up that environment so that infants and toddlers can explore those materials on their own, create some open baskets of containers on the floor, put in some toys, but also some other things around there that you can find around the house or you can, maybe some things that are reflective of their culture that you can put in those containers too, bring in those important materials so that they can see themselves represented as well and explore those further. Observe also how a child plays with those materials.

Wait before jumping in just like we said, just take a step back and observe, and show them, if you see that that they've done whatever they need to do or pause during their exploration, you can jump in and show them how to play with it or what the material is used for. Follow the child's lead and let them show you the endless possibilities of ways to explore a material, because you will be blown away by the things they can do with random objects and toys. And when it's time to transition, when possible, I know it's not always possible, wait for the child to pause in their play. If it's time for the child to get a diaper change or have a bottle, try putting the materials they were playing with up so they can use it again, after the care routine is over. You may ask, you may say something like, “I'm going to put the book right here, so that when we are done changing your diaper, you can look at it again. I know you weren't done. I can tell you weren't done.”

Now, we are going to watch a video of a teacher supporting a child's curiosity by providing that new experience. Again, use that Viewers Guide, write about your thoughts or behaviors that you see the teacher use that increase the children's engagement.

Teacher: Can we make a discovery? Shall we check and see what's inside the avocado? Huh? What do you think is in here? What do you think is inside? Inside the avocado? Andrew, are you working on getting inside the avocado? Look, Andrew's opening up his avocado. Let me see, friends. Oh. You are experimenting with rolling your avocado because it's so round. You too, Mia? You're going to roll it around the table?

Gail: I love – That's one of my favorite videos.

Maria: I love that avocado video. Let's see what's coming up in my Q&A. Oh yeah, she was definitely asking questions. Her tone was very warm as well, yes. And they were, she let the children explore freely. And she was kind of doing like a sportscaster thing, where she's just narrating what the children are doing, "Oh, you're rolling it because it's circular and it rolls. I love that, let's roll.” And she was asking those questions, what do you think is inside the avocado? Yeah. And the children seemed very interested in the avocados and all its properties. I would be interested too.

Gail: So great. Like, it makes me want to have some guacamole later on, and some of those looked like they were heading to maybe be some smashed avocados pretty soon. I love that she said, are you, I think she says something like, do you want to make a discovery or are you ready to make a discovery? What a great, like, language to set up curiosity, and she used that word experimenting? I love it so much. OK, now, I don't know about you, Maria, were you big into messy play when you were an infant toddler teacher or were you like, I don't want to get messy?

Maria: I did it, but I wasn't really big on it. It was outside of my comfort zone, but I did do it.

Gail: OK, well, this is kind of exciting to know. I mean, messy play is a really great way to increase active engagement, especially in this like idea of initiative and curiosity, but messy play is really about exploring and playing and experimenting. It doesn't actually necessarily need to be messy, like getting things on you, because like for some, that's like really what it's about. But the idea of messy play is really it's about making discoveries, just like that teacher was saying, that brilliant teacher, who wants to make a discovery? And you can make a discovery like by experimenting with puzzle pieces, like this child who was playing with puzzle pieces is engaging in some kind of form of messy play. She was able to explore the puzzle pieces in multiple areas of the environment, instead of just being limited to the puzzle boards, was kind of like moving these puzzle pieces around. They were able to mess about with the pieces and discover, you know, multiple possibilities of how to use them. And many, messy play, not many play, messy play is really beneficial because it harnesses children's, they're spontaneous exploration, to help them learn.

Children develop curiosity, initiative, focus, and persistence, all through this, like, open-ended, messy play. And if you want to know more about it, check out the research on the "Go Podcast: The Benefits of Messy Play for Infants and Toddlers," and we have that in the resources for you. Now, another way to increase active engagement is uninterrupted exploration time. It's just another great way to support children's curiosity, their independence, their initiative, that gives them this, you know, uninterrupted time to explore. And if you notice that children are really engaged when possible, if you can be flexible but still predictable in your schedule, but if you can be a little bit flexible to encourage, to allow that extra exploration time to accommodate their curiosity, it's really encouraged. Now, let's watch a video of uninterrupted messy play in action. And as you're watching, let us know in the Q&A how this child's curiosity is being supported.

[Women speaking indistinctly]

It sounds like the sand is mic'd. It's like really great sand sound effects there. But what are people saying here? People are noticing that the environment is set up with multiple tools. That's – What an astute observation, right? That there's multiple things that that child can explore with different ways to scrape, different ways to move it through the sand, and you could tell that that child was very curious about how these different tools were going to kind of move the sand differently around. And again, you could see, she kind of wiped her hands off, but she doesn't have to get super messy in messy play, but the idea of messy play is allowing children to mess around with things and explore them in many, many ways. Now, one go to place for building curiosity, and we actually even had someone talk about this in the opening about how they kept themselves curious by going out in nature, and that is the same for young children. Going out in nature is a really great way to foster children's natural curiosity. There's so many great ways that it just, you can create that sense of awe and wonder in the outdoors. We're going to now watch a video and notice in the Q&A how children are responding in this outdoor active engagement.

Teacher: What's in the spider web?

Boy: Don't touch it.

Teacher: Don't touch it? OK, don't touch it.

Boy: There's a spider in there.

Teacher: Is there a spider? I don't see it. Do you see it? Do you see it?

Boy 2: Maybe it's in the cave.

Teacher: Maybe it's way down there? Maybe, because that's a big web. That's a big web.

Teacher: Maybe. Somebody put ...

Teacher 2: Do you want to put it on the fence?

Teacher: He doesn't want it. Are you sure you don't want your coat? Do you see it? Where is it?

Marco: Right there, in there.

Teacher: Oh! Look! Did you guys notice, Marco said there's a tiny, little web right up here. Did you guys see that? There's a big web and a tiny, teeny, tiny, little web right there. Do you see it?

Teacher: Big and little. Oops, I touched it. There's big, a big web.

[Boy speaking indistinctly]

Gail: Oh, my gosh. People are writing some things, but you know, just initial reactions, and I can see people are writing joy in there, right? Like just, like the children are so joyous and curious about the spider web. That teacher is so intent, just right there with them matching their curious affect and excitement. And someone said, following the children's lead, definitely saw, following the children's lead, checking out the spider web, and acknowledging children's comments and ideas, lots of language building happening there. Pointing out what the teachers noticing. It's really great.

Maria: I would totally bank on that moment and then just bring in some books about spiders and spider webs, show them more pictures, get that language going since they're so already curious about spiders. All right, we are at C for create or add a challenge. We can create or add challenge by asking those open-ended questions, which we have touched upon many times so far. Those wonderings, those open-ended whys and hows. Think of these as higher order questions that really challenged children to think more deeply about their observations and experiences, like what the child playing with the sand or the children that were looking at the spider web, think about questions you could ask. I wonder what would happen if, or let's find out, where would the spider go? Or where does it live? Or are there more spider webs? Or how do they make the spider webs? Could we do this this way? Or why do you think?

