critical thinking in 2 year old

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How to Teach Your Child to Be a Critical Thinker

Blue Planet Studio / iStockphoto

What Is Critical Thinking?

• Importance of Critical Thinking

Benefits of Critical Thinking Skills

• Teach Kids to Be Critical Thinkers

Every day kids are bombarded with messages, information, and images. Whether they are at school, online, or talking to their friends, they need to know how to evaluate what they are hearing and seeing in order to form their own opinions and beliefs. Critical thinking skills are the foundation of education as well as an important life skill. Without the ability to think critically, kids will struggle academically, especially as they get older.

In fact, no matter what your child plans to do professionally someday, they will need to know how to think critically, solve problems, and make decisions. As a parent, it's important that you ensure that your kids can think for themselves and have developed a healthy critical mindset before they leave the nest.

Doing so will help them succeed both academically and professionally as well as benefit their future relationships. Here is what you need to know about critical thinking, including how to teach your kids to be critical thinkers.

Critical thinking skills are the ability to imagine, analyze, and evaluate information in order to determine its integrity and validity, such as what is factual and what isn't. These skills help people form opinions and ideas as well as help them know who is being a good friend and who isn't.

"Critical thinking also can involve taking a complex problem and developing clear solutions," says Amy Morin, LCSW, a psychotherapist and author of the best-selling books "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do" and "13 Things Mentally Strong Parents Don't Do."

In fact, critical thinking is an essential part of problem-solving, decision-making, and goal-setting . It also is the basis of education, especially when combined with reading comprehension . These two skills together allow kids to master information.

Why Critical Thinking Skills Are Important

According to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which evaluated 15-year-old children in 44 different countries, more than one in six students in the United States are unable to solve critical thinking problems. What's more, research indicates that kids who lack critical thinking skills face a higher risk of behavioral problems.

If kids are not being critical thinkers, then they are not thinking carefully, says Amanda Pickerill, Ph.D. Pickerill is licensed with the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Board of Psychology and is in practice at the Ohio State School for the Blind in Columbus, Ohio.

"Not thinking carefully [and critically] can lead to information being misconstrued; [and] misconstrued information can lead to problems in school, work, and relationships," she says.

Critical thinking also allows kids to gain a deeper understanding of the world including how they see themselves in that world. Additionally, kids who learn to think critically tend to be observant and open-minded.

Amy Morin, LCSW

Critical thinking skills can help someone better understand themselves, other people, and the world around them. [They] can assist in everyday problem-solving, creativity, and productivity.

There are many ways critical thinking skills can benefit your child, Dr. Pickerill says. From being able to solve complex problems in school and determining how they feel about particular issues to building relationships and dealing with peer pressure, critical thinking skills equip your child to deal with life's challenges and obstacles.

"Critical thinking skills [are beneficial] in solving a math problem, in comparing and contrasting [things], and when forming an argument," Dr. Pickerill says. "As a psychologist, I find critical thinking skills also to be helpful in self-reflection. When an individual is struggling to reach a personal goal or to maintain a satisfactory relationship it is very helpful to apply critical thinking."

Critical thinking also fosters independence, enhances creativity, and encourages curiosity. Kids who are taught to use critical thinking skills ask a lot of questions and never just take things at face value—they want to know the "why" behind things.

"Good critical thinking skills also can lead to better relationships, reduced distress, and improved life satisfaction," says Morin. "Someone who can solve everyday problems is likely to feel more confident in their ability to handle whatever challenges life throws their way."

How to Teach Kids to Be Critical Thinkers

Teaching kids to think critically is an important part of parenting. In fact, when we teach kids to be critical thinkers, we are also teaching them to be independent . They learn to form their own opinions and come to their own conclusions without a lot of outside influence. Here are some ways that you can teach your kids to become critical thinkers.

Be a Good Role Model

Sometimes the best way to teach your kids an important life skill is to model it in your own life. After all, kids tend to copy the behaviors they see in their parents. Be sure you are modeling critical thinking in your own life by researching things that sound untrue and challenging statements that seem unethical or unfair.

"Parents, being the critical thinkers that they are, can begin modeling critical thinking from day one by verbalizing their thinking skills," Dr. Pickerill says. "It’s great for children to hear how parents critically think things through. This modeling of critical thinking allows children to observe their parents' thought processes and that modeling lends itself to the child imitating what [they have] observed."

Play With Them

Children are constantly learning by trial and error and play is a great trial and error activity, says Dr, Pickerill. In fact, regularly playing with your child at a very young age is setting the foundation for critical thinking and the depth of their critical thinking skills will advance as they develop, she says.

"You will find your child’s thinking will be more on a concrete level in the earlier years and as they advance in age it will become more abstract," Dr. Pickerill says. "Peer play is also helpful in developing critical thinking skills but parents need to be available to assist when conflicts arise or when bantering takes a turn for the worse."

As your kids get older, you can play board games together or simply spend time talking about something of interest to them. The key is that you are spending quality time together that allows you the opportunity to discuss things on a deeper level and to examine issues critically.

Teach Them to Solve Problems

Morin says one way to teach kids to think critically is to teach them how to solve problems. For instance, ask them to brainstorm at least five different ways to solve a particular problem, she says.

"You might challenge them to move an object from one side of the room to the other without using their hands," she says. "At first, they might think it’s impossible. But with a little support from you, they might see there are dozens of solutions (like using their feet or putting on gloves). Help them brainstorm a variety of solutions to the same problem and then pick one to see if it works."

Over time, you can help your kids see that there are many ways to view and solve the same problem, Morin says.

Encourage Them to Ask Questions

As exhausting as it can be at times to answer a constant barrage of questions, it's important that you encourage your child to question things. Asking questions is the basis of critical thinking and the time you invest in answering your child's questions—or finding the answers together— will pay off in the end.

Your child will learn not only learn how to articulate themselves, but they also will get better and better at identifying untrue or misleading information or statements from others. You also can model this type of questioning behavior by allowing your child to see you question things as well.

Practice Making Choices

Like everything in life, your child will often learn through trial and error. And, part of learning to be a critical thinker involves making decisions. One way that you can get your child thinking about and making choices is to give them a say in how they want to spend their time.

Allow them to say no thank-you to playdates or party invitations if they want. You also can give them an allowance and allow them to make some choices about what to do with the money. Either of these scenarios requires your child to think critically about their choices and the potential consequences before they make a decision.

As they get older, talk to them about how to deal with issues like bullying and peer pressure . And coach them on how to make healthy choices regarding social media use . All of these situations require critical thinking on your child's part.

Encourage Open-Mindedness

Although teaching open-mindedness can be a challenging concept to teach at times, it is an important one. Part of becoming a critical thinker is the ability to be objective and evaluate ideas without bias.

Teach your kids that in order to look at things with an open mind, they need leave their own judgments and assumptions aside. Some concepts you should be talking about that encourage open-mindedness include diversity , inclusiveness , and fairness.

A Word From Verywell

Developing a critical mindset is one of the most important life skills you can impart to your kids. In fact, in today's information-saturated world, they need these skills in order to thrive and survive. These skills will help them make better decisions, form healthy relationships, and determine what they value and believe.

Plus, when you teach your kids to critically examine the world around them, you are giving them an advantage that will serve them for years to come—one that will benefit them academically, professionally, and relationally. In the end, they will not only be able to think for themselves, but they also will become more capable adults someday.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA): Results from PISA 2012 problem-solving .

Sun RC, Hui EK. Cognitive competence as a positive youth development construct: a conceptual review .  ScientificWorldJournal . 2012;2012:210953. doi:10.1100/2012/210953

Ghazivakili Z, Norouzi Nia R, Panahi F, Karimi M, Gholsorkhi H, Ahmadi Z. The role of critical thinking skills and learning styles of university students in their academic performance .  J Adv Med Educ Prof . 2014;2(3):95-102. PMID:25512928

Schmaltz RM, Jansen E, Wenckowski N. Redefining critical thinking: teaching students to think like scientists .  Front Psychol . 2017;8:459. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00459

By Sherri Gordon Sherri Gordon, CLC is a published author, certified professional life coach, and bullying prevention expert. 

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Conversations with Children! Asking Questions That Stretch Children’s Thinking

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When we ask children questions—especially big, open-ended questions—we support their language development and critical thinking. We can encourage them to tell us about themselves and talk about the materials they are using, their ideas, and their reflections.

This is the fifth and final article in this TYC series about asking questions that support rich conversations. During the past year, Conversations with Children! has documented and analyzed the many different types of questions teachers ask and the rich discussions with children that flowed from those questions. The series has explored children’s interests, considered their developmental needs, respected their cultural perspectives, and highlighted their language development and thinking.

Using an adaptation of Bloom’s Taxonomy to think about the types of questions teachers ask children, this article focuses on intentionally using questions that challenge children to analyze, evaluate, and create. This can increase the back-and-forth dialogues teachers have with children—stretching children’s thinking!

For this article, I spent the morning in a classroom of 3- and 4-year-olds, located in a large, urban elementary school in Passaic, New Jersey. All 15 children spoke both Spanish and English (with varying levels of English proficiency), as did their teacher and assistant teacher. The teachers in this classroom stretch their conversations with children, having extended exchanges in both languages by listening to and building on children’s answers.

Understanding Different Types of Questions

Bloom’s Taxonomy has long been used as a way to think about the types of questions we ask students. We have adapted it for young children. Although Remember has mostly right or wrong one-word answers and Create invites use of the imagination and answers that are complex and unique to each child, these levels are just guides. It is up to you to consider which types of questions are appropriate for each child you work with. The lower levels form the foundation for the higher ones.

identify, name, count, repeat, recall

describe, discuss, explain, summarize​

explain why, dramatize, identify with/relate to

recognize change, experiment, infer, compare, contrast

express opinion, judge, defend/criticize

make, construct, design, author

A conversation about building with cups in the makerspace

A conversation between the teacher and two children began during planning time and continued as the children built in the makerspace.

During planning time

Teacher : I am excited to see how you will build with the cups. Do you have any idea how you will build with them? ( Analyze )

Child 1 : I will show you what I can do. ( He draws his plan on a piece of paper .)

Child 2 : I want to work with the cups too.

Teacher : Maybe you can collaborate and share ideas.

Child 2 : Yeah, we can work together.

Child 1 : We can build a tower.

Teacher : I wonder how tall it will be. I am very curious. I wonder, what will you do with the cups? ( Create ) I can’t wait to see!

Later, as the first child is building

Teacher : Can you describe what you did? ( Understand )

Child : I put these two and put these one at a time and then these two.

Teacher : How did you stack these differently? ( Analyze ) (The child doesn’t respond.)

Teacher : I noticed you stacked this one and this one in a diff erent way. How did you stack them differently? ( Analyze )

Child : (He becomes excited, pointing.) I show you!

Teacher : Please demonstrate!

Child : I knew what my idea was. (He shows the teacher how he stacked the cups.)

Teacher : Can you describe what parts of the cups were touching? ( Understand )

Child : The white part. Teacher: Oh, that is called the rim of the cup. How did you stack this one? ( Apply )

Child : I was trying and trying and trying!

Teacher : So you are stacking the rims together. And how is this stack different? ( Analyze )

Child : This one is the right way and this one is down.

Teacher : Oh, this one is right side up and this one is upside down!

A conversation about creating a zoo in the block area

The children were preparing for a visit to a local zoo. After listening to the teacher read several books about zoos, one child worked on building structures in the block area to house giraff es and elephants.

Teacher : I am excited to see how you are building the enclosures.

Child : It fell down and I’m making it different.

Teacher : So it fell down and now you’re thinking about building it a different way. Architects do that; they talk about the stability of the structure. How can you make it sturdier so it doesn’t fall? ( Evaluate )

Child : I’m trying to make a watering place for the elephant to drink water. I have to make it strong so he can drink and the water doesn’t go out.

Teacher : Maybe you can be the architect and draw the plans and your friend can be the engineer and build it. How do you feel about that? ( Evaluate )

Child : I’m gonna ask him.

A conversation about coding with robots

The children had been using the Ozobot Bit, a small robot that introduces children to coding, for many months. Because these robots are programmed to follow lines and respond to specific  color patterns (e.g., coloring small segments of the line blue, red, and green will make the robot turn right), preschoolers engage in a basic form of coding just by drawing lines. In this conversation, the teacher helps a child develop his own code.

Teacher : So tell me: what do we have to do first? ( Understand )

Child : (He draws as he speaks.) You have to keep going.

