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(https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/fostering-creativity-imagination-for-
children-development), and persist (https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/how-
to-raise-resilient-kids-who-never-give-up) until they find a solution. Naturally,
these abilities go hand-in-hand with a growth mindset.
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Parenting Tips (Ages 4-10)
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3 General Strategies to Teach
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When you model problem-solving, explain that there are some things which are
out of our control. As we're solving a problem at hand we should focus on the
things we CAN actually control.
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You can show the Circle of Control printable included in the Growth Mindset
Printables Kit
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209916 Plus, when you indicate that their ideas are valued, they’ll gain the confidence
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Now, let’s take a look at some age-specific strategies and activities. The ages
listed below are general guidelines, feel free to choose any strategies or
activities that you feel will work for YOUR child.
3-5 Years
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Use Emotion Coaching
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To step into a problem-solving mindset, young children need to first learn
to manage their emotions (https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/tapping-
confident-kids-eft). After all, it’s difficult for a small child to logically consider
solutions to a problem if he’s mid-tantrum.
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First, teach your kids that ALL emotions are acceptable. There are NO “bad”
emotions. Even seemingly negative emotions like anger, sadness, and frustration
can teach us valuable lessons. What matters is how we respond to these
emotions. 0
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Second, follow this process:
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This helps your child identify the ROOT of the problem, making it less
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Once you both understand the real problem, prompt your child to come up with
solutions. “There must be some way you can fix that…” or “There must be
something you can do…”
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Now that your child has identified “the hard part,” she’ll likely be able to come
up with a solution. If not, help her brainstorm some ideas. You may try asking
the question, “If you DID know, what would you think?” and see what she comes
up with.
Your child can practice finding solutions to obstacles they're facing with My 0
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Mighty Treasure Coins printable found in the Self-Esteem & Confidence Kit.
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Problem-Solve with Creative Play
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Allow your child to choose activities
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activity-kit-pdf) and games based on her interests. Free play provides plenty of
opportunities to navigate and creatively solve problems.
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Problem-Solve with Storybooks
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Read age-appropriate stories featuring characters who experience problems,
such as:
sleepover at his friend Reggie’s house. But there’s one problem: Should he
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or should he not bring his teddy bear? It may seem small, but this is the
type of early social problem your child might relate to.
Connect these experiences to similar events in your child’s own life, and ASK
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your child HOW the characters in these stories could solve their problems.
Encourage a variety of solutions, and discuss the possible outcomes of each.
This is a form of dialogue reading, or actively ENGAGING your child in the reading
experience. Interacting with the text instead of passively listening can
“turbocharge” the development of literacy skills such as comprehension in
preschool-aged children. 0
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By asking questions about the characters’ challenges, you can also give your
child’s problem-solving abilities a boost.
You can even have your child roleplay the problem and potential solutions to
reinforce the lesson.
For book suggestions, refer to the printable Top 85 Growth Mindset Books for
Children & Adults in our Growth Mindset Printables Kit
(https://biglifejournal.com/collections/printables/products/growth-mindset-
printables-kits-1-2).
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5-7 Years
209916 trouble at recess,” your child might say, “I got in trouble at recess for
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arguing with Joey.”
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Step 3: What are the solutions? Encourage your child to come up with as
many solutions as possible. At this point, they don’t even need to be “good”
solutions. They’re just brainstorming here, not yet evaluating the ideas
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they’ve generated.
Step 4: What would happen if…? What would happen if your child
attempted each of these solutions? Is the solution safe and fair? How will it
make others feel? You can also try role playing at this step. It’s important
for your child to consider BOTH positive and negative consequences of her 0
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Step 5: Which one will I try? Ask your child to pick one or more solutions to
try. If the solution didn't work, discuss WHY and move on to another one.
Encourage your child to keep trying until the problem is solved.
Consistently practice these steps so that they become second nature, and
model solving problems of your own the same way. It's a good idea
to reflect: What worked? What didn’t? What can you do differently next time?