And there's so many moments where we can ask these questions in so many ways and so many, with books and during free play, during that active engagement period, during nature walks, so many powerful moments where we can use these open-ended questions. And remember to pause long enough to give the child time to respond, because these are questions that make them think, they take time to process. It might feel different asking such big questions to infants and toddlers, but if asking high order questions is part of your daily routine, then they'll learn to expect these types of questions and anticipate them. Let's watch a teacher that shows, let's watch a video that shows the teacher asking questions to get children to think, and she creates this challenge through that questioning. In the Q&A, make sure to write down your observations, write down what you notice about the kinds of questions the adult in the video is asking, and share it with us.

Teacher: Hey, how come those rocks aren't going through?

Boy: This is the powerful one.

Teacher: That's the powerful one? It looks like they are not going through the holes. What makes it powerful? And Sullivan wants to check it out. What do you think makes those rocks so powerful?

Boy: Right there. This is the powerful one.

Teacher: Oh, yeah. I notice that one's bigger than the others. I wonder if that's why it can't fit through the hole.

Maria: Great video. So many, so many, so many great questions that she asked, so many open-ended questions. I'm noticing some of you saying, adult is asking open-ended questions. "How come those rocks aren't going through?” Oh, yeah. "I like that she gave him wait time to respond," so she paused and gave them time to think. And I noticed too that she said kind of like a little – she set up a little scaffold, because she did say before, "I noticed these rocks aren't going through," to kind of set that groundwork for, "How come these rocks aren't going through?” Yeah, I see, "What makes it powerful?” She asked that open-ended question, "What makes it powerful?”

So many different answers can come from these questions, and that's the beauty of it. I wonder why they don't fit through the hole? Yes. Yeah, these are excellent questions and a great example of that, of creating that challenge. We can also challenge and support a child's curiosity by bringing nature, like Gail said, into the indoors, and nature can spark adult and children's curiosity, and bringing it indoors can help children explore the natural materials deeper than just going through a walk, we can bring them indoors, keep exploring them, collect them outside, bring them in, or think differently about how to use these, the indoor materials. Some possible ideas are to place leaves on the light table, if you have a light table, that's always a great idea. If you don't, that's also cool. I used to remember, I used to use a white paper and put a leaf below the white paper and then kind of trace it over and we could explore the patterns of each leaves, and we could see the differences in similarities between our traces, and it's really simple enough that they don't have to have exact fine motor, they can just scribble, like they usually do at this age, and they'll get that nice trace of the leaf, and also some sensory input too. Some other possible ideas is to put snow in a sensory table, if you live anywhere that's cold and snowy, and have a collection of pinecones or different gourds or squash, so they can get all that. They touch it, they could break it and see what's inside. What's that, the video that the teacher said, What's that Discovery? What are we discovering? Right? Those are all great questions.

Gail: So great. I'm going to go kind of quickly. I'm so curious about curiosity I've been taking a lot of time. Curious teachers help support curious children. I think we've said that and it's just incredibly true. When we you can create or add challenge is to challenge yourself as an educator, so get curious about what the infants and toddlers in your care or learning. Take pictures, videos, notes of what children are learning. Try focusing on something that's just intriguing to you that you're really excited about or interested in. Narrow your observation to one topic, like how children play with materials at the water table, as an example that's a picture that's shown. And once you've gathered your documentation and information about what the children are learning, ask yourself, how, what, and why questions about your own observations. Take some time to process the information you gathered and connect with co-teachers or colleagues about it and use the information to create new experiences for infants and toddlers.

Maria: And finally, we're at the second S in BASICS is to provide specific feedback, which we've talked about. In this slide, you can go ahead and read it, a few different, it provides a few different ways to provide that specific feedback, while encouraging curiosity. Be sure to name and acknowledge children's curiosity, their independence, their initiative. And when you see it happening, let the child know that you see them, again, acknowledge what the child is doing, let them know that you see them, they're important, and what they're doing is important. Offer wait time, like we said before, like we've mentioned before, wait time, until you can't wait anymore, because obviously we have a schedule to follow. And then maybe continue the conversation, give the child time to respond in whichever way they choose and are able to. And finally, when the child expresses curiosity before providing, when a child expresses curiosity, before providing what you think, ask them what they think. That always works wonders. Let's keep going. And there you have it, the BASICS.

Gail: We're going to jump right into the next section because we're so short on time, so we're just going to, we're going to jump right in and try and get a few more little things in. Thanks, people, for hanging with us a little bit longer. And now, this is our segment Small Changes with a Big Impact, and here we highlight curriculum modifications or adaptations that can help a child who needs a little more assistance to fully participate in the learning or activity. And the one that we want to talk about is integrating child preference.

This is such an easy one, I love this one. It's really about watching a child and noticing what's really interesting to them, what they have a preference for – maybe it's a certain color or a shape, a toy, a movement, a person – and then integrating that preference into multiple things. For example, maybe the child really loves a red ball and they're kind of like that's all they would play with if you let them play with that red ball. And while we want to extend that curiosity about the red ball, maybe we can use that red ball in multiple ways. We can put that red ball into different learning centers, we could put the red ball on a ramp, so it did something different. We could have the red ball roll through paint so that they got maybe interested in art. It's a great way to integrate a child's preference, and we're going to put some more information about that over in MyPeers, so you can see that over there. And now we also want to spend a little bit of time talking about focusing on equity and, or a lot of time but we're just have a little bit of time left, and in this segment we lift up the value of equity and consider how we can make our teaching practices more equitable.

And as we've heard throughout our webisode today, pointing out similarities and differences is one way to really encourage a child's curiosity. And in today's focus on equity, we want to talk about the importance of representation and talking about it in the learning environment. Research suggests that as early as six months, babies notice race-based differences, and infants actually show preferences towards the race of their caregivers. And between the ages of two and four, children start to internalize and play with racial biases. Children start noticing race and internalizing biases in the infant and toddler years, so it's critical that the learning environment show many different cultures in positive ways, and the educator talk about the similarities and differences. And there's some resources in your Viewers Guide.

Maria: Yeah, and just to piggyback and add more on what you're saying, it's, do we have mirrors in your classroom where children see themselves represented? And also, do you have anything that they can explore further other cultures, so you have windows, they can see beyond themselves. Those are all very important things to keep in mind. And the most important part about providing windows and mirrors in the classroom is talking about them. Just like Gail said, pointing out differences and similarities is one way to foster curiosity in children. Being curious about cultures is a great thing and can help children see race and cultural differences with wonder, instead of bias. Get in the habit of talking about race and cultural differences, just as much as you would talk about differences in the weather. Talking about differences will help infants and toddlers, will give them the words to describe how people are the same and how they're different.