Teacher : Why do we have to do it that way first? ( Apply )

Child : Because have to draw it ’fore it can go. And you don’t draw it, it don’t go nowhere. Wanna see?

Teacher : So if it’s not on the line, it won’t go anywhere. It only goes on the line.

Child : Yeah.

Teacher : Okay. So are there any rules you have to follow? What rules do I need to know? ( Apply , Analyze , Evaluate )

Child : You can’t stop it with your hand. . . . And if you want to make another one, first you have to turn it off and then you make another one. (He demonstrates with four markers how to code on the paper and then puts the robot on the line.) Now it going backwards.

Teacher : So how could you fix it so it continues? ( Analyze , Evaluate , Create )

Child : (He makes the black line on the paper thicker and retries the Ozobot, but it still stops and turns around.)

Teacher : How can you fix it? Try something else to solve the problem. What should we try next? ( Analyze , Evaluate , Create )

Child : I gonna do the whole thing again. (The child starts drawing the code.)

A conversation to stretch dramatic play

A child held a baby doll and a girl doll as the teacher entered the dramatic play area.

Teacher : Tell me about the baby. ( Apply )

Child : This girl has a baby. We going to the doctor because we all sick.

Teacher : How do you think the doctor will help you get better? ( Evaluate )

Child : The doctor has to check my heart and then he gonna check my mouth.

Teacher : So what can you do to help your friends get better after the doctor checks your mouth and heart? How will you take care of them and yourself? ( Apply , Analyze , Evaluate )

Child : They go to bed back home and go to sleep.

Teacher : And what will you do? Tell me more about that. ( Apply , Analyze , Evaluate )

Child : I’m going read them a book.

Teacher : Oh, that is such a good idea! Do you have a special book in mind? ( Understand , Apply )

Child : (She nods her head in affirmation and smiles broadly.) I have a special book. (She holds up My House: A Book in Two Languages/Mi Casa: Un Libro en Dos Lenguas , by Rebecca Emberley.)

Teacher : Will you read the book to me? I’ll pretend that I am sick and I am in the bed and you can read the book to me. (The child gives the teacher a small blanket.) You are giving me my blankie. You read and I’ll listen. ( Apply , Create ) (The child invents her own story as she turns the pages.)

As the teacher, it’s up to you, the one who knows your students best in an educational setting, to decide which questions are appropriate for which children during a particular interaction. It can be challenging to develop and ask questions that engage children in analyzing, evaluating, and creating, such as, “If you could come to school any way you wanted, how would you get here? Why?” But questions that each child will answer in her own way are well worth the effort!

Note : Thank you, Megan (teacher), Ms. Perez (assistant teacher), and all of the wonderful students who taught me so much about coding! In addition to being the teacher, Megan King is the author of the chapter “A Makerspace in the Science Area” in the book Big Questions for Young Minds: Extending Children’s Thinking . And a great big final thank-you to the five preschool classrooms that invited me into their worlds, sharing their questions and conversations with TYC readers.

Suggestions for Intentionally Stretching Conversations with Young Children Ÿ

• Make sure to allow plenty of wait time for children to process what you are saying, think about it, and answer. Give them at least a few seconds, but vary this according to the children’s needs. Ÿ  
• Listen to the children’s responses. Use active listening strategies: make eye contact, encourage children to share their ideas, and restate or summarize what they say. Ÿ  
• Ask another quesiton or make a comment after the child answers. If you aren’t sure how to respond, you can almost always say, “What else can we add to that?” or “Tell me more about that.”

More high-level questions to spark conversations

In the makerspace: Ÿ

• Which material worked better in this experiment? Why? ( Analyze ) Ÿ  
• What are some reasons your machine worked/didn’t work? How will you change it now? ( Evaluate ) Ÿ  
• What will you be constructing today? Can you draw your plans? ( Create )

In the block area: Ÿ

• How is the house you built different from/the same as your home? ( Analyze ) Ÿ  
• What do you think would happen if we removed this block to make a doorway or window? ( Evaluate ) Ÿ  
• How will you create on paper the house you want to build? What details will you write or draw so you can remember what you want to build in case you don’t have time to finish today? ( Create )

With robots: Ÿ

• Why do you think the robot got stuck? ( Evaluate ) Ÿ  
• Why didn’t the code work this time? ( Evaluate ) Ÿ  
• How will you design a game for the robots to play? ( Create )

During dramatic play:

• Ÿ How could you turn this piece of fabric into part of your costume? ( Analyze ) Ÿ  
• How could we change the house area to make it cozier for the babies? ( Evaluate ) Ÿ  
• I wrote down the story you told your patient when she said she was afraid of the dentist. Can you illustrate the story to make a picture book? ( Create )

Photographs: Courtesy of the author

Janis Strasser,  EdD, is a teacher educator and coordinator of the MEd in Curriculum and Learning Early Childhood concentration at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey. She has worked in the field of early childhood for more than 40 years.

Vol. 12, No. 3

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Child cognitive development is a fascinating and complex process that entails the growth of a child’s mental abilities, including their ability to think, learn, and solve problems. This development occurs through a series of stages that can vary among individuals. As children progress through these stages, their cognitive abilities and skills are continuously shaped by a myriad of factors such as genetics, environment, and experiences. Understanding the nuances of child cognitive development is essential for parents, educators, and professionals alike, as it provides valuable insight into supporting the growth of the child’s intellect and overall well-being.

Throughout the developmental process, language and communication play a vital role in fostering a child’s cognitive abilities . As children acquire language skills, they also develop their capacity for abstract thought, reasoning, and problem-solving. It is crucial for parents and caregivers to be mindful of potential developmental delays, as early intervention can greatly benefit the child’s cognitive development. By providing stimulating environments, nurturing relationships, and embracing diverse learning opportunities, adults can actively foster healthy cognitive development in children.

Key Takeaways

• Child cognitive development involves the growth of mental abilities and occurs through various stages.
• Language and communication are significant factors in cognitive development , shaping a child’s ability for abstract thought and problem-solving.
• Early intervention and supportive environments can play a crucial role in fostering healthy cognitive development in children.

Child Cognitive Development Stages

Child cognitive development is a crucial aspect of a child’s growth and involves the progression of their thinking, learning, and problem-solving abilities. Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget developed a widely recognized theory that identifies four major stages of cognitive development in children.

Sensorimotor Stage

The Sensorimotor Stage occurs from birth to about 2 years old. During this stage, infants and newborns learn to coordinate their senses (sight, sound, touch, etc.) with their motor abilities. Their understanding of the world begins to develop through their physical interactions and experiences. Some key milestones in this stage include object permanence, which is the understanding that an object still exists even when it’s not visible, and the development of intentional actions.

Preoperational Stage

The Preoperational Stage takes place between the ages of 2 and 7 years old. In this stage, children start to think symbolically, and their language capabilities rapidly expand. They also develop the ability to use mental images, words, and gestures to represent the world around them. However, their thinking is largely egocentric, which means they struggle to see things from other people’s perspectives. During this stage, children start to engage in pretend play and begin to grasp the concept of conservation, recognizing that certain properties of objects (such as quantity or volume) remain the same even if their appearance changes.

Concrete Operational Stage

The Concrete Operational Stage occurs between the ages of 7 and 12 years old. At this stage, children’s cognitive development progresses to more logical and organized ways of thinking. They can now consider multiple aspects of a problem and better understand the relationship between cause and effect . Furthermore, children become more adept at understanding other people’s viewpoints, and they can perform basic mathematical operations and understand the principles of classification and seriation.

Formal Operational Stage

Lastly, the Formal Operational Stage typically begins around 12 years old and extends into adulthood. In this stage, children develop the capacity for abstract thinking and can consider hypothetical situations and complex reasoning. They can also perform advanced problem-solving and engage in systematic scientific inquiry. This stage allows individuals to think about abstract concepts, their own thought processes, and understand the world in deeper, more nuanced ways.

By understanding these stages of cognitive development, you can better appreciate the complex growth process that children undergo as their cognitive abilities transform and expand throughout their childhood.

Key Factors in Cognitive Development

Genetics and brain development.

Genetics play a crucial role in determining a child’s cognitive development. A child’s brain development is heavily influenced by genetic factors, which also determine their cognitive potential , abilities, and skills. It is important to understand that a child’s genes do not solely dictate their cognitive development – various environmental and experiential factors contribute to shaping their cognitive abilities as they grow and learn.

Environmental Influences

The environment in which a child grows up has a significant impact on their cognitive development. Exposure to various experiences is essential for a child to develop essential cognitive skills such as problem-solving, communication, and critical thinking. Factors that can have a negative impact on cognitive development include exposure to toxins, extreme stress, trauma, abuse, and addiction issues, such as alcoholism in the family.

Nutrition and Health

Maintaining good nutrition and health is vital for a child’s cognitive development. Adequate nutrition is essential for the proper growth and functioning of the brain . Key micronutrients that contribute to cognitive development include iron, zinc, and vitamins A, C, D, and B-complex vitamins. Additionally, a child’s overall health, including physical fitness and immunity, ensures they have the energy and resources to engage in learning activities and achieve cognitive milestones effectively .

Emotional and Social Factors

Emotional well-being and social relationships can also greatly impact a child’s cognitive development. A supportive, nurturing, and emotionally healthy environment allows children to focus on learning and building cognitive skills. Children’s emotions and stress levels can impact their ability to learn and process new information. Additionally, positive social interactions help children develop important cognitive skills such as empathy, communication, and collaboration.

In summary, cognitive development in children is influenced by various factors, including genetics, environmental influences, nutrition, health, and emotional and social factors. Considering these factors can help parents, educators, and policymakers create suitable environments and interventions for promoting optimal child development.

Language and Communication Development

Language skills and milestones.

Children’s language development is a crucial aspect of their cognitive growth. They begin to acquire language skills by listening and imitating sounds they hear from their environment. As they grow, they start to understand words and form simple sentences.

• Infants (0-12 months): Babbling, cooing, and imitating sounds are common during this stage. They can also identify their name by the end of their first year. Facial expressions play a vital role during this period, as babies learn to respond to emotions.
• Toddlers (1-3 years): They rapidly learn new words and form simple sentences. They engage more in spoken communication, constantly exploring their language environment.
• Preschoolers (3-5 years): Children expand their vocabulary, improve grammar, and begin participating in more complex conversations.

It’s essential to monitor children’s language development and inform their pediatrician if any delays or concerns arise.

Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication contributes significantly to children’s cognitive development. They learn to interpret body language, facial expressions, and gestures long before they can speak. Examples of nonverbal communication in children include:

• Eye contact: Maintaining eye contact while interacting helps children understand emotions and enhances communication.
• Gestures: Pointing, waving goodbye, or using hand signs provide alternative ways for children to communicate their needs and feelings.
• Body language: Posture, body orientation, and movement give clues about a child’s emotions and intentions.

Teaching children to understand and use nonverbal communication supports their cognitive and social development.

Parent and Caregiver Interaction

Supportive interaction from parents and caregivers plays a crucial role in children’s language and communication development. These interactions can improve children’s language skills and overall cognitive abilities . Some ways parents and caregivers can foster language development are:

• Reading together: From an early age, reading books to children enhance their vocabulary and listening skills.
• Encouraging communication: Ask open-ended questions and engage them in conversations to build their speaking skills.
• Using rich vocabulary: Expose children to a variety of words and phrases, promoting language growth and understanding.

By actively engaging in children’s language and communication development, parents and caregivers can nurture cognitive, emotional, and social growth.

Cognitive Abilities and Skills

Cognitive abilities are the mental skills that children develop as they grow. These skills are essential for learning, adapting, and thriving in modern society. In this section, we will discuss various aspects of cognitive development, including reasoning and problem-solving, attention and memory, decision-making and executive function, as well as academic and cognitive milestones.

Reasoning and Problem Solving

Reasoning is the ability to think logically and make sense of the world around us. It’s essential for a child’s cognitive development, as it enables them to understand the concept of object permanence , recognize patterns, and classify objects. Problem-solving skills involve using these reasoning abilities to find solutions to challenges they encounter in daily life .

Children develop essential skills like:

• Logical reasoning : The ability to deduce conclusions from available information.
• Perception: Understanding how objects relate to one another in their environment.
• Schemes: Organizing thoughts and experiences into mental categories.

Attention and Memory

Attention refers to a child’s ability to focus on specific tasks, objects, or information, while memory involves retaining and recalling information. These cognitive abilities play a critical role in children’s learning and academic performance . Working memory is a vital component of learning, as it allows children to hold and manipulate information in their minds while solving problems and engaging with new tasks.