Help your child visualize and practice this process using the colorful My
Problem-Solving printable in the Self-Esteem & Confidence Kit
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printables-kit).
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Provide your child with markers, modeling clay, cardboard boxes, tape, paper,
etc. They’ll come up with all sorts of interesting creations and inventive games
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0 These “open-ended toys” don’t have a “right way to play,” allowing your child to
get creative and generate ideas independently.
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Ask Open-Ended Questions
Asking open-ended questions improves a child’s ability to think critically and
creatively, ultimately making them better problem-solvers. Examples of open-
ended questions include:
How could we work together to solve this? 0
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How did you work it out? or How do you know that?
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7-9 Years
The bigger your child gets, the bigger her problems get too. When your child is
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to break it into smaller, more manageable chunks.
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For instance, let’s say your child has a poor grade in history class. Why is the
grade so low? What are the causes of this problem?
If the low grade is the result of missing assignments, perhaps your child can
make a list of these assignments and tackle one at a time. Or if tests are the
issue, what’s causing your child to struggle on exams?
Perhaps she’s distracted by friends in the class, has trouble asking for help, and 0
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“chunks,” help your child tackle them one at a time until the problem is solved.
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Show “The Broken Escalator Video 0
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v=47rQkTPWW2I)”
Discuss the importance of embracing challenges
(https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/activities-grit-resilience-children) and
solving problems independently with the “broken escalator video.”
In the video, an escalator unexpectedly breaks. The people on the escalator are
“stuck” and yelling for help. At this age, it’s likely that your child will find the
video funny and immediately offer a solution: “Just walk! Get off the escalator!”
Tell your child that this is a simple example of how people sometimes act in
difficult situations. Ask, “Why do you think they didn’t get off the escalator?”
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(they didn’t know how, they were waiting for help, etc.)
0 Sometimes, your child might feel “stuck” when facing problems. They may stop
and ask for help before even attempting to find a solution. Encourage your child
to embrace challenges and work through problems instead.
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9-11 Years
With just these materials, challenge your kids to solve unusual problems like:
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Make Them Work for It
When your child asks for a new toy, technology, or clothes, have her make a plan
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to obtain the desired item herself. Not only will your child have to brainstorm
and evaluate solutions, but she’ll also gain confidence
(https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/kids-high-self-esteem).
Ask your child HOW she can earn the money for the item that she wants, and
encourage her as she works toward her goal
(https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/5-fun-goal-setting-activities-children).
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For example, use this graphic organizer
(https://static01.nyt.com/images/blogs/learning/pdf/2010/20101025problemsolvec
hart.pdf) developed by The New York Times Learning Network. Your child can
identify her problem and brainstorm solutions.
But now, she takes this process a step further: After attempting each solution,
which succeeded? Which were unsuccessful? Why?
This helps your child reflect on various outcomes, learning what works and what
doesn’t. The lessons she learns here will be useful when she encounters similar
problems in the future.
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Ages 12+
Play Chess Together
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Debate team
Science Olympiad
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25 THOUGHTS ON “HOW TO TEACH PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS TO
KIDS (AGES 3-14)”
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Shreiya Aggarwal-Gupta says: March 17, 2021 at 19:51pm (/blogs/blog/how-teach-problem-
solving-strategies-kids-guide#74668703805)
I love, love, love the point about emotional coaching. It’s so important to identify how children
are feeling about a problem and then approach the solutions accordingly.
Thank you for putting this together. I wrote an article on problem-solving specifically from the 0
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point of view of developing a STEM aptitude in kids, if you like to check it out – (//biglifejournal.com/cart)
https://kidpillar.com/how-to-teach-problem-solving-to-your-kids-5-8-years/
I feel that these techniques will work for my kid.. Worthy.. Thank you
12 (/blogs/blog/how-teach-problem-solving-strategies-kids-guide?page=2)3 (/blogs/blog/how-teach-problem-
solving-strategies-kids-guide?page=3)…5 (/blogs/blog/how-teach-problem-solving-strategies-kids-guide?
page=5)
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