And one way you could also do this is to have some laminated pictures of other families, families that are represented in your classroom, but also people outside of the childcare community. And just remember, we know this from research, differences do not create bias. Children learn prejudice, from prejudice, not from learning about human diversity. Let that sink in a little bit and think about that, because I think that's powerful. Let's take a minute to reflect. In your Viewers Guide, reflect on your own observations from this activity. Think about what you might do to ensure you are providing those windows and mirrors in their environment and talking about them. Think about how you would respond to a child who notices a race or a cultural difference. Challenge yourself to take a thoughtful pause and engage in conversation with the child. And remember, modeling curiosity fosters children's curiosity as well. We want to make sure to keep doing that. If you don't know the answer, it is OK, model you're wondering out loud with a child and ask them what they think, and you can always do research on your own, which is something that sparks my curiosity too, and that's what drives me. If you're comfortable, go ahead and share your ideas in the Q&A. And we will move it along as we continue on the bookcase.

Gail: Yes, we're going to talk about the bookcase really quickly and we are going to make sure to capture things and move them over to MyPeers too. I know we're rushing through this last part. We don't mean to, we just ran out of time. We wish we had more time for Teacher Time, but we'll pick the conversation up in MyPeers. We just have a few books that are really spectacular, we want to highlight on the bookcase, and these are also in your viewers guide. Whose Toes Are Those? Just getting children curious about whose toes are they seeing? That is very curious. "Peekaboo Morning" by Rachel Isadora. I love this one, it's about a child peeking and there's little cues about what she's picking at that you can see. Great one to build curiosity.

This is a beautiful book. This was actually an Ezra Jack Keats honor book, this is called Windows. And throughout this book there's lots of different windows and you can get curious about peeking in, what's in each of those windows. And then we always like to build a case for a book, and case means that we're picking books really intentionally to think about the connection to the early learning objective we want to continue to expand upon, that we want to find the advanced vocabulary that we can teach children from a book, support their engagement while we're reading the book, and then extend the learning beyond the book. And really quickly we're going to make the case for as fast as we can for this incredible book called "Tracks in the Snow" by Wong Herbert Yee. This is an adorable, lovely book, I highly recommend that you get a hold of this one for your book collection. This is again called Tracks in the Snow. Beautiful, almost like color pencil drawings. I'm so curious about the illustration of it, it's just gorgeous.

And then throughout the book, it is written with just a few words on each page in a kind of rhyming texts that we love, and it's just about these tracks that a child sees in the snow and so curious about them. Again, curiosity and initiative is what we're talking about. And you could talk about, you can support children's active engagement with that by expanding their predictions on what, whose tracks they think that they are seeing in the snow. You can, clearly we've made the connection to curiosity, but you could also emphasize lots of great advanced vocabulary, like tracks, squeeze, beyond, wood chuck, peek, stamped, so many great big words that you can help build children's vocabulary. Asking children some open-ended questions, making predictions like I've talked about, is a great way to support their engagement, and then it's just begging for you to do some really cool things to extend the learning outside of the book. You could take little animal characters, toys, and make footprints in Play-Doh or through paint to guess. You can have children make some footprints with paint on the floor. Be sure – that can be very – you can slip, so make sure you're very stable when you do that. And you could also even put some tracks on the floor for children to follow and maybe make some different types of tracks that children can be curious about. In a rapid time, that was our book on the bookcase. And we just want to spend a second talking about you.

Maria: Just for a second, continuing with our theme of curiosity, we're going to talk about a strategy where curious can help you adjust negative and unhelpful thinking. Think about it as preventative medicine for your mental health. Curiosity can help us find the joy of discovery and help us question on our own negative feelings and cognitive distortions. Having that openness to experience engaging in personal growth and responding to life's unexpected twists and turns with grace and humor can make even painful experiences more bearable when we were able to say to ourselves, OK, so what happened and what should I learn from that? What might I be telling myself that's not only untrue, but also contributing to my unhappiness? Is this belief true? And many of the other questions that you see in the slide deck right here. What is the evidence for this belief? Does this belief help me feel the way you want? Ask yourself these questions, take a minute for your own mental health and promote, just turn that negative thought into something productive.

Gail: I love that, being curious. And again, you can explore the resources in the resource guide. We want to end with Mae Jemison. Thank you for staying with us. We want to end with astronaut Mae Jemison's quote, don't let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity. It's your place in the world; it's your life. Go on and do all you can with it and make it the life you want to live. Thank you for joining us. You can see past episodes, or if you want to watch this one again, you can see it on Push Play On Demand. Our next episode will be May 5 on Creativity for Preschoolers. And then Maria will join us again on June 2 for Creativity for Infants and Toddlers. Bye everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. See you over on MyPeers. Bye.

Maria: Adios!

Infants and toddlers are deeply interested in people and objects in their environment. After all, everything is new to them! Infants show us initiative and curiosity when they listen intently to a new song, follow someone with their eye, and mouth a toy they’re grasping. As language skills emerge, toddlers start asking simple questions and experimenting to find new ways to use toys and materials. Explore how teachers and family child care providers can prepare learning environments and experiences in which they can engage in meaningful interactions with infants and toddlers that help them develop initiative and curiosity.

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: Infants and Toddlers

Audience: Teachers and Caregivers

Series: Teacher Time

Last Updated: September 26, 2023

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4 Problem-Solving Games for Kids

Problem-Solving Games for Kids

Ever watch your little one furrow their brow, puzzled over some problem? As parents, it can be hard sometimes to not step in and help them, but watching their brains work to find the solution can also be fun. Problem-solving helps your child think on their feet, play nicely with others, and tackle tricky tasks themselves. But how do we help build this skill? 

Check out these problem-solving games for kids. Help your child learn important skills while having fun!

Why are Problem-Solving Skills Key in Child Development?

Problem-solving isn’t just about finding the right piece of the puzzle or deciding which block fits; it’s a critical component of cognitive development within a child. Developing problem-solving skills allows them to become independent thinkers and navigate the world around them. This independence gives them confidence and self-reliance, which are invaluable traits as they grow up. 

Enhanced cognitive abilities will improve their memory, allow them to process information faster, and improve their decision-making skills. Many problem-solving activities require cooperation and communication with others. Through games, children learn to negotiate, collaborate, and communicate more effectively, something some adults can’t even do! 

Lastly, by tackling a variety of challenges, kids learn to think quickly and switch gears swiftly. This adaptability is priceless in our fast-paced world, helping them grow into resilient problem-solvers ready to face life’s ups and downs confidently.

Can Games Help Improve Problem-Solving Skills for Kids?

Studies show different types of problem-solving games, including board games and video games, encourage critical thinking, enhance memory, and boost mental processing speed. Playing games help children learn to make connections between ideas, use what they already know in different situations, and persevere through challenging tasks until they find a solution. Think about how many ways you try to fit one puzzle piece in, but eventually, your persistence pays off, and you snap it into place!