• Attention: Focuses on relevant tasks and information while ignoring distractions.
• Memory: Retains and retrieves information when needed.

Decision-Making and Executive Function

Decision-making is the process of making choices among various alternatives, while executive function refers to the higher-order cognitive processes that enable children to plan, organize, and adapt in complex situations. Executive function encompasses components such as:

• Inhibition: Self-control and the ability to resist impulses.
• Cognitive flexibility: Adapting to new information or changing circumstances.
• Planning: Setting goals and devising strategies to achieve them.

Academic and Cognitive Milestones

Children’s cognitive development is closely linked to their academic achievement. As they grow, they achieve milestones in various cognitive domains that form the foundation for their future learning. Some of these milestones include:

• Language skills: Developing vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure.
• Reading and mathematics: Acquiring the ability to read and comprehend text, as well as understanding basic mathematical concepts and operations.
• Scientific thinking: Developing an understanding of cause-and-effect relationships and forming hypotheses.

Healthy cognitive development is essential for a child’s success in school and life. By understanding and supporting the development of their cognitive abilities, we can help children unlock their full potential and prepare them for a lifetime of learning and growth.

Developmental Delays and Early Intervention

Identifying developmental delays.

Developmental delays in children can be identified by monitoring their progress in reaching cognitive, linguistic, physical, and social milestones. Parents and caregivers should be aware of developmental milestones that are generally expected to be achieved by children at different ages, such as 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 18 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, and 5 years. Utilizing resources such as the “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” program can help parents and caregivers recognize signs of delay early in a child’s life.

Resources and Support for Parents

There are numerous resources available for parents and caregivers to find information on developmental milestones and to learn about potential developmental delays, including:

• Learn the Signs. Act Early : A CDC initiative that provides pdf checklists of milestones and resources for identifying delays.
• Parental support groups : Local and online communities dedicated to providing resources and fostering connections between families experiencing similar challenges.

Professional Evaluations and Intervention Strategies

If parents or caregivers suspect a developmental delay, it is crucial to consult with healthcare professionals or specialists who can conduct validated assessments of the child’s cognitive and developmental abilities. Early intervention strategies, such as the ones used in broad-based early intervention programs , have shown significant positive impacts on children with developmental delays to improve cognitive development and outcomes.

Professional evaluations may include:

• Pediatricians : Primary healthcare providers who can monitor a child’s development and recommend further assessments when needed.
• Speech and language therapists : Professionals who assist children with language and communication deficits.
• Occupational therapists : Experts in helping children develop or improve on physical and motor skills, as well as social and cognitive abilities.

Depending on the severity and nature of the delays, interventions may involve:

• Individualized support : Tailored programs or therapy sessions specifically developed for the child’s needs.
• Group sessions : Opportunities for children to learn from and interact with other children experiencing similar challenges.
• Family involvement : Parents and caregivers learning support strategies to help the child in their daily life.

Fostering Healthy Cognitive Development

Play and learning opportunities.

Encouraging play is crucial for fostering healthy cognitive development in children . Provide a variety of age-appropriate games, puzzles, and creative activities that engage their senses and stimulate curiosity. For example, introduce building blocks and math games for problem-solving skills, and crossword puzzles to improve vocabulary and reasoning abilities.

Playing with others also helps children develop social skills and better understand facial expressions and emotions. Provide opportunities for cooperative play, where kids can work together to achieve a common goal, and open-ended play with no specific rules to boost creativity.

Supportive Home Environment

A nurturing and secure home environment encourages healthy cognitive growth. Be responsive to your child’s needs and interests, involving them in everyday activities and providing positive reinforcement. Pay attention to their emotional well-being and create a space where they feel safe to ask questions and explore their surroundings.

Promoting Independence and Decision-Making

Support independence by allowing children to make decisions about their playtime, activities, and daily routines. Encourage them to take age-appropriate responsibilities and make choices that contribute to self-confidence and autonomy. Model problem-solving strategies and give them opportunities to practice these skills during play, while also guiding them when necessary.

Healthy Lifestyle Habits

Promote a well-rounded lifestyle, including:

• Sleep : Ensure children get adequate and quality sleep by establishing a consistent bedtime routine.
• Hydration : Teach the importance of staying hydrated by offering water frequently, especially during play and physical activities.
• Screen time : Limit exposure to electronic devices and promote alternative activities for toddlers and older kids.
• Physical activity : Encourage children to engage in active play and exercise to support neural development and overall health .

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the key stages of child cognitive development.

Child cognitive development can be divided into several key stages based on Piaget’s theory of cognitive development . These stages include the sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years), preoperational stage (2-7 years), concrete operational stage (7-11 years), and formal operational stage (11 years and beyond). Every stage represents a unique period of cognitive growth, marked by the development of new skills, thought processes, and understanding of the world.

What factors influence cognitive development in children?

Several factors contribute to individual differences in child cognitive development, such as genetic and environmental factors. Socioeconomic status, access to quality education, early home environment, and parental involvement all play a significant role in determining cognitive growth. In addition, children’s exposure to diverse learning experiences, adequate nutrition, and mental health also influence overall cognitive performance .

How do cognitive skills vary during early childhood?

Cognitive skills in early childhood evolve as children progress through various stages . During the sensorimotor stage, infants develop fundamental skills such as object permanence. The preoperational stage is characterized by the development of symbolic thought, language, and imaginative play. Children then enter the concrete operational stage, acquiring the ability to think logically and solve problems. Finally, in the formal operational stage, children develop abstract reasoning abilities, complex problem-solving skills and metacognitive awareness.

What are common examples of cognitive development?

Examples of cognitive development include the acquisition of language and vocabulary, the development of problem-solving skills, and the ability to engage in logical reasoning. Additionally, memory, attention, and spatial awareness are essential aspects of cognitive development. Children may demonstrate these skills through activities like puzzle-solving, reading, and mathematics.

How do cognitive development theories explain children’s learning?

Piaget’s cognitive development theory suggests that children learn through active exploration, constructing knowledge based on their experiences and interactions with the world. In contrast, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory emphasizes the role of social interaction and cultural context in learning. Both theories imply that cognitive development is a dynamic and evolving process, influenced by various environmental and psychological factors.

Why is it essential to support cognitive development in early childhood?

Supporting cognitive development in early childhood is critical because it lays a strong foundation for future academic achievement, social-emotional development, and lifelong learning. By providing children with diverse and enriching experiences, caregivers and educators can optimize cognitive growth and prepare children to face the challenges of today’s complex world. Fostering cognitive development early on helps children develop resilience, adaptability, and critical thinking skills essential for personal and professional success.

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5 Critical Thinking Skills Every Kid Needs To Learn (And How To Teach Them)

Teach them to thoughtfully question the world around them.

Little kids love to ask questions. “Why is the sky blue?” “Where does the sun go at night?” Their innate curiosity helps them learn more about the world, and it’s key to their development. As they grow older, it’s important to encourage them to keep asking questions and to teach them the right kinds of questions to ask. We call these “critical thinking skills,” and they help kids become thoughtful adults who are able to make informed decisions as they grow older.

What is critical thinking?

Critical thinking allows us to examine a subject and develop an informed opinion about it. First, we need to be able to simply understand the information, then we build on that by analyzing, comparing, evaluating, reflecting, and more. Critical thinking is about asking questions, then looking closely at the answers to form conclusions that are backed by provable facts, not just “gut feelings” and opinion.

Critical thinkers tend to question everything, and that can drive teachers and parents a little crazy. The temptation to reply, “Because I said so!” is strong, but when you can, try to provide the reasons behind your answers. We want to raise children who take an active role in the world around them and who nurture curiosity throughout their entire lives.

Key Critical Thinking Skills

So, what are critical thinking skills? There’s no official list, but many people use Bloom’s Taxonomy to help lay out the skills kids should develop as they grow up.

Source: Vanderbilt University

Bloom’s Taxonomy is laid out as a pyramid, with foundational skills at the bottom providing a base for more advanced skills higher up. The lowest phase, “Remember,” doesn’t require much critical thinking. These are the skills kids use when they memorize math facts or world capitals or practice their spelling words. Critical thinking doesn’t begin to creep in until the next steps.

Understanding requires more than memorization. It’s the difference between a child reciting by rote “one times four is four, two times four is eight, three times four is twelve,” versus recognizing that multiplication is the same as adding a number to itself a certain number of times. Schools focus more these days on understanding concepts than they used to; pure memorization has its place, but when a student understands the concept behind something, they can then move on to the next phase.

Application opens up whole worlds to students. Once you realize you can use a concept you’ve already mastered and apply it to other examples, you’ve expanded your learning exponentially. It’s easy to see this in math or science, but it works in all subjects. Kids may memorize sight words to speed up their reading mastery, but it’s learning to apply phonics and other reading skills that allows them to tackle any new word that comes their way.

Analysis is the real leap into advanced critical thinking for most kids. When we analyze something, we don’t take it at face value. Analysis requires us to find facts that stand up to inquiry, even if we don’t like what those facts might mean. We put aside personal feelings or beliefs and explore, examine, research, compare and contrast, draw correlations, organize, experiment, and so much more. We learn to identify primary sources for information, and check into the validity of those sources. Analysis is a skill successful adults must use every day, so it’s something we must help kids learn as early as possible.

Almost at the top of Bloom’s pyramid, evaluation skills let us synthesize all the information we’ve learned, understood, applied, and analyzed, and to use it to support our opinions and decisions. Now we can reflect on the data we’ve gathered and use it to make choices, cast votes, or offer informed opinions. We can evaluate the statements of others too, using these same skills. True evaluation requires us to put aside our own biases and accept that there may be other valid points of view, even if we don’t necessarily agree with them.

In the final phase, we use every one of those previous skills to create something new. This could be a proposal, an essay, a theory, a plan—anything a person assembles that’s unique.

Note: Bloom’s original taxonomy included “synthesis” as opposed to “create,” and it was located between “apply” and “evaluate.” When you synthesize, you put various parts of different ideas together to form a new whole. In 2001, a group of cognitive psychologists removed that term from the taxonomy , replacing it with “create,” but it’s part of the same concept.

How To Teach Critical Thinking

Using critical thinking in your own life is vital, but passing it along to the next generation is just as important. Be sure to focus on analyzing and evaluating, two multifaceted sets of skills that take lots and lots of practice. Start with these 10 Tips for Teaching Kids To Be Awesome Critical Thinkers . Then try these critical thinking activities and games. Finally, try to incorporate some of these 100+ Critical Thinking Questions for Students into your lessons. They’ll help your students develop the skills they need to navigate a world full of conflicting facts and provocative opinions.

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other

This classic Sesame Street activity is terrific for introducing the ideas of classifying, sorting, and finding relationships. All you need are several different objects (or pictures of objects). Lay them out in front of students, and ask them to decide which one doesn’t belong to the group. Let them be creative: The answer they come up with might not be the one you envisioned, and that’s OK!

The Answer Is …

Post an “answer” and ask kids to come up with the question. For instance, if you’re reading the book Charlotte’s Web , the answer might be “Templeton.” Students could say, “Who helped save Wilbur even though he didn’t really like him?” or “What’s the name of the rat that lived in the barn?” Backwards thinking encourages creativity and requires a good understanding of the subject matter.

Forced Analogies

Practice making connections and seeing relationships with this fun game. Kids write four random words in the corners of a Frayer Model and one more in the middle. The challenge? To link the center word to one of the others by making an analogy. The more far out the analogies, the better!

Learn more: Forced Analogies at The Owl Teacher

Primary Sources

Tired of hearing “I found it on Wikipedia!” when you ask kids where they got their answer? It’s time to take a closer look at primary sources. Show students how to follow a fact back to its original source, whether online or in print. We’ve got 10 terrific American history–based primary source activities to try here.

Science Experiments

Hands-on science experiments and STEM challenges are a surefire way to engage students, and they involve all sorts of critical thinking skills. We’ve got hundreds of experiment ideas for all ages on our STEM pages , starting with 50 Stem Activities To Help Kids Think Outside the Box .

Not the Answer

Multiple-choice questions can be a great way to work on critical thinking. Turn the questions into discussions, asking kids to eliminate wrong answers one by one. This gives them practice analyzing and evaluating, allowing them to make considered choices.

