5 exercises to build reasoning skills for kids

Many parents believe that critical thinking or reasoning is limited to mathematics or science. That’s a myth. Critical reasoning applies to every aspect of life from shopping to working. Children need to learn how to analyse, contrast, compare and draw inferences from information, and deal with situations rationally and objectively. Here are 5 brain exercises to stimulate children’s critical thinking process and hone their problem-solving skills. 

Ask questions that prompt questions 
Asking open-ended questions and giving a piece of information that calls for more are great ways to foster critical reasoning in school children. When your child comes across a problem, break it down into the ‘why what, and how’ format for him or her to tackle, instead of providing answers. It will help them to think, solve problems and express their views clearly. 

Introduce multiple perspectives   
One of the best ways to inculcate reason-based thinking skills is by teaching them the concept of multiple perspectives. It is essential to analyse problems from multiple points of view to reach a better solution. Ask your kid to try to think like you, or the teacher, or anyone else through a role play.  

Encourage children to make decisions   
What is a good meal to order? What will you do in the weekend to save money but have a good time? Get children to take these decisions. You will not be around all the time to guide them, so get them slowly into the practice of thinking for themselves.  

Connect dissimilar information to analyse overall  
A child who comes to school by the school bus also needs to know the public transport routes. Why? Ask your kid that. If the bus is not available for some reason, they may have to use public transport. Pose a problem, give a few data points, and get them to connect the dots.  

Teach them how to work towards solutions  
The ultimate motive of every reasoning exercise is to reach a practical, logical solution. Get your kid to define the problem, analyse it, try to include any other perspective, look for multiple solutions, and apply at least one. This step-by-step thinking will build up their reasoning skills.