Below are some of the top creative problem-solving games for kids: 

• Puzzles : From simple wooden shape puzzles for toddlers to complex 1,000-piece landscapes for preschool and pre-k aged children, puzzles are the classic problem-solving game. They help children build spatial awareness and critical thinking skills. Logical puzzles like Sudoku are great for older children, where they work through the matrix to solve the number puzzle. 
• Building blocks or LEGOs : These creative problem-solving games are like puzzles but in 3D. Children use blocks or LEGOs to fit together and build a bigger picture and must overcome challenges like making sure their tower is stable or what to do when they run out of certain types of blocks or LEGO bricks. Building with blocks teaches them about shapes, patterns, and symmetry and allows them to use their imagination. Preschool-aged children can try building advanced sets and robotics, which often include following instructions to create more complex projects. 
• Board games : From the classic Guess Who? for young detectives, to chess for strategic thinkers, board games are perfect for teaching kids to think ahead, strategize, and predict others’ moves. Guess Who? teaches deductive reasoning skills as you each take turns guessing. Children learn how to use the process of elimination to solve their problems. In comparison, chess players must think through each of their moves and come up with a game plan or solution to beat their opponent. There are many creative board games for every age to help encourage problem-solving. 
• I-Spy : The perfect on-the-go game, I-Spy encourages children to use their observational skills and process of elimination to find their solution. Just choose an object you see and say, “I spy with my little eyes something that is…” and fill in with the object’s color for a clue. Then, your little one can guess the object by asking yes or no questions.

Let Lightbridge Academy Help

Early childhood education centers , like Lightbridge Academy, understand the importance of developing problem-solving skills from a young age. It’s important for kids to figure out a solution to their problems so they can be self-sufficient. What parent doesn’t love that? At Lightbridge Academy, our curriculum is about preparing little minds for big challenges. Integrating problem-solving games in our preschool and pre-k classrooms in a comprehensive STREAM (Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) education framework, we help them use logic, creativity, and critical thinking to find the correct answer. Our supportive environment encourages little ones to experiment with different answers and learn from their experiences, which is crucial in developing lifelong problem-solving skills. 

Curious to see how we do it? Why not come and see the magic yourself? Schedule a tour to learn more about what we do.

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Child cognitive development is a fascinating and complex process that entails the growth of a child’s mental abilities, including their ability to think, learn, and solve problems. This development occurs through a series of stages that can vary among individuals. As children progress through these stages, their cognitive abilities and skills are continuously shaped by a myriad of factors such as genetics, environment, and experiences. Understanding the nuances of child cognitive development is essential for parents, educators, and professionals alike, as it provides valuable insight into supporting the growth of the child’s intellect and overall well-being.

Throughout the developmental process, language and communication play a vital role in fostering a child’s cognitive abilities . As children acquire language skills, they also develop their capacity for abstract thought, reasoning, and problem-solving. It is crucial for parents and caregivers to be mindful of potential developmental delays, as early intervention can greatly benefit the child’s cognitive development. By providing stimulating environments, nurturing relationships, and embracing diverse learning opportunities, adults can actively foster healthy cognitive development in children.

Key Takeaways

• Child cognitive development involves the growth of mental abilities and occurs through various stages.
• Language and communication are significant factors in cognitive development , shaping a child’s ability for abstract thought and problem-solving.
• Early intervention and supportive environments can play a crucial role in fostering healthy cognitive development in children.

Child Cognitive Development Stages

Child cognitive development is a crucial aspect of a child’s growth and involves the progression of their thinking, learning, and problem-solving abilities. Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget developed a widely recognized theory that identifies four major stages of cognitive development in children.

Sensorimotor Stage

The Sensorimotor Stage occurs from birth to about 2 years old. During this stage, infants and newborns learn to coordinate their senses (sight, sound, touch, etc.) with their motor abilities. Their understanding of the world begins to develop through their physical interactions and experiences. Some key milestones in this stage include object permanence, which is the understanding that an object still exists even when it’s not visible, and the development of intentional actions.

Preoperational Stage

The Preoperational Stage takes place between the ages of 2 and 7 years old. In this stage, children start to think symbolically, and their language capabilities rapidly expand. They also develop the ability to use mental images, words, and gestures to represent the world around them. However, their thinking is largely egocentric, which means they struggle to see things from other people’s perspectives. During this stage, children start to engage in pretend play and begin to grasp the concept of conservation, recognizing that certain properties of objects (such as quantity or volume) remain the same even if their appearance changes.

Concrete Operational Stage

The Concrete Operational Stage occurs between the ages of 7 and 12 years old. At this stage, children’s cognitive development progresses to more logical and organized ways of thinking. They can now consider multiple aspects of a problem and better understand the relationship between cause and effect . Furthermore, children become more adept at understanding other people’s viewpoints, and they can perform basic mathematical operations and understand the principles of classification and seriation.

Formal Operational Stage

Lastly, the Formal Operational Stage typically begins around 12 years old and extends into adulthood. In this stage, children develop the capacity for abstract thinking and can consider hypothetical situations and complex reasoning. They can also perform advanced problem-solving and engage in systematic scientific inquiry. This stage allows individuals to think about abstract concepts, their own thought processes, and understand the world in deeper, more nuanced ways.

By understanding these stages of cognitive development, you can better appreciate the complex growth process that children undergo as their cognitive abilities transform and expand throughout their childhood.

Key Factors in Cognitive Development

Genetics and brain development.

Genetics play a crucial role in determining a child’s cognitive development. A child’s brain development is heavily influenced by genetic factors, which also determine their cognitive potential , abilities, and skills. It is important to understand that a child’s genes do not solely dictate their cognitive development – various environmental and experiential factors contribute to shaping their cognitive abilities as they grow and learn.

Environmental Influences

The environment in which a child grows up has a significant impact on their cognitive development. Exposure to various experiences is essential for a child to develop essential cognitive skills such as problem-solving, communication, and critical thinking. Factors that can have a negative impact on cognitive development include exposure to toxins, extreme stress, trauma, abuse, and addiction issues, such as alcoholism in the family.

Nutrition and Health

Maintaining good nutrition and health is vital for a child’s cognitive development. Adequate nutrition is essential for the proper growth and functioning of the brain . Key micronutrients that contribute to cognitive development include iron, zinc, and vitamins A, C, D, and B-complex vitamins. Additionally, a child’s overall health, including physical fitness and immunity, ensures they have the energy and resources to engage in learning activities and achieve cognitive milestones effectively .

Emotional and Social Factors

Emotional well-being and social relationships can also greatly impact a child’s cognitive development. A supportive, nurturing, and emotionally healthy environment allows children to focus on learning and building cognitive skills. Children’s emotions and stress levels can impact their ability to learn and process new information. Additionally, positive social interactions help children develop important cognitive skills such as empathy, communication, and collaboration.

In summary, cognitive development in children is influenced by various factors, including genetics, environmental influences, nutrition, health, and emotional and social factors. Considering these factors can help parents, educators, and policymakers create suitable environments and interventions for promoting optimal child development.

Language and Communication Development

Language skills and milestones.

Children’s language development is a crucial aspect of their cognitive growth. They begin to acquire language skills by listening and imitating sounds they hear from their environment. As they grow, they start to understand words and form simple sentences.

• Infants (0-12 months): Babbling, cooing, and imitating sounds are common during this stage. They can also identify their name by the end of their first year. Facial expressions play a vital role during this period, as babies learn to respond to emotions.
• Toddlers (1-3 years): They rapidly learn new words and form simple sentences. They engage more in spoken communication, constantly exploring their language environment.
• Preschoolers (3-5 years): Children expand their vocabulary, improve grammar, and begin participating in more complex conversations.