Learn more: Teaching in the Fast Lane

Correlation Tic-Tac-Toe

Here’s a fun way to work on correlation, which is a part of analysis. Show kids a 3 x 3 grid with nine pictures, and ask them to find a way to link three in a row together to get tic-tac-toe. For instance, in the pictures above, you might link together the cracked ground, the landslide, and the tsunami as things that might happen after an earthquake. Take things a step further and discuss the fact that there are other ways those things might have happened (a landslide can be caused by heavy rain, for instance), so correlation doesn’t necessarily prove causation.

Learn more: Critical Thinking Tic-Tac-Toe at The Owl Teacher

Inventions That Changed the World

Explore the chain of cause and effect with this fun thought exercise. Start it off by asking one student to name an invention they believe changed the world. Each student then follows by explaining an effect that invention had on the world and their own lives. Challenge each student to come up with something different.

Learn more: Teaching With a Mountain View

Critical Thinking Games

There are so many board games that help kids learn to question, analyze, examine, make judgments, and more. In fact, pretty much any game that doesn’t leave things entirely up to chance (Sorry, Candy Land) requires players to use critical thinking skills. See one teacher’s favorites at the link below.

Learn more: Miss DeCarbo

This is one of those classic critical thinking activities that really prepares kids for the real world. Assign a topic (or let them choose one). Then give kids time to do some research to find good sources that support their point of view. Finally, let the debate begin! Check out 100 Middle School Debate Topics , 100 High School Debate Topics , and 60 Funny Debate Topics for Kids of All Ages .

How do you teach critical thinking skills in your classroom? Come share your ideas and ask for advice in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

Plus, check out 38 simple ways to integrate social-emotional learning throughout the day ..

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How Parents Can Teach Kids Critical Thinking

A research-based guide to help highlight the importance of critical thinking..

Posted February 21, 2020

Recent controversy over the role of social media “ swarms ” in the 2020 election have served as a new reminder — as if we needed one — that public discourse is in bad disrepair. In the last few years have seen countless incidents of people — including many who should know better — weighing in on issues prematurely with little nuance and unhelpful vitriol, being duped by badly biased information or outright fake news , and automatically attributing the worst intentions to their opponents.

Liberal democracies have always relied on flawed sources to inform the public, but not until now have we been confronted with an online medium seemingly designed to play on our biases and emotions; encourage knee-jerk reactions, groupthink , and superficiality; and distract us from deeper thinking.

Better critical thinking skills are needed to help us confront these challenges. Nevertheless, we still don’t have a good handle on what it is and, especially, how best to foster it among children of all ages.

The stakes are now higher than ever.

To address this deficit, Reboot Foundation recently put out a Parents’ Guide to critical thinking. I work for Reboot and helped on the guide that attempts to give parents and other adults the tools and understanding they need to help their kids cope with technological upheaval, acquire the skills they need to navigate an ever more complicated and information-rich world, and overcome the pitfalls of biased and emotional reasoning.

1. Starting Young

As researchers have noted for some time now, critical thinking can’t be cleanly separated from cognitive development more generally. So, although many people still think of critical thinking as something that is appropriate to teach only in college or late high school, parents and educators should actually devote attention to developing critical thinking skills at a young age.

Of course, it’s not necessary or even possible to start teaching 4-year-olds high-level logic . But there’s a lot parents can do to open up their children’s minds to the world around them. The most important thing to foster at this young age is what researchers call metacognition : awareness of one’s own thinking and thought processes.

It’s only with metacognition that children will learn to think more strategically, identify errors in their thinking patterns, and recognize their own limitations and the value of others’ perspectives. Here are some good ways to foster these habits of mind.

• Encourage kids’ curiosity by asking them lots of questions about why they think what they think. Parents should also not dismiss children’s speculative questions, but encourage them to think those questions through.
• Encourage active reading by discussing and reflecting on books and asking children to analyze different characters’ thoughts and attitudes. Emphasize and embrace ambiguity.
• Expose them as much as possible to children from different backgrounds — whether cultural, geographical, or socio-economic. These experiences are invaluable.
• Bring children into adult conversations , within appropriate limits of course, and don’t just dismiss their contributions. Even if their contributions are unsophisticated or mistaken, engage with children and help them improve.

2. Putting Emotions in Perspective

Just as children need to learn how to step back from their thought processes, they must also learn how to step back from their emotions. As we’ve seen time and again in our public discourse, emotion is often the enemy of thinking. It can lead us to dismiss legitimate evidence; to shortchange perspectives that would otherwise be valuable; and to say and do things we later regret.

When children are young (ages 5 to 9), fostering emotional management should center around learning to take on new challenges and cope with setbacks. It’s important children be encouraged to try new things and not be protected from failure. These can include both intellectual challenges like learning a new language or musical instrument and physical ones like trying out rock-climbing or running a race.

When children fail — as they will — the adults around them should help them see that failing does not make them failures. Quite the opposite: it’s the only way to become successful.

As they get older, during puberty and adolescence , emotional management skills can help them deal better with confusing physical and social changes and maintain focus on their studies and long-term goals . Critical thinking, in this sense, need not — and should not — be dry or academic. It can have a significant impact on children’s and young adults’ emotional lives and their success beyond the classroom .

3. Learning How to Be Online

Finally, critical thinking development in these challenging times must involve an online component. Good citizenship requires being able to take advantage of the wealth of information the internet offers and knowing how to avoid its many pitfalls.

Parental controls can be useful, especially for younger children, and help them steer clear of inappropriate content. But instilling kids with healthy online habits is ultimately more useful — and durable. Parents should spend time practicing web searches with their kids, teaching them how to evaluate sources and, especially, how to avoid distractions and keep focused on the task at hand.

We’ve all experienced the way the internet can pull us off task and down a rabbit hole of unproductive browsing. These forces can be especially hard for children to resist, and they can have long-term negative effects on their cognitive development.

As they get older, children should learn more robust online research skills , especially in how to identify different types of deceptive information and misinformation . Familiarizing themselves with various fact-checking sites and methods can be especially useful. A recent Reboot study found that schools are still not doing nearly enough to teach media literacy to students.

As kids routinely conduct more and more of their social lives online it’s also vital that they learn to differentiate between the overheated discourse on social media and genuine debate.

The barriers to critical thinking are not insurmountable. But if our public discourse is to come through the current upheaval intact, children, beginning at a young age, must learn the skills to navigate their world thoughtfully and critically.

Ulrich Boser is the founder of The Learning Agency and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. He is the author of Learn Better, which Amazon called “the best science book of the year.”

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Birth To 5 Matters

Guidance by the sector, for the sector

Thinking Creatively and Critically (Thinking)

Having their own ideas (creative thinking) • Thinking of ideas that are new and meaningful to the child • Playing with possibilities (what if? what else?) • Visualising and imagining options • Finding new ways to do things

Making links (building theories) • Making links and noticing patterns in their experience • Making predictions • Testing their ideas • Developing ideas of grouping, sequences, cause and effect

Working with ideas (critical thinking) • Planning, making decisions about how to approach a task, solve a problem and reach a goal • Checking how well their activities are going • Flexibly changing strategy as needed • Reviewing how well the approach worked

• Use the language of thinking and learning: think, know, remember, forget, idea, makes sense, plan, learn, find out, confused, figure out, trying to do. • Model being a thinker, showing that you don’t always know, are curious and sometimes puzzled, and can think and find out. I wonder? • Give children time to talk and think. Make time to actively listen to children’s ideas. • Encourage open-ended thinking, generating more alternative ideas or solutions, by not settling on the first suggestions: What else is possible?. • Always respect children’s efforts and ideas, so they feel safe to take a risk with a new idea and feel comfortable with mistakes. • Encourage children to question and challenge assumptions. • Help children to make links to what they already know. • Support children’s interests over time, reminding them of previous approaches and encouraging them to make connections between their experiences. • Help children to become aware of their own goals, make plans, and to review their own progress and successes. Describe what you see them trying to do, and encourage children to talk about what they are doing, how they plan to do it, what worked well and what they would change next time. • Talking aloud helps children to think and control what they do. Model self-talk, describing your actions in play. • Value questions, talk, and many possible responses, without rushing toward answers too quickly. • Sustained shared thinking helps children to explore ideas and make links. Follow children’s lead in conversation, and think about things together. • Encourage children to choose personally meaningful ways to represent and clarify their thinking through graphics. • Take an interest in what the children say about their marks and signs, talk to them about their meanings and value what they do and say. • Encourage children to describe problems they encounter, and to suggest ways to solve the problem. • Show and talk about strategies – how to do things – including problem-solving, thinking and learning. • Encourage children to reflect and evaluate their work and review their own progress and learning. • Model the plan-do-review process yourself.

• In planning activities, ask yourself: Is this an opportunity for children to find their own ways to represent and develop their own ideas? Avoid children just reproducing someone else’s ideas. • Build in opportunities for children to play with materials before using them in planned tasks. • Play is a key opportunity for children to think creatively and flexibly, solve problems and link ideas. Establish the enabling conditions for rich play: space, time, flexible resources, choice, control, warm and supportive relationships. • Recognisable and predictable routines help children to predict and make connections in their experiences. • Routines can be flexible, while still basically orderly. • Provide extended periods of uninterrupted time so that children can develop their activities. • Keep significant activities out instead of routinely tidying them away, so that there are opportunities to revisit what they have been doing to explore possible further lines of enquiry. • Plan linked experiences that follow the ideas children are really thinking about. • Represent thinking visually, such as mind-maps to represent thinking together, finding out what children know and want to know. • Develop a learning community which focuses on how and not just what we are learning. • Setting leaders should give staff time to think about children’s needs, to make links between their knowledge and practice.

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Parent Resources for Learning > How It Begins > 2-Year-Old Developmental Milestones: A Guide to Growth!

2-Year-Old Developmental Milestones: A Guide to Growth!

by Dr. Jody Sherman LeVos | May 23, 2023 | How It Begins

Two-year-olds are in an incredibly rapid time of change and development. Their brains are growing fast, and almost everything they see, hear, smell, taste, and touch is new for them, meaning new neural connections are being formed at astonishing rates. 

At Begin, we know that your child is more than just neurons. Kids are unique, multifaceted, and have limitless potential. Because our mission is to give every child their best start, the Begin Approach to early learning focuses on a broad set of skills critical for school and life success. We’ve simplified those skills into 5 C’s : Creativity , Critical Thinking , Curiosity , Character , and Core Skills .

So what do developmental milestones in those C’s look like for your 2-year-old? Let’s take a look!

The Short Cut

• 2-year-olds are developing important skills that will help them learn throughout their lives
• The 5 C’s that lead to thriving in school and life are Creativity, Critical Thinking, Curiosity, Character, and Core Skills
• For 2-year-olds, the 5 C’s can be supported through play and simple everyday interactions
• Parents can help 2-year-olds develop the 5 C’s by modeling skills like how to hold a book, how to group objects by color or function, how to recognize and name feelings, and how to count objects

Creativity is a child’s ability to come up with solutions to problems, invent new ideas, and express themselves in novel ways. Most young children are naturally creative, and chances are your child is no exception! Our job as parents and caregivers is to foster that creativity throughout their childhood to help them become creative adults.

Your 2-year-old’s creativity might look unexpected, such as coming up with solutions to obstacles they face in their everyday lives. If you’ve ever seen them find an object to stand on so they can reach a snack from the kitchen counter, that’s creativity! You may also see the emergence of pretend play, like when your child uses a banana to pretend it’s a phone. In this example, she’s creatively using one thing to substitute for another. That’s the root of symbolic understanding, critical for learning to read and comprehend other symbol systems, like pluses and minuses in math.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking includes two elements: the ability to make decisions and analyze information, and a broad set of processing skills often referred to as executive functions. These skills lay the foundation for making good decisions, understanding rules and consequences, and identifying trustworthy information versus untrustworthy information. This might sound lofty considering we’re talking about toddlers, but you’ve probably already seen these skills in action!

Before age 3, your child will likely start to group objects by a feature such as color (all the blue things) or function (all the toy cars versus all the toy animals), or even arrange them in an orderly fashion. This shows that your child is starting to pay attention to details, patterns, and ways in which things operate in the world—all part of developing more advanced critical thinking skills later. 

Another element of critical thinking is your child’s ability to remember a request for a few minutes, even with some distractions around. For example, if you ask your child to go to the other room and bring back a book, she can remember what she’s looking for and avoid picking up an exciting toy instead. Both of those abilities demonstrate developing executive functioning skills.

This one probably feels obvious! Toddlers are experts at asking “how” and “why,” and those questions are some of their primary tools for understanding the world around them. At this stage, so much of what they encounter on a daily basis is still new to them, so most 2-year-olds are naturally curious. 

