4 Tips for Encouraging Problem Solving in Kids

As parents, teachers and caregivers we all want to help our children grow and flourish. It’s only natural to want to shield our little ones from conflict and make their lives smooth. But doing so can actually backfire if we take away opportunities for children to actively practice problem solving — a skill that will play a major role in their school performance and beyond.

It’s important to lean into encouraging problem solving in kids at every turn rather than trying to make these problems “go away” on behalf of children. There is immense, lasting value in letting kids get “stuck” then figure out how to get “unstuck” on their own terms. This skill will come in handy when they’re resolving interpersonal conflicts with friends and family, as well as reasoning through schoolwork.

Photo by 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič on Unsplash

Here are four tips for helping kids gain confidence and get into the habit of solving problems.

Give Kids Time & Space to Reason Through Problems

Our adult brains are often primed to see solutions quickly. But kids need a little more time. Before stepping in to solve a problem on behalf of a child — or even point them in the “right” direction — step back and give them the time and space they need to reason through it themselves.

As the experts at Tinkergarten write, children benefit from “the chance to struggle with ambiguous situations or open-ended problems.” Encouraging problem solving for kids means helping them build the confidence to come up with potential solutions and test them out — and yes, possibly even get frustrated from time to time.

Ask Questions with No Single Right Answer

Besides allowing children to reason through problems on their own before intervening, it’s often helpful to ask questions to which there’s more than one “right” answer. This helps them get used to thinking creatively without getting hung up on uncovering a single “right” answer.

Here’s an example from Scholastic: Before bed, initiate a conversation about nighttime by asking kids questions like:

*If you were going to stay up all night, what would you do during that time?

*What kinds of people work at night?

*What things light up in the night?

Working on open-ended thinking skills is an excellent way to prime children for brainstorming solutions to problems and thinking outside the box.

Walk Through Simple Problem-Solving Steps

A framework for problem solving goes a long way. It can be as simple as:

*Step 1: Identify the problem.

*Step 2: Think of potential solutions.

*Step 3: Run through hypothetical (What would happen if X? How would everyone feel if Y? Would this solution be safe/fair?)

*Step 4: Try it out.

While kids themselves may not be aware of the exact framework, it’s beneficial to show them simple steps for problem solving they can use again in future situations. Developing this skill is like strengthening a muscle — it takes repetition!

Help Kids Make Discoveries Through Play

Open-ended play presents kids with many opportunities to make decisions, experiment and address challenges as they arise.

As the Boston Children’s Museum points out, children do this naturally starting as infants by using their bodies to manipulate objects. Then toddlers explore by pushing buttons — figuratively and literally. As kids learn and practice cause and effect, they’re able to better understand how their actions impact the world around them. They are also better prepared to incorporate toys and tools into their repertoires in a way that solves problems. Case in point: What looks like building a tower from blocks is actually a budding understanding of gravity and physics laws.

Encouraging problem solving in kids is often a matter of letting them take the reins and play freely — but it’s helpful to ask open-ended questions and walk them through various steps along the way.