It’s essential to monitor children’s language development and inform their pediatrician if any delays or concerns arise.

Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication contributes significantly to children’s cognitive development. They learn to interpret body language, facial expressions, and gestures long before they can speak. Examples of nonverbal communication in children include:

• Eye contact: Maintaining eye contact while interacting helps children understand emotions and enhances communication.
• Gestures: Pointing, waving goodbye, or using hand signs provide alternative ways for children to communicate their needs and feelings.
• Body language: Posture, body orientation, and movement give clues about a child’s emotions and intentions.

Teaching children to understand and use nonverbal communication supports their cognitive and social development.

Parent and Caregiver Interaction

Supportive interaction from parents and caregivers plays a crucial role in children’s language and communication development. These interactions can improve children’s language skills and overall cognitive abilities . Some ways parents and caregivers can foster language development are:

• Reading together: From an early age, reading books to children enhance their vocabulary and listening skills.
• Encouraging communication: Ask open-ended questions and engage them in conversations to build their speaking skills.
• Using rich vocabulary: Expose children to a variety of words and phrases, promoting language growth and understanding.

By actively engaging in children’s language and communication development, parents and caregivers can nurture cognitive, emotional, and social growth.

Cognitive Abilities and Skills

Cognitive abilities are the mental skills that children develop as they grow. These skills are essential for learning, adapting, and thriving in modern society. In this section, we will discuss various aspects of cognitive development, including reasoning and problem-solving, attention and memory, decision-making and executive function, as well as academic and cognitive milestones.

Reasoning and Problem Solving

Reasoning is the ability to think logically and make sense of the world around us. It’s essential for a child’s cognitive development, as it enables them to understand the concept of object permanence , recognize patterns, and classify objects. Problem-solving skills involve using these reasoning abilities to find solutions to challenges they encounter in daily life .

Children develop essential skills like:

• Logical reasoning : The ability to deduce conclusions from available information.
• Perception: Understanding how objects relate to one another in their environment.
• Schemes: Organizing thoughts and experiences into mental categories.

Attention and Memory

Attention refers to a child’s ability to focus on specific tasks, objects, or information, while memory involves retaining and recalling information. These cognitive abilities play a critical role in children’s learning and academic performance . Working memory is a vital component of learning, as it allows children to hold and manipulate information in their minds while solving problems and engaging with new tasks.

• Attention: Focuses on relevant tasks and information while ignoring distractions.
• Memory: Retains and retrieves information when needed.

Decision-Making and Executive Function

Decision-making is the process of making choices among various alternatives, while executive function refers to the higher-order cognitive processes that enable children to plan, organize, and adapt in complex situations. Executive function encompasses components such as:

• Inhibition: Self-control and the ability to resist impulses.
• Cognitive flexibility: Adapting to new information or changing circumstances.
• Planning: Setting goals and devising strategies to achieve them.

Academic and Cognitive Milestones

Children’s cognitive development is closely linked to their academic achievement. As they grow, they achieve milestones in various cognitive domains that form the foundation for their future learning. Some of these milestones include:

• Language skills: Developing vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure.
• Reading and mathematics: Acquiring the ability to read and comprehend text, as well as understanding basic mathematical concepts and operations.
• Scientific thinking: Developing an understanding of cause-and-effect relationships and forming hypotheses.

Healthy cognitive development is essential for a child’s success in school and life. By understanding and supporting the development of their cognitive abilities, we can help children unlock their full potential and prepare them for a lifetime of learning and growth.

Developmental Delays and Early Intervention

Identifying developmental delays.

Developmental delays in children can be identified by monitoring their progress in reaching cognitive, linguistic, physical, and social milestones. Parents and caregivers should be aware of developmental milestones that are generally expected to be achieved by children at different ages, such as 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 18 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, and 5 years. Utilizing resources such as the “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” program can help parents and caregivers recognize signs of delay early in a child’s life.

Resources and Support for Parents

There are numerous resources available for parents and caregivers to find information on developmental milestones and to learn about potential developmental delays, including:

• Learn the Signs. Act Early : A CDC initiative that provides pdf checklists of milestones and resources for identifying delays.
• Parental support groups : Local and online communities dedicated to providing resources and fostering connections between families experiencing similar challenges.

Professional Evaluations and Intervention Strategies

If parents or caregivers suspect a developmental delay, it is crucial to consult with healthcare professionals or specialists who can conduct validated assessments of the child’s cognitive and developmental abilities. Early intervention strategies, such as the ones used in broad-based early intervention programs , have shown significant positive impacts on children with developmental delays to improve cognitive development and outcomes.

Professional evaluations may include:

• Pediatricians : Primary healthcare providers who can monitor a child’s development and recommend further assessments when needed.
• Speech and language therapists : Professionals who assist children with language and communication deficits.
• Occupational therapists : Experts in helping children develop or improve on physical and motor skills, as well as social and cognitive abilities.

Depending on the severity and nature of the delays, interventions may involve:

• Individualized support : Tailored programs or therapy sessions specifically developed for the child’s needs.
• Group sessions : Opportunities for children to learn from and interact with other children experiencing similar challenges.
• Family involvement : Parents and caregivers learning support strategies to help the child in their daily life.

Fostering Healthy Cognitive Development

Play and learning opportunities.

Encouraging play is crucial for fostering healthy cognitive development in children . Provide a variety of age-appropriate games, puzzles, and creative activities that engage their senses and stimulate curiosity. For example, introduce building blocks and math games for problem-solving skills, and crossword puzzles to improve vocabulary and reasoning abilities.

Playing with others also helps children develop social skills and better understand facial expressions and emotions. Provide opportunities for cooperative play, where kids can work together to achieve a common goal, and open-ended play with no specific rules to boost creativity.

Supportive Home Environment

A nurturing and secure home environment encourages healthy cognitive growth. Be responsive to your child’s needs and interests, involving them in everyday activities and providing positive reinforcement. Pay attention to their emotional well-being and create a space where they feel safe to ask questions and explore their surroundings.

Promoting Independence and Decision-Making

Support independence by allowing children to make decisions about their playtime, activities, and daily routines. Encourage them to take age-appropriate responsibilities and make choices that contribute to self-confidence and autonomy. Model problem-solving strategies and give them opportunities to practice these skills during play, while also guiding them when necessary.

Healthy Lifestyle Habits

Promote a well-rounded lifestyle, including:

• Sleep : Ensure children get adequate and quality sleep by establishing a consistent bedtime routine.
• Hydration : Teach the importance of staying hydrated by offering water frequently, especially during play and physical activities.
• Screen time : Limit exposure to electronic devices and promote alternative activities for toddlers and older kids.
• Physical activity : Encourage children to engage in active play and exercise to support neural development and overall health .

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the key stages of child cognitive development.