Beyond asking questions, toddlers are often in full scientific exploration mode, experimenting with objects through play. You may observe your child putting things in and out of containers repeatedly (to test whether they continue to exist even when they’re out of sight, and how different sizes and shapes fit together), or even hitting you to see what happens (this one is less fun).

Curiosity is essential for developing a lifelong love of learning, and you can help your child develop it by encouraging them to explore and ask questions, and to see what they’re naturally interested in. 

Some children in this age range begin to develop deep interests in things like dinosaurs, stars, trains, and more. This is great! It gives you a hook to help teach them other things like colors, counting, and pre-reading skills. When children are intrinsically motivated to learn, which they are when they’re diving into a subject they’re curious about, they tend to learn more quickly and more deeply than if we try to teach them in ways that aren’t in line with their passions.

Children who develop Character, or social-emotional skills, in their early years tend to do better in school and life, including having more positive relationships with teachers and friends. Yet this one can feel tricky for parents, especially if you’re experiencing what so many refer to as the “terrible twos” (for the record, at Begin we don’t think any stages are terrible. Some days—and hours, and minutes, and seconds—are harder than others though). 

At age 2, your child should be learning to name her emotions so that she can communicate how she’s feeling to others. She’ll also start recognizing emotions in others based on their facial expressions, body language, and words. Being able to recognize and name others’ emotions is the basis for empathy and other foundational friendship skills. 

You may notice that your child plays beside other children and not necessarily with them. That is completely normal for this age group. It might also be hard for your child to share toys and take turns. We expect this in toddlers too! Your child may be looking to you to see how to react in new situations, and you can use this opportunity to model feelings vocabulary (“That little boy is crying because he is really sad right now. Do you know what might make him happy?”) and reactions (offering the boy a toy or smiling to cheer him up). 

Core Skills

While it may be a few years before your 2-year-old is reading and doing math, there are some really important foundational learning skills being developed at age 2 that are critical for later success. 

In terms of language and literacy, children are developing vocabulary, background knowledge, and pre-reading skills like how books work. They’re also beginning to understand that words on a page represent ideas and images, and that words are constant and convey meaning. There’s a large body of research demonstrating the importance of talking, singing, and reading to your child from the earliest ages, and your toddler will continue to benefit from these activities. 

Although every child develops differently, most 2-year-olds should be using at least 50 words and using two-word phrases. If you’re ever in doubt about your child’s development , you should speak with your child’s health care provider. 

In addition to learning and using more words through play, toddlers can learn early math skills through play as well. For example, while your toddler is stacking blocks, you can ask them how many blocks they have (object counting, which may not be present or very accurate yet), which ones are bigger or smaller (size comparisons and measurement), and which ones are on top or behind (spatial reasoning). If they haven’t learned these skills yet, demonstrate them yourself—they’ll likely start to mimic you eventually!

This kind of learning through play can be a lot of fun for you and your child. It’s adorable and exciting to watch your 2-year-old count their blocks “One, two, two, four, nine,” and the smile on your face when they do will encourage them to keep experimenting with numbers and math as they grow.

Learning Begins with Play

As you can see, there is a LOT going on during the toddler stage, and everything we’ve described above begins with—and continues to be supported by— play .

To learn more about your 2-year-old’s development and how to help them across the 5 C’s (or see what comes next at age 3 !), check out our other parent resources.

Jody has a Ph.D. in Developmental Science and more than a decade of experience in the children’s media and early learning space.

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Dr. Jody Sherman LeVos

Chief Learning Officer at Begin

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Developing Thinking Skills from 12-24 Months

• May 19, 2016

Toddlers are little scientists. They are eager to figure out how everything works. They do this through “experiments.” They might throw a ball to the ground and see that it bounces, then throw a doll to see what it will do. They also learn to use objects as tools—for example, using a stick to try to get an out-of-reach toy. And their growing memory takes on an important role in helping them learn. For example, they imitate what they see others do, even hours or days later. So watch your toddler hold a cell phone up to her ear and have a chat, grab your briefcase and put on your shoes, or even pick up the newspaper and “read” it just like she’s seen you do.

Create lots of chances for your toddler to “test out” the new ideas and concepts she is learning.

Your child will begin using her new physical skills, strength, and coordination to conduct “experiments” on the new ideas and concepts she is learning. She may stack blocks up in a teetery tower just to see how high it can get before she knocks it down. Or she may practice pouring and filling in the bathtub, which requires a steady hand and lots of hand-eye coordination.

You can see how all areas of development are connected when you see your toddler use their physical skills to explore and learn. They dump and fill, pull and push, move things around, throw and gather items, and much more. Your child’s new physical skills help increase her understanding of how things work by giving her the chance to “test out” the new ideas and concepts she is learning. So, if she carefully pours water out of her sippy cup onto the floor, it is not meant to be naughty, but is probably an experiment to see: What will happen if I do this? (Which will in turn help her learn about the use of paper towels…)

What you can do:

• Follow your child’s lead. If your child loves to be active, she will learn about fast and slow, up and down, and over and under as she plays on the playground. If she prefers to explore with her hands, she will learn the same concepts and skills as she builds with blocks or puzzles.
• Offer your toddler lots of tools for experimenting–toys and objects he can shake, bang, open and close, or take apart in some way to see how they work. Explore with water while taking a bath; fill and dump sand, toys, blocks. Take walks and look for new objects to explore—pine cones, acorns, rocks, and leaves. At the supermarket, talk about what items are hard, soft, big, small, etc.

Play pretend!

As your child gets closer to 2, he will take a very big step in his thinking skills as he develops the ability to use his imagination. This means that he can create new ideas and understand symbols. For example, he offers his bear his sippy cup showing he understands that the stuffed bear is a stand in for a real bear who can eat.

You will see your child’s ability to use his imagination in action as he goes from using objects in they way they are intended to be used–a comb for combing hair–to using them in new, creative ways. The comb might become a toothbrush for a stuffed animal. Other examples of symbolic thinking skills in action would be seeing your toddler hold up a stuffed dog and saying ruff ruff, or babble into a toy phone. He now understands that his stuffed dog is a symbol for a real dog. When he babbles into a toy phone, he understands that this is a “stand-in” for a real phone. Symbolic thinking skills are critical for learning to read as well as for understanding math concepts.

• Play pretend with your toddler. When you see him cuddling his stuffed animal, you might say: “Bear loves it when you cuddle him. Do you think he’s hungry?” Then bring out some pretend food. These kinds of activities will help build your child’s imagination.
• Provide props. Offer your child objects to play with that will help him use his imagination: dress-up clothes, animal figures, dolls, pretend food.

Help your toddler become a good problem-solver

Toddlers can use their thinking and physical skills to solve complex problems by creating and acting on a plan to reach a goal. For example, if they see a toy out of reach, they might climb on a child-safe stool to get it. Or, they might take your hand, walk you to the shelf, and point to what they want.

Your toddler is learning to solve problems when she:

• Tries to flush the toilet
• Explores drawers and cabinets
• Stacks and knocks down blocks
• Pushes buttons on the television remote control or home computer
• Pokes, drops, pushes, pulls and squeezes objects to see what will happen

Being goal oriented also means that toddlers are much less distractible than they may have been earlier. While at 9 months they may have happily turned away from the stereo if shown an interesting rattle, now most toddlers will glance at the rattle and then turn right back to the stereo. Time to do another round of child-proofing!

Your toddler can also solve problems by using her memory to apply ideas to new situations:

• Pull the cover off a toy hidden from view
• Go find the kitchen stool when she wants to reach the countertop
• Blow on her food when you say that her dinner is “hot”
• Try to get her own jacket on
• Use early sharing skills and simple language (with the help of adults) to solve problems with their peers.
• Provide the support your child needs to solve a problem but don’t do it for him. If he’s trying to make a sandcastle but the sand won’t stick, show him how to add water but don’t make the castle for him. The more he does, the more he learns. This builds thinking skills and self-confidence.
• Child-proof your house—again! Get down on your child’s level and explore in all the ways he is able to now. This will help make sure you identify and move all the things he can get to. Doing this helps ensure your child is safe and also reduces the need for lots of No’s.
• Encourage your child to take on some self-care activities—combing hair, brushing teeth, or washing her face. This helps her learn how familiar objects work and solve problems like how to hold the brush.
• Give your child the chance to help around the house. She can wipe down the counter with a towel or sponge, push a broom or mop, rake leaves. These activities give your toddler many chances to solve problems such as how to clean up messes or get rid of the leaves. They also help your toddler feel helpful which builds their self-esteem and self-confidence.

Nurture your toddler’s growing memory

As their memory improves, toddlers are able to remember some past experiences, favorite objects and people. They develop clear preferences about who, what, and how they like things. For example, your toddler may now be able to:

• Show a preference for a favorite clothing item, color, book, toy, or “lovey”.
• Show dislike or disinterest, such as moving away from something scary, like a vacuum cleaner, and then showing a fear of the vacuum some time later, even when it is off.
• Point or gesture to communicate his thoughts and feelings; for example, when given a choice between two boxes of cereal, he may point or reach toward the one he wants.
• Give your child choices. Hold up two different pairs of pajamas and say: “Do you want the rocket ship or the motorcycle pajamas tonight?” Ask your child to pick out which story he wants to hear from a selection of a few books you have chosen.
• Make a “My Day” book. Take pictures of your child doing all her everyday activities: brushing teeth, eating breakfast, playing, napping, going to the park, taking a bath, going to sleep. Snap photos of her with her caregiver or family members, like grandparents, that she is close to. Glue each photo onto a sturdy index card, punch a hole in the corner of each card, and tie securely with a short piece of ribbon. After you talk about each page, ask: What comes next? Your child will come to recognize the people, places, and activities in the book, will begin to anticipate what happens next in her day.

Allow for lots of repetition

Toddlers like to repeat actions over and over again. That’s a good thing because repetition provides the practice children need to master new skills. Repetition also strengthens the connections in the brain that help children learn. Young toddlers are learning through repetition by:

• Asking for their favorite song or story over and over
• Trying to feed you, bite after bite
• Pressing the button on an interesting toy many, many times
• Returning, again and again, to an “off-limits” activity or object—like climbing the stairs
• Follow your child’s lead. Let him do things over and over again (even if you find it tiresome!) He will let you know when he is bored and needs a new challenge. If the activity he wants to repeat is unacceptable to you (like jumping off the couch), offer another, similar activity such as jumping outside or jumping over an obstacle course you make inside using soft pillows.
• Add a new twist. If you child loves pushing buttons over and over again, find other things he can push to make something happen, like the button on a flashlight. This will expand his thinking skills even more as he sees how the same action can have a different outcome based on the object.

Be predictable.

As toddlers identify patterns in their lives, they develop expectations about the world. A child who has always been comforted when she gets a bump is likely to approach her caregiver for a kiss when she falls down. Daily routines, like naptime, bedtime, and mealtime, also help children develop sequencing skills—understanding the order in which events happen– an important literacy and math skill. The added benefit of knowing what to expect is that it helps toddlers feel safe and secure, which makes them feel confident to explore their world.

• Create predictable routines (as much as possible.) For example, bath, books, lullabies, bed. And warn your child about changes. If grandma is picking him up from childcare instead of dad, let your toddler know in advance. This shows you are sensitive to his feelings and helps him prepare for the change.
• Point out the patterns in your child’s life. For example, as you prepare for a trip to the playground: First we fill our bag with toys and snacks. Then we get our coats and shoes on. Then we lock the door behind us. Then we walk to the playground. This also shows your child how to plan and act on a series of steps to reach a goal—an important thinking skill.

Encourage your child to explore how things are similar and different

During this second year, one key way toddlers learn how the world works is by recognizing the features of different objects. This leads to the ability to start to sort and categorize. Toddlers often enjoy grouping objects that look similar, such as all their wooden blocks in one basket and all the plastic blocks in another. Your toddler is categorizing when she:

• Figures out how to fit different shapes into holes or stack rings in the right order
• Sorts objects by color, shape, size or function
• Calls all furry, four-legged animals “dogs” or all men “daddy”
• Make everyday moments chances to categorize. Have your child help with the laundry and put all socks in one pile and shirts in another. Go for a nature walk and collect leaves, pine cones, and rocks in a bag. Then sort them when you get home.
• Involve your toddler in everyday tasks. For example, setting the table together is a matching activity since each family member gets a fork, spoon, napkin, and placemat (save the knives for a grown-up). Help your child put each item on the table. Be sure to thank him and tell him what a big help he is.

