Human beings, throughout their life, make various decisions. Some decisions can be made easily, whereas some require a lot of thinking before coming to a conclusion. I bet that all of us have been there. Such situations require critical thinking. Let’s find out the proven critical thinking activities for kindergarten age kids.
You might have heard this term in many instances, and you might have also thought critically when making certain decisions. The question is whether critical thinking is a skill specific to grownups.
Do kindergarteners ever think critically? Scientifically speaking, humans develop their critical thinking ability from early childhood. Small children have rapidly growing brains; hence they have a lot of potential to enhance their critical thinking abilities. Therefore it is crucial to encourage them to extend those abilities. In this article, we will discuss proven critical thinking abilities for kindergarten.
Critical thinking is an essential ability that every human should have. Developing this ability from a young age will be beneficial to master it as they grow up, which is why humans are encouraged to polish these skills since kindergarten.
There are many activities that kindergarteners can pursue to enhance their critical thinking abilities; some of the proven critical thinking activities for this particular age group include puzzle games, building blocks, reading books, brain teasers, storytelling, rhyming games, and role-playing.
The importance of critical thinking for kindergarten is immense. As toddlers grow up, they gradually make decisions and act according to different situations. A person who can think critically will find it easier to deal with varying scenarios.
So you should not take the need to develop this ability lightly, and every adult must encourage their children to practice these skills from kindergarten. To get a better understanding of this concern, keep reading!
Table of Contents
How do you teach critical thinking in kindergarten?
It is vital to develop critical thinking in kindergarten, but how can we help small children develop their critical thinking? What activities will be beneficial for this matter? One might feel teaching kindergarteners to develop their critical thinking is challenging.
However, several easy yet productive activities allow them to enhance their critical thinking abilities from a young age.
Humans inherit specific skills and abilities from birth. Notwithstanding, critical thinking is not an ability or a skill one will gain spontaneously. In other words, one should put effort into developing their critical thinking ability.
Critical thinking is often considered an acquired skill; in order to obtain it, it is essential to learn it from early childhood. As mentioned already, there are multiple ways to introduce critical thinking skills in kindergarten, but what exactly are those mechanisms?
If you need to teach a kindergartener to think critically, there are some fundamental skills that you should make them familiar with. These skills include communication, problem-solving, interpersonal, and collaboration skills.
Given skills lay the base for the development of critical thinking in kindergarten. Therefore any activity that enhances those skills in young children will gradually improve their critical thinking ability.
Do not limit kindergarteners to one format of activities when introducing activities that develop their critical thinking. Adults can use various ways to help small children to improve above mentioned skills to enhance their critical thinking.
Introduce those skills through play sessions, help children develop hypotheses, and ask open-ended questions. All of these strategies will be beneficial in teaching critical thinking in kindergarten.
What does critical thinking look like in kindergarten?
It is evident that critical thinking is mandatory for humans in various life events. What does critical thinking look like in kindergarten? Why is it essential in the early childhood stage?
Kids are naturally curious and enthusiastic learners, and they have more capacity to learn things at a rapid pace.
Children demonstrate signs of their urge to learn new things in kindergarten by asking questions, linking ideas, communicating with others, making certain decisions, and justifying them.
Adults must help toddlers by encouraging their enthusiasm to learn new things and helping them develop relevant critical thinking skills.
Proven critical thinking activities for kindergarten
Below you can find some of the proven critical thinking activities for kindergarten.
Puzzle games are one of the ideal activities for kindergarteners to evolve their critical thinking skills. Puzzle games are perfect not only for kindergarten but for anyone in any age category to develop a number of skills, including thinking and problem-solving.
Scientifically speaking, puzzle games contribute to brain development. The left and right hemispheres of the brain are responsible for different activities, and puzzle games make both hemispheres function, which develops critical thinking ability to a great extent.
There are puzzles created explicitly for kindergarten, such as jigsaw puzzles with large pieces, and they help small children to enhance their focus and thinking ability.
To make this activity more effective, ensure you give them a puzzle that suits their age limit and join them to make the activity more interactive.
- Brain teasers and riddles
Brain teasers are also an excellent exercise for a child’s brain. Brian teasers are an easy activity to perform yet very helpful in evolving critical thinking skills in early childhood.
As we know, small children like to engage in fun activities, so try to make the brain teasers as entertaining as possible. For instance, playing games such as “ I Spy with my little eyes” encourages toddlers to engage better in solving brain teasers.
Just like brain teasers, riddles are also an activity to enhance critical thinking skills in kindergarten. Let the children guess what it is by explaining the facts and characteristics of a person, animal, or object.
Small children find storytelling fascinating. As much as they love to listen to them, giving them the space to narrate stories is also important.
Storytelling is a fruitful way to enhance critical thinking skills in kindergarten. How does storytelling help to develop critical thinking? Storytelling allows small children to interpret things from a better and broader point of view.
You can tell a story or explain a situation to kindergarteners and ask them to continue it as they wish. When narrating stories, children get to become imaginative.
Moreover, it enhances their ability to express their thoughts according to context. All these skills are beneficial for the development of critical thinking.
Role-playing is yet another adventurous activity to improve critical thinking in kindergarteners. If you do this activity with a group of small children, you can let them pick a character or assign them a character and ask them to act accordingly.
Imitating another character could be a challenging activity for kindergarten. Nevertheless, this thrives them to think deeply and express their thoughts which is helpful in critical thinking.
- Reading books
Reading books is certainly one of the most versatile activities for kindergarteners. The development of critical thinking is also among the benefits of reading.
When using this particular activity for kindergarten, it is essential to make it interactive. Always be mindful to select an appropriate and less complex book to read.
After reading the book, it is vital to ask related questions. The questions should not be too difficult, yet make sure they push children to think, analyze, predict, and compare the information they receive.
- Building blocks
Playing with building blocks is also a popular activity in kindergarten. It sure is a fun activity but also valuable for developing critical thinking skills.
Building blocks aid with the development of the logical mastery of small children. Let them be free and build structures as they prefer.
Doing this activity as a group will benefit more in strengthen critical thinking abilities through coordination, collaboration, and communication.
- Watching movies
This can be a controversial activity for kindergarten; some believe movies are not the perfect activity for small children, while others think it is. Everything has its ups and downs.
However, if we utilize it correctly, we can get the best out of it; in this case, movies are the same despite varying opinions.
Watching movies is a proven activity helpful in developing critical thinking in kindergarteners. Movies entertain young children; subsequently, they help them think deeper and analyze and observe various situations.
- Treasure hunt
A treasure hunt is a fun outdoor activity that helps small children to develop critical thinking. You can be very creative when planning a treasure hunt for kindergarten.
Understanding the clues, finding the objects, and all related activities of a treasure hunt game will uplift the observation skills of toddlers.
Also, it will make them think more rationally and make their choices. Likewise, treasure hunts allow for enhancing critical thinking abilities in kindergarten.
Final thoughts about critical thinking activities for kindergarten aged kids
Simply put, critical thinking involves logical and rational decision-making. Critical thinking is a skill that benefits many aspects of life which is why every individual should develop it. Humans have more potency to build their critical thinking abilities in early childhood.
Therefore it is mandatory to pursue activities that enhance critical thinking from kindergarten. As discussed in this article, many proven activities improve critical thinking in kindergarten.
Allowing small children to engage in such activities helps them uplift the fundamental skills of critical thinking, eventually making them excellent critical thinkers.
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