Child cognitive development can be divided into several key stages based on Piaget’s theory of cognitive development . These stages include the sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years), preoperational stage (2-7 years), concrete operational stage (7-11 years), and formal operational stage (11 years and beyond). Every stage represents a unique period of cognitive growth, marked by the development of new skills, thought processes, and understanding of the world.

What factors influence cognitive development in children?

Several factors contribute to individual differences in child cognitive development, such as genetic and environmental factors. Socioeconomic status, access to quality education, early home environment, and parental involvement all play a significant role in determining cognitive growth. In addition, children’s exposure to diverse learning experiences, adequate nutrition, and mental health also influence overall cognitive performance .

How do cognitive skills vary during early childhood?

Cognitive skills in early childhood evolve as children progress through various stages . During the sensorimotor stage, infants develop fundamental skills such as object permanence. The preoperational stage is characterized by the development of symbolic thought, language, and imaginative play. Children then enter the concrete operational stage, acquiring the ability to think logically and solve problems. Finally, in the formal operational stage, children develop abstract reasoning abilities, complex problem-solving skills and metacognitive awareness.

What are common examples of cognitive development?

Examples of cognitive development include the acquisition of language and vocabulary, the development of problem-solving skills, and the ability to engage in logical reasoning. Additionally, memory, attention, and spatial awareness are essential aspects of cognitive development. Children may demonstrate these skills through activities like puzzle-solving, reading, and mathematics.

How do cognitive development theories explain children’s learning?

Piaget’s cognitive development theory suggests that children learn through active exploration, constructing knowledge based on their experiences and interactions with the world. In contrast, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory emphasizes the role of social interaction and cultural context in learning. Both theories imply that cognitive development is a dynamic and evolving process, influenced by various environmental and psychological factors.

Why is it essential to support cognitive development in early childhood?

Supporting cognitive development in early childhood is critical because it lays a strong foundation for future academic achievement, social-emotional development, and lifelong learning. By providing children with diverse and enriching experiences, caregivers and educators can optimize cognitive growth and prepare children to face the challenges of today’s complex world. Fostering cognitive development early on helps children develop resilience, adaptability, and critical thinking skills essential for personal and professional success.

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• Healthy Habits
• Data and Statistics
• Resources for Child Development
• Positive Parenting Tips
• Keeping Children with Disabilities Safe

Positive Parenting Tips: Toddlers (1–2 years old)

• As a parent you give your children a good start in life—you nurture, protect, and guide them.
• Learn about developmental milestones, including emotional and social development, for toddlers from 1 to 2 years old.
• There are many things you can do to help your baby stay safe and healthy.

Developmental milestones

Skills such as taking a first step, smiling for the first time, and waving “bye-bye” are called developmental milestones. Most children achieve these milestones by a certain age. Children reach milestones in how they play, learn, speak, behave, and move (like crawling, walking, or jumping).

During the second year, toddlers are moving around more, exploring new objects, and are more aware of themselves and their surroundings. They tend to imitate the actions of adults and older children. During this stage, toddlers exhibit greater independence, may display defiant behavior, and can recognize themselves in pictures or a mirror. Toddlers also should be able to recognize the names of familiar people and objects, form simple phrases, and follow simple instructions.

Positive parenting tips

Following are some of the things you, as a parent, can do to help your toddler during this time:

• Ask them to find objects for you or name body parts and objects.
• Play matching games with your toddler, like shape sorting and simple puzzles.
• Encourage them to explore and try new things.
• Help to develop your toddler's language by talking with them and adding to words they start. For example, if your toddler says "baba," you can respond, "Yes, you are right―that is a bottle ."
• Encourage your child's growing independence by letting them help with dressing themselves and feeding themselves.
• Respond to wanted behaviors more than you punish unwanted behaviors (use only very brief time outs). Always tell or show your child what they should do instead.
• Encourage your toddler's curiosity and ability to recognize common objects by taking field trips together to the park or going on a bus ride.

Child safety first

Because your child is moving around more, they will come across more dangers as well. Dangerous situations can happen quickly, so keep a close eye on your child. Here are a few tips to help keep your growing toddler safe:

• Do NOT leave your toddler near or around water (for example, bathtubs, pools, ponds, lakes, whirlpools, or the ocean) without someone watching them. Drowning is the leading cause of injury and death among this age group.
• Block off stairs with a small gate or fence. Lock doors to dangerous places such as the garage or basement. Fence off backyard pools.
• Ensure that your home is toddler proof by placing plug covers on all unused electrical outlets.
• Keep kitchen appliances, irons, and heaters out of reach of your toddler. Turn pot handles toward the back of the stove.
• Keep sharp objects such as scissors, knives, and pens in a safe place.
• Do NOT leave your toddler alone in any vehicle (that means a car, truck, or van) even for a few moments.
• Lock up medicines, household cleaners, and poisons.
• Store any guns in a safe place out of their reach.

Car Seat Recommendations for Children‎‎

Healthy bodies.

Here are a few tips to help keep your growing toddler healthy:

• Give your child water and plain milk instead of sugary drinks. After the first year, when your nursing toddler is eating more and different solid foods, breast milk is still an ideal addition to their diet.
• Your toddler might become a very picky and erratic eater. Toddlers need less food because they don't grow as fast. It's best not to battle with them over this.
• Offer a selection of healthy foods and let them choose what they want. Keep trying new foods; it might take time for them to learn to like them.
• Your toddler will seem to be moving continually—running, kicking, climbing, or jumping. Let them be active—they're developing coordination and becoming strong.
• Make sure your child gets the recommended amount of sleep each night: 11–14 hours per 24 hours (including naps) for toddlers 1-2 years old.

Screen Time and Toddlers‎

For more information.

CDC's "Learn the Signs. Act Early." Program has more details on how to track your child's developmental milestones, and what to do if you're concerned about your child's development.

CDC's Parent Information (Children 0–3 years) has information to help you learn how to give your child a healthy start in life.

CDC's Essentials for Parenting Toddlers and Preschoolers has ways you can help build a safe, stable, and nurturing relationship with your child.

CDC's Breastfeeding Information has answers to frequently asked questions about breastfeeding.

CDC's Information on Infant and Toddler Nutrition has tips for parents to help children maintain a healthy weight.

CDC's Protect the Ones You Love has information on how you can protect your child from drowning and other common causes of injury.

CDC's Information on Vaccinations View the immunization schedule for infants and children and find out if your child's vaccinations are up to date.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture provides information on health and nutrition, My Plate for Infants and My Plate for Toddlers .

AAP's Healthy Children website provides information on feeding, nutrition, and fitness for all developmental stages from infancy to young adulthood.

Just in Time Parenting (JITP) has quality, research-based information to families at the time it can be most useful.

Healthy Kids Healthy Future has information on physical activity for young children and ways to keep them moving.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has information on safety recalls and safety tips for children riding in motor vehicles, walking, biking, playing outside, waiting at school bus stops, and more.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Visit to learn how to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and safe sleep environments.

World Health Organization Information on Infant Nutrition has information to promote proper feeding for infants and young children.

Child Development

The early years of a child’s life are very important for their health and development. Parents, health professionals, educators, and others can work together as partners to help children grow up to reach their full potential.