What You Can Do to Encourage Your Baby’s Thinking Skills from 12 to 24 Months

Follow your child’s lead..

If your child loves to be active, she will learn about fast and slow, up and down, and over and under as she plays on the playground. If she prefers to explore with her hands, she will learn the same concepts and skills as she builds with blocks or puzzles.

Offer your toddler lots of tools for experimenting

This includes toys and objects he can shake, bang, open and close, or take apart in some way to see how they work. Explore with water while taking a bath; fill and dump sand, toys, blocks. Take walks and look for new objects to explore—pine cones, acorns, rocks, and leaves. At the supermarket, talk about what items are hard, soft, big, small, etc.

Play pretend with your toddler.

When you see him cuddling his stuffed animal, you might say: “Bear loves it when you cuddle him. Do you think he’s hungry?” Then bring out some pretend food. These kinds of activities will help build your child’s imagination.

Provide props.

Offer your child objects to play with that will help him use his imagination: dress-up clothes, animal figures, dolls, pretend food. Provide the support your child needs to solve a problem but don’t do it for him. If he’s trying to make a sandcastle but the sand won’t stick, show him how to add water but don’t make the castle for him. The more he does, the more he learns. This builds thinking skills and self-confidence.

Child-proof your house–again.

Get down on your child’s level and explore in all the ways he is able to now. This will help make sure you identify and move all the things he can get to. Doing this helps ensure your child is safe and also reduces the need for lots of “No’s.”

Encourage your child to take on some self-care activities

Such as combing hair, brushing teeth, or washing her face. This helps her learn how familiar objects work and solve problems like how to hold the brush.

Give your child the chance to help around the house.

She can wipe down the counter with a towel or sponge, push a broom or mop, rake leaves. These activities give your toddler many chances to solve problems: Is the spill all wiped up? How do you pull a leaf bag out of the box for Daddy? They also help your toddler feel helpful which builds their self-esteem and self-confidence.

Give your child choices.

Hold up two different pairs of pajamas and say: “Do you want the rocket ship or the motorcycle pajamas tonight?” Ask your child to pick out which story he wants to hear, from a selection of a few books you have chosen.

Make a “My Day” book.

Take pictures of your child doing all her everyday activities: brushing teeth, eating breakfast, playing, napping, going to the park, taking a bath, going to sleep. Snap photos of her with her caregiver or family members, like grandparents, that she is close to. Glue each photo onto a sturdy index card, punch a hole in the corner of each card, and tie securely with a short piece of ribbon. As you look at each page, ask: “What comes next?” Your child will come to recognize the people, places, and activities in the book, will begin to anticipate what happens next in her day.

Let him do things over and over again (even if you find it tiresome!) He will let you know when he is bored and needs a new challenge. If the activity he wants to repeat is unacceptable to you (like jumping off the couch), offer another, similar activity: jumping outside or jumping over an obstacle course you make inside using soft pillows.

Add a new twist.

If you child loves pushing buttons over and over again, find other things he can push to make something happen like the button on a flashlight. This will expand his thinking skills even more as he sees how the same action can have a different outcome based on the object.

Make everyday moments chances to categorize.

Have your child help with the laundry and put all socks in one pile and shirts in another. Go for a nature walk and collect leaves, pine cones, and rocks in a bag. Then sort them when you get home.

Involve your toddler in everyday tasks.

For example, setting the table together is a matching activity since each family member gets a fork, spoon, napkin, and placemat (save the knives for a grown-up). Help your child put each item on the table. Be sure to thank him and tell him what a big help he is.

Parent-Child Activities that Promote Thinking Skills

Create an obstacle course..

Lay out boxes to crawl through, stools to step over, pillows to jump on top of, low tables to slither under. Describe what your child is doing as he goes through the course. This helps him understand these concepts.

Play red light/green light.

Cut two large circles, one from green paper and one from red. Write “stop” on the red and “go” on the green, and glue them (back to back) over a popsicle stick holder. This is your traffic light. Stand where your child has some room to move toward you, such as at the end of a hallway. When the red sign is showing, your child must stop but when she sees green, she can GO. Alternate between red and green. See if your child wants to take a turn being the traffic light.

Build big minds with “big blocks”.

Gather together empty boxes of all sorts—very big (like a packing box), medium-sized (shirt or empty cereal boxes), and very small (like a cardboard jewelry box). Let your child stack, fill, dump and explore these different boxes. Which can he fit inside? Which are the best for stacking? Can he put the big boxes in one pile and the small boxes in another?

Make a puzzle.

Make two copies of a photo of your child. Glue one of the photos to sturdy cardboard and cut it into three simple pieces. Put the puzzle together in front of your child. Show her the uncut photo. Put them side by side. Wait and watch to see what she will do. Eventually, she will touch or move the puzzle. With your guidance and help, is she able to put it back together?

Frequently Asked Questions

My 18-month-old is obsessed with our remote control. why does she always go back to it, even when i try to distract her with other toys.

Such is the way with toddlers: Their most frustrating behaviors are often both normal and developmentally appropriate. At this age, your child is working very hard to make sense of her world. One of the most important ways she does that is by watching and then imitating what you do. You are her first and most important teacher. She sees you say “thank you” to the grocery clerk so she learns to say “thank you” too. She watches you sweep the floors and she picks up a broom to help. Unfortunately, you can’t turn this desire to imitate on and off. So when your child sees you touching the remote control, she wants to touch it, too. After all, it must be a good thing if you’re doing it!

What do children love electronics so much?

You’ll notice that many toys designed for children this age have features they can explore through touch, such as buttons and raised textures—just like most electronics. However, toddlers almost always prefer to play with the real life objects they see you using which is why they go for remotes, cell phones, etc. Toddlers are learning that to be successful, they need to find out how things work. And electronics make for very interesting props. After all, playing with buttons on the remote offers the exciting possibility that–poof!–the magical machine will come alive. Think of how empowering and exciting this is for your child. But it can also drive you crazy! So now is the time to make sure that all “off-limits” electronics are child-proofed or kept out of the way of little hands. However, be sure to offer your child other objects or toys with buttons and other gadgets that he can make work.

How can I get my toddler to stop going for off-limits objects?

Unfortunately, toddlers simply lack the self-control necessary to resist the wonderful temptation of electronic gadgets and other off-limits items (like shiny picture frames or pointy plugs that fit so nicely into those holes in the wall). While toddlers can understand and respond to words such as “no”, they don’t yet have the self-control to stop their behavior, or to understand the consequences if they don’t. Patience is important, since after telling your toddler 20 times not to play with the remote, chances are she’ll still go for it again. Most children don’t even begin to master controlling their impulses until about age 2 ½.

If the object your child is after isn’t likely to pose a danger to him (such as a remote control–although the batteries are a danger if she puts them into her mouth), the decision of how to set limits is yours. Some parents choose to keep all of these gadgets out of reach and don’t allow their children to touch them until they are older. Or, you could allow your child to use them under your close supervision, such as having your child turn the TV on when you’re planning to watch a show and turning it off when you’re through. This models for your child that there are times when using this equipment is okay and times when it’s not.

What’s most important is that you recognize your child’s needs (learning cause and effect, imitating you) and help her meet them in ways that are acceptable to you.

My father recently died, and I’ve been dealing with it okay, but I’m not sure what to do concerning my 20-month-old. When we go to my parents’ house, she asks for Pop-Pop and we tell her he’s not home. However, I can’t keep doing this. I don’t want her to forget her grand-dad, but how can you explain to a baby that someone has died?

This must be a difficult time as you cope with your own feelings and try to make sense of it all for your young child. Helping her understand what has happened to Pop-Pop is indeed a challenge, as 20-month-olds can’t comprehend the idea of death, or even that they will never see someone again. At the same time, children are very tuned in to the feelings of the important adults in their lives, so it is likely that your child, no matter how well you’re handling your Dad’s death, understands that something sad has happened. It is important that what she is sensing is acknowledged.

Since a 20-month-old can’t understand death, trying to explain it to her would probably cause her more confusion and anxiety. Instead focus on addressing her feelings. What’s most important for your daughter at this time is for you to say something like, “Pop-pop isn’t here. I miss him too.” At this time she won’t be able to understand more.

As your child gets closer to 3, she will likely start to ask questions about what happened to her grandfather. You can then explain that Pop-pop is not coming back; that he died, which means that his body stopped working. Tell her this happens when people are very old or sick and doctors and nurses can’t make their bodies work anymore. You can explain that Pop-pop couldn’t do things like eat or play outside anymore. This gives her a context she can relate to. If she asks whether Pop-pop will ever come back, you should tell her the truth–that he won’t. If your child asks whether you or she or others that she loves will die, you can explain that your bodies are healthy and strong so you are not going to die now.

How should I answer my child’s questions about where her Pop-pop is?

Answer your daughter’s questions based on what you think she can understand. Start with something along the lines of: “Pop-pop isn’t here. I miss him too.” As your child gets older and her questions get more mature, your responses will change accordingly until you feel you are ready to tell her: “Pop-pop died. That means that his body stopped working and the doctors and nurses couldn’t make him better.”

Keep your responses brief. A mistake many parents make is giving more information than their child can process. On the other hand, some parents are tempted not to talk about a deceased person for fear that it will upset the child or themselves. But, of course, avoiding the topic doesn’t make the memories or feelings go away. It just deprives your child of the opportunity to make sense of the experience.

How can I help her keep the memory of her grandfather alive?

When your daughter is old enough, share photos, tell stories, and draw pictures of Pop-Pop. You can also have her do something in your father’s memory. Send off a balloon that says, “I love you”. Or have her help you plant a rose bush, for instance, if her grandfather loved flowers. Reading books about loss can also be very helpful. Some good books include When a Pet Dies by Fred Rogers (Puffin, 1998), When Dinosaurs Die by Laurie Krasny and Marc Brown (Little Brown & Co., 1998), and About Dying by Sara Bonnett Stein (Walker & Co., 1985).

Does my toddler have a “short attention span” because she won’t sit for a story for more than a minute?

It is perfectly normal for toddlers to not sit still very long–period. Most don’t like to stay in one place for long now that they can explore in so many new ways– by running, jumping and climbing. So, an adult’s idea of snuggling on the couch to hear a story may not be the same idea a toddler has for story-time. You may only be able to read or talk about a few pages in a book at a time.

Here are some ways to engage active children in reading:

• Read a book at snack times when your child may be more likely to sit for longer.
• Offer your child a small toy to hold in her hand—such as a squishy ball—to keep her body moving while you read.
• Read in a dramatic fashion, exaggerating your voice and actions. This often keeps toddlers interested.
• Get your child active and moving by encouraging her to join in on familiar phrases or words, act out an action in the story, or find objects on the page. These “activities” can help their attention stay focused.
• Choose stories that have the same word or phrase repeated. The repetition helps toddlers look forward to hearing the familiar phrase again and also develops their memory and language skills. Encourage her to “help” you read when you get to this refrain.
• Try books that invite action on the part of the child, such as pop-up books, touch-and-feel books, and books with flaps and hidden openings for them to explore.

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Mikkaka Overstreet

Mikkaka Overstreet is from Louisville, Kentucky by way of Saginaw “Sagnasty”, Michigan. She has been an educator since 2006 and earned her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction in 2015. By day she is a mild-mannered literacy specialist. By night she sleeps. In between, she daydreams, writes fiction, and reads books. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband and cats.

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Unfortunately, there are people and groups more interested in an industrious than a thoughtful population. The general public doesn’t agree on the purpose of public education . Neither, it seems, do education stakeholders. During recent remarks, North Carolina State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt declared 2022 “the year of the workforce.”

Truitt explained, “We have got to redefine what the purpose of K–12 education is. Some would say it’s to produce critical thinkers, but my team and I believe that the purpose of a public K–12 education is to prepare students for the postsecondary plans of their choice so that they can be a functioning member of the workforce.”

While that statement makes my skin crawl, it’s more than unsettling: it’s contradictory. Employers regularly cite problem-solving and critical thinking skills as ideal qualities they seek in employees. According to a study from the Association of American Colleges and Universities , 95% of employers view critical thinking specifically as “very important” or “somewhat important.” Thus, preparing kids to think critically is preparing them for the workforce — and beyond.

Undoubtedly, our society needs more critical thinkers . We have lots of problems, both old and new, that will require innovative solutions. The following books will help encourage the next generation of big thinkers.

