10 Ways to Boost Your Child’s Problem-Solving Skills
Kids are never too young to work on their problem-solving skills. In fact, the sooner you start boosting their development, the better. That’s because these vital tools can do far more than just enhance academic performance. They can also lay a strong foundation for social and emotional growth, cognitive flexibility, creativity, career readiness, and even adaptability in a rapidly changing world.
Keep reading to get a breakdown of some problem-solving skills by category, as well as examples of things parents can do at home to help boost these critical abilities.
🧠 Examples of Problem-Solving Skills
| Skill Category | Examples |
| Analytical & Critical Thinking | – Researching and analyzing information – Logical reasoning – Prioritizing – Troubleshooting – Problem decomposition – Evaluating evidence – Identifying the root cause |
| Creative Thinking | – Brainstorming – Innovation – Lateral thinking – Experimentation |
| Decision-Making | – Evaluating options – Risk assessment – Making timely decisions – Adaptability |
| Communication & Interpersonal | – Active listening – Negotiation – Persuasion – Collaboration – Clear communication |
| Personal Skills | – Resilience – Curiosity – Patience – Cognitive flexibility – Time management – Self-awareness |
Tips for Fostering Problem-Solving Skills in Children
While it may seem like elementary school is too early to be focused on boosting these skills, the truth is that competency in these abilities can help your child thrive throughout middle school, high school, college, and beyond.
Here are some fun and playful ideas to help you build problem-solving skills at home:
#1: Embrace open-ended questions.
Rather than asking questions with only a single correct answer, ask about scenarios that encourage multiple solutions. For example, “What are some different ways you could sort a bucket of Halloween candy?” (e.g., color, flavor, size, shape, alphabetically)
#2: Foster “What if?” thinking.
Use dinnertime or car rides to play games that encourage your child to consider alternative scenarios and the potential consequences of different actions. For example, “What if people could only eat foods that were their favorite color?” Or “What if dogs could talk but only when humans were at work and school?”
#3: Model problem-solving.
As a parent, you can model the skills you want to see in your child by thinking aloud as you solve a problem. Start by naming the issue and then discussing or demonstrating your strategies as you work toward potential solutions. Explain why some ideas didn’t work before moving on to the next attempt.
#4: Teach a variety of problem-solving strategies.
These might include techniques like working backward, drawing a picture, breaking the problem down into smaller parts, or ruling out solutions and answers to narrow down the options.
#5: Encourage brainstorming.
Present a problem for which you’re currently seeking to remedy at home, such as lack of organization in a room with lots of toys. Invite your child to offer ideas—no matter how silly or unrealistic—to work toward sparking a few ideas that might actually work. Offer some potential solutions yourself and let your child determine why they will or won’t work.
For example, “What if we hung a net from the ceiling fan to hold all the stuffed animals? Does that sound like a good idea? Why or why not? What problems might arise?”
#6: Encourage the use of manipulatives.
Physical objects that can be touched and moved to help understand abstract concepts can make learning more engaging and hands-on. Consider play money, dice, letter or number blocks, magnetic letter or word tiles, maps, models of the solar system, science kits, building sets, art supplies, and stackable storage bins.
#7: Introduce real-world scenarios.
Present situations rooted in your child’s daily life, such as how to equally divide a pizza between five family members or how to plan a sleepover that works with three friends’ busy schedules (e.g., soccer game Saturday morning, church on Sunday, piano lessons Saturday afternoon).
#8: Use puzzles and games.
There are lots of fun, affordable, age-appropriate logic puzzles, Sudokus, and tangrams that help build problem-solving skills at home, in the car, or while you’re waiting for an appointment. Consider incorporating strategy-focused board or card games-like Clue or Sushi Go!—into family game night.
#9: Introduce design thinking.
Choose a project your child would enjoy—such as designing a new video game or board game, a new mode of transportation, or an original mall concept—and walk them through five steps: identifying current flaws in what’s currently in existence, brainstorming solutions, creating prototypes, testing, and refining their ideas.
#10: Value the problem-solving process, not just the answer.
Help your child rebound from setbacks by praising effort, even if they don’t get the “right” answer. By emphasizing that learning comes from trying and (often) making mistakes rather than solely focusing on being “correct,” you’ll help boost your child’s confidence and make them more resilient to challenges, even when they can’t overcome them initially (or at all).
Cognitive Training to Boost Problem-Solving Skills
Finally, if you’re looking for a program that’s designed to boost the essential cognitive skills that make up problem-solving abilities—such as attention, logic & reasoning, working and long-term memory, planning, organizing, and visual-spatial reasoning, among others—consider personal brain training.
Also known as “cognitive skills training,” these programs work by first identifying which brain skills are strong and which could use a boost in order to help your child live up to their full potential. The initial Brain Skills Assessment—which only takes about an hour—can then be used as a roadmap to help create an individualized learning plan for your child.
Your child will then be assigned a personal brain trainer who they’ll work with throughout the duration of their program to target and train the cognitive skills that need the most work with fun but challenging mental exercises and brain games. Using repetition, intensity, multitasking, positive reinforcement, and step-by-step progression, your child’s personal brain trainer will work with them to build rapport, stronger brain skills, and new-found confidence.
Curious if one-on-one brain training is right for your child?
Start by scheduling a Brain Skills Assessment! There’s no obligation to sign up for a brain training program and the results are often described as an “Aha!” moment for families.