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Teens and Video Games Today

85% of u.s. teens say they play video games, and about four-in-ten do so daily. teens see both positive and negative sides of video games – from problem-solving and making friends to harassment and sleep loss, table of contents.

• Who plays video games?
• How often do teens play video games?
• What devices do teens play video games on?
• Social media use among gamers
• Teen views on how much they play video games and efforts to cut back
• Are teens social with others through video games?
• Do teens think video games positively or negatively impact their lives?
• Why do teens play video games?
• Bullying and violence in video games
• Appendix A: Detailed charts
• Acknowledgments
• Methodology

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to better understand teens’ use of and experiences with video games.

The Center conducted an online survey of 1,453 U.S. teens from Sept. 26 to Oct. 23, 2023, through Ipsos. Ipsos recruited the teens via their parents, who were part of its KnowledgePanel . The KnowledgePanel is a probability-based web panel recruited primarily through national, random sampling of residential addresses. The survey was weighted to be representative of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 who live with their parents by age, gender, race and ethnicity, household income, and other categories.

This research was reviewed and approved by an external institutional review board (IRB), Advarra, an independent committee of experts specializing in helping to protect the rights of research participants.

Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and  its methodology .

There are long-standing debates about the impact of video games on youth. Some credit them for helping young people form friendships and teaching them about teamwork and problem-solving . Others say video games expose teenagers to violent content, negatively impact their sleep and can even lead to addiction.

With this in mind, Pew Research Center surveyed 1,423 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 about their own video game habits – from how often they play to the friends they’ve made and whether it gets in the way of them doing well in school or getting a good night’s sleep. 1

Key findings from the survey

• Video games as a part of daily teen life: 85% of U.S. teens report playing video games, and 41% say they play them at least once a day. Four-in-ten identify as a gamer.
• Gaming as a social experience: 72% of teens who play video games say that a reason why they play them is to spend time with others. And some have even made a friend online from playing them – 47% of teen video game players say they’ve done this.
• Helpful with problem-solving, less so for sleep: Over half of teens who play video games say it has helped their problem-solving skills, but 41% also say it has hurt their sleep.
• Bullying is a problem: 80% of all teens think harassment over video games is a problem for people their age. And 41% of those who play them say they’ve been called an offensive name when playing.
• Boys’ and girls’ experiences differ: Most teen boys and girls play video games, but larger shares of boys identify as gamers (62% vs. 17%) and play every day (61% vs. 22%). Boys who play them are also more likely to experience positive things from it, like making friends, and more troubling things like harassment.

Jump to read about: Who plays video games | Socializing over video games | Views about video games’ impact | Harassment and violence in video games      

Playing video games is widespread among teens. The vast majority of U.S. teens (85%) say they play them. Just 15% say they never do, according to the survey conducted Sept. 26-Oct. 23, 2023.

In addition to asking whether teens play video games, we also wanted to learn whether they consider themselves gamers. Overall, four-in-ten U.S. teens think of themselves as gamers. Just under half of teens (45%) play video games but do not think of themselves as gamers.

Nearly all boys (97%) say they play video games, compared with about three-quarters of teen girls. There is a substantial gap by gender in whether teens identify as gamers: 62% of teen boys do, compared with 17% of girls. 2

By gender and age

Younger teen girls are more likely than older girls to say they play video games: 81% of girls ages 13 to 14 compared with 67% of those ages 15 to 17. But among boys, nearly all play video games regardless of age. 

Similar shares of teens play video games across different racial and ethnic groups and among those who live in households with different annual incomes. Go to Appendix A for more detail on which teens play video games and which teens identify as gamers.

We also asked teens how often they play video games. About four-in-ten U.S. teens say they play video games daily, including 23% who do so several times a day.

Another 22% say they play several times a week, while 21% play them about once a week or less.

Teen boys are far more likely than girls to say they play video games daily (61% vs. 22%). They are also much more likely to say they play them several times a day (36% vs. 11%).

By whether someone identifies as a gamer

About seven-in-ten teens who identify as gamers (71%) say they play video games daily. This drops to 30% among those who play them but aren’t gamers.

By household income

Roughly half of teens living in households with an annual income of less than $30,000 (53%) say they play video games at least daily. This is higher than those in households with an annual income of $30,000 to $74,999 (42%) and $75,000 or more (39%).

Go to Appendix A to see more details about who plays video games and identifies as a gamer by gender, age, race and ethnicity, and household income.

Most teens play video games on a gaming console or a smartphone. When asked about five devices, most teens report playing video games on a gaming console (73%), such as PlayStation, Switch or Xbox. And 70% do so on a smartphone. Fewer – though still sizable shares – play them on each of the following:

• 49% say they play them on a desktop or laptop computer
• 33% do so on a tablet  
• 24% play them on a virtual reality (VR) headset such as Oculus, Meta Quest or PlayStation VR

Many teens play video games on multiple devices. About a quarter of teens (27%) do so on at least four of the five devices asked about, and about half (49%) play on two or three of them. Just 8% play video games on one device.

Teen boys are more likely than girls to play video games on four of the five devices asked about – all expect tablets. For instance, roughly nine-in-ten teen boys say they ever play video games on a gaming console, compared with 57% of girls. Equal shares of teen boys and girls play them on tablets.  

Teens who consider themselves gamers are more likely than those who play video games but aren’t gamers to play on a gaming console (95% vs. 78%), desktop or laptop computer (72% vs. 45%) or a virtual reality (VR) headset (39% vs. 19%). Similar shares of both groups play them on smartphones and tablets.

One way that teens engage with others about video games is through online platforms. And our survey findings show that teen gamers stand out for their use of two online platforms that are known for their gaming communities – Discord and Twitch :

• 44% of teen gamers say they use Discord, far higher than video game players who don’t identify as gamers or those who use the platform but do not play video games at all. About three-in-ten teens overall (28%) use Discord.
• 30% of teens gamers say they use Twitch. About one-in-ten other teens or fewer say the same; 17% of teens overall use the platform.

Previous Center research shows that U.S. teens use online platforms at high rates .

Teens largely say they spend the right amount of time playing video games. When asked about how much time they spend playing them, the largest share of teens (58%) say they spend the right amount of time. Far fewer feel they spend too much (14%) or too little (13%) time playing them.

Teen boys are more likely than girls to say they spend too much time playing video games (22% vs. 6%).

By race and ethnicity

Black (17%) and Hispanic (18%) teens are about twice as likely than White teens (8%) to say they spend too little time playing video games. 3

A quarter of teens who consider themselves gamers say they spend too much time playing video games, compared with 9% of those who play video games but don’t identify as gamers. Teen gamers are also less likely to think they spend too little time playing them (19% vs. 10%).

Fewer than half of teens have reduced how much they play video games. About four-in-ten (38%) say they have ever chosen to cut back on the amount of time they spend playing them. A majority (61%) report that they have not cut back at all.

This share is on par with findings about whether teenagers have cut back with their screen time – on social media or their smartphone.