10 Children’s Books That Promote Critical Thinking

The Year We Learned to Fly by Jacqueline Woodson and Rafael López

The incomparable Jacqueline Woodson has done it again. In this newly released children’s book, readers journey into the vivid imaginations of the central characters. Woodson tells the story of children stuck inside because of bad weather. Rather than succumb to boredom, the children use their imaginations to escape the confines of their apartment. Surely, this will inspire children to dream big.

What Do You Do With An Idea? by Kobi Yamada and Mae Besom

This inspiring picture book centers on a child with an idea. We get to follow the child as they nurture the idea and watch it grow. Undoubtedly, this simple story will resonate with anyone who has ever been afraid to share their big dreams with the world.

Shadow by Suzy Lee

This gorgeous wordless picture book is a guaranteed hit. The young protagonist uses her imagination and her shadow to create a fantasy world. Mirrored illustrations show both the true objects and the magical world the girl has built.

Going Places by Peter H. Reynolds and Paul A. Reynolds

I’m a big fan of Peter H. Reynolds’s work. He has a whimsical style and encourages creativity and self-love in his several excellent picture books. In this story, written with his twin brother, Reynolds introduces us to another uniquely wonderful protagonist. Maya enters a go-cart competition and must create a winning vehicle out of one of the identical kits given to all contestants. Of course, Maya doesn’t think inside the box she’s given. This is another fun story with a great lesson.

Mistakes Are How I Learn by Kiara Wilson

As we all know, mistakes are a part of the learning process. In this encouraging book, Wilson reminds kids to give themselves grace and space to make mistakes. Similar to The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes , this book is a good reminder for little perfectionists.

Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld

This picture book takes the well-known duck or rabbit puzzle and tells a story. Obviously, readers will feel compelled to see both sides of this argument. This is a humorous introduction to considering varying viewpoints.

Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young

In this Caldecott Honor winner, seven blind mice try to determine the identity of an unfamiliar object. In Young’s take on the classic Indian tale, each mouse only gathers partial information. Of course, it takes the wisdom of the seventh mouse to put the pieces together and solve the puzzle.

What To Do With A Box by Jane Yolen and Chris Sheban

You can probably guess what’s going to happen in this book, right? Clearly, there’s a metaphor here. Enjoy all the things a child can imagine with outside-of-the-box thinking in this rhythmic tale.

They All Saw A Cat by Brendan Wenzel

This book brilliantly executes a creative concept. Using strange and gorgeous illustrations, Wenzel depicts how differently individuals can perceive the same object. Consequently, readers are pushed to consider multiple viewpoints and how our perceptions color what we see.

Solutions for Cold Feet and Other Little Problems by Carey Sookocheff

Follow one little girl and her dog through the challenges of a normal day in this fun story. The girl asks lots of questions and persists when she encounters problems. This tale will inspire kiddos to see problem-solving as a positive and necessary part of life.

Hopefully, you’ve found something on this list that inspires you to think and dream. If you’d like more content like this, check out 7 Board Books for Woke Babies and 10 Science Books for Curious Kiddos . Read, think, and dream BIG!

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Critical Thinking: How to Grow Your Child’s Mind

by Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD

Ability to seek and acquire new knowledge, skills, and ways of understanding the world.

Critical Thinking

Inquisitiveness, love of learning, open-mindedness.

Is critical thinking for kids? Absolutely! The art of critical thinking begins in childhood. What kind of thinker is your child?  Does he believe everything on TV?  Does she always figure out how to get what she wants? 

Does he ask questions?  Does she go along with what her friends suggest?  You can help develop your child’s critical thinking skills by learning a few key guidelines!

Whether your child is just starting summer vacation or in the midst of the school year, parents can help keep minds active in fun ways. Critical thinking skills don’t fully develop until adolescence, but the foundations for good thinking develop in younger children.

The nonprofit Foundation for Critical Thinking cultivates core intellectual virtues that lead to fair-minded thinking.  They have identified three ways K-6 children typically think.

• Naïve Nancy doesn’t believe she needs to think because her parents do it for her! She believes most things she hears on TV, doesn’t ask questions, and goes along with what her friends decide.
• Selfish Sam thinks a lot because it gets him what he wants. He believes whatever is necessary to achieve his goals, regardless of whether it hurts others. He figures out how to get other kids to do what he wants them to do. Sam is a clever manipulator of adults and other children.
• Fair-minded Fran thinks a lot because it helps her learn. She knows she can’t always believe what people say or what she sees and hears on TV. Fran thinks about others as well as herself.  She is motivated to understand other people’s situations and attempts to put herself in their shoes.

Critical Thinking for Kids

What is critical thinking? Critical thinking comprises a number of different skills that help us learn to make decisions. It is the ability to evaluate information to determine whether it is right or wrong.  To think critically about an issue or a problem means to be open-minded and consider alternative ways of looking at solutions. As children grow into pre-adolescents and teenagers, their critical thinking skills will help them make judgments independently of parents.

To be good at thinking, children must believe that thinking is fun and want to be good at it. Parents can make thinking fun throughout the academic year as well as during the summer and on vacations. Good thinkers practice thinking just like they practice basketball or soccer.

You can talk about these ways of thinking with your children by watching this video together. Afterwards, have a discussion about how they can practice being like Fair-Minded Fran.

5 Ways to Help Kids Think Critically

The Foundation for Critical Thinking developed a short series of five “Intellectual Standards,” ways of helping elementary-aged children learn to think better.  Teach these standards to your kids, and then interact with them in ways that reinforce the five standards.

• Invite them to BE CLEAR by asking for explanations and examples when they don’t understand something.  Let children know it is okay to be confused and ask questions.
• Urge kids to BE ACCURATE, to check to see if something is true by researching the facts.
• Encourage children to BE RELEVANT by discussing other topics that are pertinent to the discussion or problem at hand.  Help them stay on track by linking related and meaningful information to the question they are trying to answer or the topic they are learning about.
• Support your child’s ability to BE LOGICAL.  Help her see how things fit together.  Question how she came to her conclusions and whether her assumptions are correct.
• Set expectations that your child BE FAIR.  Promote empathy in his thinking processes.  Make sure he considers others when drawing conclusions.

An excellent video to share with your K-6 aged child reviews these five standards in ways that children can understand. Once parents and children speak a common language about the standards of critical thinking, employ them throughout the year and especially during the summer months!  Along with having fun, your child’s mind will learn to think critically about the world!

Photo Credit: JoeBenjamin

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(This article was originally published in 2011 and was updated with new content in 2018)

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Decision-making, problem-solving.

Published: April 11, 2018

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About the author.

Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD, is founder of Roots of Action and author of Tomorrow's Change Makers: Reclaiming the Power of Citizenship for a New Generation . A developmental psychologist and researcher, she writes for Psychology Today and Edutopia on positive youth development, K-12 education, and family-school-community partnerships. Website // @DrPriceMitchell // Facebook

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85 Fun Critical Thinking Questions for Kids & Teens

Have you ever thought about using fun questions to practice critical thinking?

Students may need a little guidance to think their way through questions that lack straightforward answers.

But it is that process that is important!

How the Right Questions Encourage Critical Thinking

Every parent knows how natural it is for children to ask questions. 

It should be encouraged. After all, asking questions helps with critical thinking.

As they grow older, however, training them to answer questions can be equally beneficial.

Posing questions that encourage kids to analyze, compare, and evaluate information can help them develop their ability to think critically about tough topics in the future. 

Of course, critical thinking questions for kids need to be age-appropriate—even better if you can mix a little fun into it!

That’s what I hope to help you with today. I’ve organized the questions below into three different ages groups:

• Upper elementary
• Middle school
• High school 

Get a Question-Based Critical Thinking Exercise—Free!

Introduce critical thinking gently & easily with thought-provoking exercises.

Upper Elementary

Students in upper elementary grades can be reluctant to put themselves out there, especially with answers that seem weird. 

In some cases, such hesitancy is actually fear of differing from their peers (and a barrier to critical thinking ). 

But that’s exactly why it’s important to practice answering ambiguous questions. 

We want our children to stand firm for their beliefs—not cave to peer pressure. 

Additionally, students may feel uneasy about answering serious questions, uncertain of tackling “big” problems. 

However, with careful use of creative questions for kids, it’s possible to engage even the most reluctant children in this age group. 

The idea is to simply get them interested in the conversation and questions asked.

If you have an especially reserved student, try starting with the funny critical thinking questions. 

Humor is a natural icebreaker that can make critical thinking questions more lighthearted and enjoyable. 

Of course, most younger kids just like to be silly, so playing upon that can keep them active and engaged.

With that said, here are some great questions to get you started:

1. Someone gives you a penguin. You can’t sell it or give it away. What do you do with it?

2. What would it be like if people could fly?

3. If animals could talk, what question would you ask? 

4. If you were ice cream, what kind would you be and why?

5. Do you want to travel back in time? If yes, how far back would you go? If no, why not?

6. What could you invent that would help your family? 

7. If you could stay up all night, what would you do?

8. What does the man on the moon do during the day?

9. What makes something weird or normal? 

10. Can you describe the tastes “salty” and “sweet” without using those words?

11. What does it feel like to ride a rollercoaster?

12. What makes a joke funny?

13. What two items would you take if you knew you would be stranded on an island and why?

14. Do you have a favorite way of laughing?

15. What noise makes you cringe and cover your ears? Why?

16. If you could be the parent for the day, what would you do?

17. If you could jump into your favorite movie and change the outcome, which one would you pick and why?

18. If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?

19. What makes a day “perfect”?

20. If you owned a store, what kind of products would you sell?

21. If your parents were your age, would you be friends with them?

22. Would you still like your favorite food if it tasted the same as always, but now had an awful smell?

23. What would you do if you forgot to put your shoes on before leaving home?

24. Who would you be if you were a cartoon character?

25. How many hot dogs do you think you could eat in one sitting?

26. If you could breathe under water, what would you explore?

27. At what age do you think you stop being a kid?

28. If you had springs in your legs, what would you be able to do?

29. Can you describe the color blue to someone if they’re blind?

Middle School

At this point, students start to acquire more complex skills and are able to form their own conclusions based on the information they’re given. 

However, we can’t expect deep philosophical debates with 12 and 13 year olds. 

That said, as parent-teachers, we can certainly begin using more challenging questions to help them examine and rationalize their thought processes. 

Browse the fun critical thinking questions below for students in this age range. 

You might be surprised to see how receptive middle school kids can be to such thought-provoking (yet still fun) questions .

30. What would happen if it really did rain cats and dogs?

31. What does it mean to be lucky?

32. If you woke up in the middle of a dream, where would you be?

33. Is it ever okay to lie? Why or why not?

34. If you were solely responsible for creating laws, what one law would you make?

35. What makes a person a good friend?

36. What do you think is the most important skill you can take into adulthood?

37. If you had to give up lunch or dinner, which would you choose? Why?

38. How much money would you need to be considered rich?

39. If you knew you wouldn’t get caught, would you cheat on a test?

40. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?

41. What is your greatest strength? How is that an asset?

42. If you had an opportunity to visit the International Space Station, would you do it?

43. Is it better to keep the peace or speak your mind?

44. Imagine yourself as your favorite animal. How would you spend your day?

45. Would you be friends with someone who didn’t have the same values as you?

46. How much screen time do you think is too much?

47. Can you describe your favorite color without naming it?

48. If you suddenly became blind, would you see things differently?

49. Would you ever go skydiving?

50. Describe the time you were the happiest in your life. Why did this make you happy?

51. If you had a million dollars, what would you do?

52. If you had to move to a new city, would you change how you present yourself to others?

53. What do you need to do in order to be famous?

54. If you could rewrite the ending of your favorite book or movie, what changes would you make?

55. How would you tackle a huge goal?

56. How would you sell ice to an eskimo in Alaska successfully?

57. What makes you unique?

High School

Critical thinking takes on an entirely different role once students reach high school. 

At this age, they have a greater sense of right and wrong (and what makes things so) as well as a better understanding of the world’s challenges.

Guiding teens to delve deeper and contemplate such things is an important part of developing their reasoning and critical thinking skills. 

Whether it’s fun questions about hypothetical superpowers or tough critical thinking questions about life, older teens typically have what it takes to think their way to a logical conclusion . 