Although boys are more likely to say they play video games too much, boys and girls are on par for whether they have ever cut back. About four-in-ten teen boys (39%) and girls (38%) say that they have ever cut back.

And gamers are as likely to say they have cut back as those who play video games but don’t identify as gamers (39% and 41%).

A main goal of our survey was to ask teens about their own experiences playing video games. For this section of the report, we focus on teens who say they play video games.

Socializing with others is a key part of the video game experience. Most teens who play video games do so with others, and some have developed friendships through them.

About nine-in-ten teen video game players (89%) say they play them with other people, in person or online. Far fewer (11%) play them only on their own.

Additionally, about half (47%) report that they have ever made a friend online because of a video game they both play. This equals 40% of all U.S. teens who have made a friend online because of a video game.

These experiences vary by:  

• Gender: Most teen boy and girl video game players play them with others, though it’s more common among boys (94% vs. 82%). Boys who play video games are much more likely to say they have made a friend online because of a video game (56% vs. 35%).
• Race and ethnicity: Black (55%) and Hispanic (53%) teen video game players are more likely than White teen video game players (43%) to say they have made a friend online because of them.
• Whether someone identifies as a gamer: Nearly all teen gamers report playing video games with others (98%). Fewer – though still most – of those who play video games but aren’t gamers (81%) also play them with others. And about seven-in-ten (68%) say they have made a friend online because of a video game, compared with 29% of those who play them but don’t identify as gamers.

Teens who play video games are particularly likely to say video games help their problem-solving skills. More than half of teens who play video games (56%) say this.

Additionally, more think that video games help, rather than hurt, three other parts of their lives that the survey asked about. Among teens who play video games:

• Roughly half (47%) say it has helped their friendships
• 41% say it has helped how they work with others
• 32% say it has helped their mental health

No more than 7% say playing video games has hurt any of these.

More teens who play video games say it hurts, rather than helps, their sleep. Among these teens, 41% say it has hurt how much sleep they get, while just 5% say it helps. And small shares say playing video games has impacted how well they do in school in either a positive or a negative way.

Still, many teens who play video games think playing them doesn’t have much an impact in any of these areas. For instance, at least six-in-ten teens who play video games say it has neither a positive nor a negative impact on their mental health (60%) or their school performance (72%). Fewer (41%) say this of their problem-solving skills.

Teen boys who play video games are more likely than girls to think playing them has helped their problem-solving skills, friendships and ability to work with others. For instance, 55% of teen boys who play video games say this has helped their friendships, compared with 35% of teen girls.

As for ways that it may hurt their lives, boys who play them are more likely than girls to say that it has hurt the amount of sleep they get (45% vs. 37%) and how well they do in school (21% vs. 11%). 

Teens who consider themselves gamers are more likely than those who aren’t gamers but play video games to say video games have helped their friendships (60% vs. 35%), ability to work with others (52% vs. 32%), problem-solving skills (66% vs. 47%) and mental health (41% vs. 24%).

Gamers, though, are somewhat more likely to say playing them hurt their sleep (48% vs. 36%) and how well they do in school (20% vs. 14%).

By whether teens play too much, too little or the right amount

Teens who report playing video games too much stand out for thinking video games have hurt their sleep and school performance. Two-thirds of these teens say it has hurt the amount of sleep they get, and 39% say it hurt their schoolwork. Far fewer of those who say they play the right amount (38%) or too little (32%) say it has hurt their sleep, or say it hurt their schoolwork (12% and 16%).

Teens who play video games say they largely do so to be entertained. And many also play them to be social with and interact with others. Teens who play video games were asked about four reasons why they play video games. Among those who play video games:

• Nearly all say fun or entertainment is a major or minor reason why they play video games – with a large majority (87%) saying it’s a major reason.
• Roughly three-quarters say spending time with others is a reason, and two-thirds say this of competing with others. Roughly three-in-ten say each is a major reason.
• Fewer – 50% – see learning something as a reason, with just 13% saying it’s a major reason.

While entertainment is by far the most common reason given by teens who play video games, differences emerge across groups in why they play video games.

Teens who identify as gamers are particularly likely to say each is major reason, especially when it comes to competing against others. About four-in-ten gamers (43%) say this is a major reason, compared with 13% of those who play video games but aren’t gamers.

Teen boys who play video games are more likely than girls to say competing (36% vs. 15%), spending time with others (36% vs. 27%) and entertainment (90% vs. 83%) are major reasons they play video games.

Black and Hispanic teens who play video games are more likely than White teens to say that learning new things and competing against others are major reasons they play them. For instance, 29% of Black teen video game players say learning something new is a major reason, higher than 17% of Hispanic teen video game players. Both are higher than the 7% of White teen video game players who say the same.

Teens who play video games and live in lower-income households are especially likely to say competing against others and learning new things are major reasons. For instance, four-in-ten teen video game players who live in households with an annual income of less than $30,000 say competing against others is a major reason they play. This is higher than among those in households with annual incomes of $30,000 to $74,999 (29%) and $75,000 or more (23%).

Cyberbullying can happen in many online environments, but many teens encounter this in the video game world.

Our survey finds that name-calling is a relatively common feature of video game life – especially for boys. Roughly four-in-ten teen video game players (43%) say they have been harassed or bullied while playing a video game in one of three ways: 

• 41% have been called an offensive name
• 12% have been physically threatened
• 8% have been sent unwanted sexually explicit things

Teen boys are particularly likely to say they have been called an offensive name. About half of teen boys who play video games (48%) say this has happened while playing them, compared with about a third of girls (32%). And they are somewhat more likely than girls to have been physically threatened (15% vs. 9%).

Teen gamers are more likely than those who play video games but aren’t gamers to say they been called and offensive name (53% vs. 30%), been physically threatened (17% vs. 8%) and sent unwanted sexually explicit things (10% vs. 6%).

Teens – regardless of whether they’ve had these experiences – think bullying is a problem in gaming. Eight-in-ten U.S. teens say that when it comes to video games, harassment and bullying is a problem for people their age. This includes 29% who say it is a major problem.

It’s common for teens to think harassment while playing video games is a problem, but girls are somewhat more likely than boys to say it’s a major problem (33% vs. 25%).

There have also been decades-long debates about how violent video games can influence youth behavior , if at all – such as by encouraging or desensitizing them to violence. We wanted to get a sense of how commonly violence shows up in the video games teens are playing.

Just over half of teens who play video games (56%) say at least some of the games they play contain violence. This includes 16% who say it’s in all or most of the games they play.

Teen boys who play video games are far more likely than girls to say that at least some of the games they play contain violence (69% vs. 37%).

About three-quarters of teen gamers (73%) say that at least some of the games they play contain violence, compared with 40% among video game players who aren’t gamers.   

• Throughout this report, “teens” refers to those ages 13 to 17. ↩
• Previous Center research of U.S. adults shows that men are more likely than women to identify as gamers – especially the youngest adults. ↩
• There were not enough Asian American respondents in the sample to be broken out into a separate analysis. As always, their responses are incorporated into the general population figures throughout the report. ↩

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