Of course, use your discernment as you choose discussion topics, but here are some questions to help get you started:

58. How can you avoid [common problem] in the future?

59. Do you think it’s okay to take a life in order to save 5, 10, 20 or more people?

60. If you could go back and give your younger self advice, what would it be?

61. Is it better to give or receive a gift?

62. How important is it to be financially secure? Why?

63. If it was up to you, what one rule would you change in your family?

64. What would you do if a group of friends wanted to do something that you thought was a bad idea?

65. How do you know that something is a fact rather than an opinion?

66. What would it take to get you to change your mind?

67. What’s the most important thing in your life?

68. If money were of no concern, what job would you choose and why?

69. How do you know if you’re happy?

70. Do you think euthanasia is moral?

71. What is something you can do today that you weren’t able to do a year ago?

72. Is social media a good thing or not?

73. Is it right to keep animals in a zoo?

74. How does your attitude affect your abilities?

75. What would you do if you found out a friend was doing something dangerous?

76. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Why?

77. What will life on Earth look like in 50 years?

78. Which is more important, ending world hunger or global warming?

79. Is it a good idea to lower the voting age to 16? Why or why not?

80. If the electrical power went out today, how would you cook if using wood wasn’t an option?

81. If you could magically transport yourself to any other place, where would that be and why?

82. When should teenagers be able to stay out all night?

83. Does the number zero actually exist?

84. What defines a generous person?

85. Does an influential person influence everyone?

Feel free to print out these fun critical thinking questions and incorporate them into your homeschool week!

will your children recognize truth?

About the author.

Jordan Mitchell

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Executive Function

Executive function skills by age, october 14, 2021.

Many times, parents fall to one end of the spectrum; they expect too much or too little from their child.

We created The Childhood Collective blog to bring you simple, science-backed strategies to help you and your child with ADHD thrive!

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Over the past few months, we have been sharing about executive function:  what they are ,  why they are so important , and  how we as parents can support children with ADHD with these skills.  One question we consistently hear from parents is,  “How do I know what skills are appropriate for my child at a certain age?”  This is a  great  question! Many times, parents fall to one end of the spectrum; either they expect too much from their child, or they assume that their child cannot do tasks independently. Parents can actually end up “over-helping,” and accidentally make children more dependent on their parents. Oops, I know that is NOT your goal!

To help you understand where your child should be in their development, we have information about what you can expect at various ages. Before we start, it is SO important to understand that every child is different! Executive function skills develop differently in everyone, so keep in mind that your child may not be ready for the “age appropriate” tasks. That’s ok! Just drop back a level or two and meet them wherever they are. For the descriptions that are longer periods of time (age 6-11, for example), keep in mind that these skills are constantly developing. So we would not expect a 7-year-old to be doing everything in that stage.

OK, here we go! Starting with babies and all the way up through age 18 and beyond, here are some guidelines for how and when the executive functions develop:

Babies (6-12 months) 

Babies are already developing executive function skills! It’s amazing to see how quickly a crying baby can settle down when they are comforted by a preferred caregiver, which is the emergence of  emotional control . Since babies aren’t able to self-soothe very well, they rely on familiar people around them to help them manage their emotions. Babies are also developing  working memory  as they learn to recognize family members’ faces or show a preference for certain toys/activities. As they learn to track objects with their eyes or watch your face when you sing rhymes with them, they are developing  attention. 

Appropriate tasks for a 6-12 month old include:

• Beginning to understand cause and effect. In other words, your baby is learning that their behavior has an immediate, visible effect on the world around them. For example, you can introduce your baby to rattles or bells that make sound when they shake them. Babies also love pop-up toys or toys that move/spin, such as a gear spinner.
• Games like Peek-A-Boo teach babies to attend to your face and anticipate what is coming next, so they can learn a routine. These interactive games also help them recognize and respond to emotions of those around them.
• At this age, babies should participate in the feeding process; whether you are a proponent of self-feeding or parent-led, babies should be turning their head toward the food and reaching toward preferred foods.

Toddlers (1-2 years)

Toddlers are busy creatures! At this age, they explore the world and learn almost everything through play. As they learn to interact with their environment and people around them, they are learning how to problem solve ( shift ), express preferences, and protest appropriately ( inhibition ). They are also learning to communicate their feelings and will often have big reactions to minor problems… which can be SO frustrating as a parent!

I will never forget one Valentine’s Day when my daughter was almost two years old. My husband and I were so excited to celebrate by making her a special breakfast. We put whipped cream and strawberries on a waffle. Of course, she took one look at my creation and burst into tears. Since we didn’t have any more waffles in the house, she continued to cry and tantrum for about 20 minutes. All because I had made a “yucky waffle”. Real talk, I was ready to throw the waffle in the trash can. Maybe I did, I honestly don’t remember how that outburst even ended. Looking back now, we can laugh about it… but let’s just say that at 22 months, she hadn’t even started to master the executive function of  emotional control !  

Appropriate tasks for a 1-2 year old include:

• Assisting with simple self-care activities, such as washing hands, brushing hair, or getting a diaper before being changed.
• Simple one- or two-step, routine instructions, such as “Go get your shoes” or “Pick out a book and sit on the couch.”
• Imitating other peoples’ words, actions, and facial expressions: children at this age are becoming master imitators. This is an important way that they learn about expectations and how to navigate the world. You can turn imitation into a fun game by imitating your child and smiling at them. Make it very obvious that you are imitating them. Once they catch on, they will probably imitate you right back!
• Looking at books and attending to the pictures: reading to your child daily will improve your child’s executive function skills, including  organization, attention, and emotional control.

Preschoolers (3-5 years)

During the preschool years, the executive functions that relate to social interaction are developing very quickly. Between the ages of 3 and 5, kids are learning to negotiate, compromise, stand up for themselves, and persuade other people to see their viewpoint. They can be very persistent when they really want something! Preschoolers are becoming better at  emotional control  and  shift.  They are also learning to keep their hands to themselves, wait their turn, and follow the group plan ( self-monitoring and inhibition ).

Because kids love to know about “rules” at this age, it’s easier to introduce the concept of “everything has a place”. For example, you can teach your child that the hairbrush always goes in the top bathroom drawer. Jackets hang on a hook in the hallway. If you are consistent at putting things in the same place ( organization ), they can learn the same expectation and it will make life much easier down the road!

Age-appropriate tasks for a 3-5 year old include: 

• Simple self-care routines, such as brushing teeth (with an “audit” from the parents), washing hands, and brushing hair.
• Putting laundry into the hamper after changing clothes.
• Putting shoes and toys in the correct spot after using them.
• Setting the table with kid-friendly dishes. This is a great way to support executive function. The child has to picture what the final result should look like in order to successfully complete this task.
• Identifying and responding to another person’s emotion, such as someone crying or yelling.
• Help with cooking, such as pouring or measuring items. For this one, keep in mind that the  process  is more important than the  end result  – so if you are trying to make a perfect meal, this may not be the time to invite your child to help. If you are comfortable picking a few egg shells out of the scrambled eggs before cooking, you will be amazed at how excited your child is about helping you crack the eggs or use a whisk!
• This is a good age to start introducing visual routines, especially for those challenging parts of the day (think: hectic bedtimes… chaotic mornings…). In our printable shop, we have beautiful, customizable routines that you can print, personalize, and start using today. 

Elementary Age (approximately 6-11 years)

At this age, children are quickly developing executive functions that relate to academic work. As they are exposed to literature and school-based concepts, they use  working memory  to recall and integrate information into their current knowledge. They use  planning  and  organization  to keep track of their own things and manage their own time with school-based assignments. For long-term projects or group work, they develop  initiation  to begin a task, even if it isn’t motivating.

At this age, children are really starting to internalize time, so they are learning to estimate how long things should take. For help with this concept, check out one of our favorite tools: The Time Timer (affiliate link; save 5% with code: TCC). Socially, school-age children continue to develop emotional control  and  inhibition  which are much needed for successful social interaction. {For one of our best relaxation/meditation tools to help with emotional control, click here and use “TCC” to get 5% off!}. 

Age-appropriate tasks for elementary school-age children include: 

• Multi-step tasks such as cleaning a bedroom, helping with yard work, or sorting laundry into piles.
• Managing homework and projects with support from parents; as they reach 1 st  grade and beyond, children can use a calendar or planner to break tasks down.
• Increasing independence in self-care routines such as showering, bathing, and dressing. For visual routines to help with independence, check out our printable shop . 
• Gathering materials for an event or project (e.g., soccer game, poster board presentation) and making sure they have everything they will need.
• Inhibition of inappropriate behaviors at school; learning to raise their hand, use the restroom during breaks, not talking during class.
• Ability to “go with the flow” and change plans as needed; typically, there are less tantrums in this age range as children learn to be more flexible.

Middle School through High School (approximately 12-18 years)

During this stage, children are rapidly developing their critical thinking abilities and ability to manage their time (affiliate link; use code: TCC for 5% off!).  They learn to understand several different perspectives and manage competing priorities at school and during extra-curriculars ( shift ) . It is expected that by middle school, children show  inhibition  and follow the rules related to each situation, such as school or clubs.  Task-monitoring and planning  become increasingly important as projects and assignments get longer, requiring more complex steps in order to complete the task. As teenagers go through high school, they are expected to develop goals and  initiate the steps  to achieve these tasks. 

Age-appropriate tasks for middle school and high school age children include:

• At the early end of this stage, it is appropriate for middle school children to be aware of the schedule and anticipate events (e.g., I have Karate every Monday); at the end of this stage, a senior in high school would likely be able to manage their schedules somewhat independently (e.g., knowing what days they work at their part-time job, when to be home for family dinner).
• Academically, middle school and high school require increasingly independent work, so planning and organization become essential to academic success.
• Problem solving and critical thinking are increasing rapidly, so middle school and high school students often begin to develop their own beliefs and world views, separate from their parents.
• As they near the end of this stage, teens typically engage in less risky behavior as they are able to see the bigger picture; however, most teens are not yet able to understand long-term consequences in the same way that adults do.

It doesn’t stop there… 

Keep in mind that the human brain takes around 25 years to fully develop. So, even at 18 years, or what we consider “adulthood”, the brain continues to develop… with the most notable developments happening in the frontal lobe, which is responsible for executive functions!

We want to hear from you. What other questions do you have about executive function? Our next executive function blog post will be all about strategies you can use at home, so let us know your struggles!

Does your child have a diagnosis of ADHD? Or do you suspect that a diagnosis is in their future? If so, you don’t want to miss our  FREE ADHD Treatment Guid e , which explains the science behind all of the most popular ADHD interventions. We also have a FREE ADHD Parenting Guide , with our top six keys for raising a happy and independent child with ADHD.

And if you are ready to jump in with both feet, check out our online parenting course, Creating Calm ! In this course, we break down tons of practical, easy-to-implement tools and strategies. The best part? You can watch it anytime, from anywhere, in your jammies. No babysitter required!

For Part 1 of our Executive Function series,  click here .

For Part 2 of our Executive Function series,  click here .

Have a beautiful week, 

The contents of this site are opinions of The Childhood Collective PLLC partners unless otherwise noted. The information on this site is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any type of medical condition and is not intended as personalized medical/psychological advice. Any decision you make regarding your and your family’s health and medical treatments should be made with a qualified healthcare provider. 

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Creative Development in 0-2 Year Olds

Learn how your child develops creativity and help your little one's imagination grow..

Is creativity something we are born with? While we cannot answer “yes” in the literal sense, the capacity for creativity is a trait associated with even very young children. Creativity is about more than the colors someone chooses for a painting or drawing. It is a way of thinking, problem solving, and applying knowledge as well. Creativity is separate and different from intelligence, although the two can and do influence one another. From their earliest days, babies respond to contrasts, colors, sounds, and movements. How they integrate these various experiences will influence their growth and development across many areas, including creativity. In this way, creativity is ageless and timeless. Possibly more important, creativity can be acquired, and fostered.

Creativity can be developed through the various ways parents interact with and respond to very young babies. These may be seen in the diverse ways a caregiver might use to calm, soothe, comfort, engage, amuse, delight, enthrall, even confuse or confound their child. Playing creatively with babies — even newborns — fosters many aspects of development. The physical skills it promotes becomes one of the primary ways that babies learn about their world, thereby allowing them mental development and new ways of thinking, engaging, discovering, and problem solving. This growth may come from actual toys such as blocks, rings, or cups, but it may also come from cushions with bright colors or textures to explore, even objects that make interesting sounds will ignite a child’s curiosity. 

Singing, cuddling, and interacting are important ways to participate in play, but it is equally important to encourage independent play time as well. For a young baby, this may be a toy that is foot operated (one of the first gross motor skills to come online is control of kicking) that they can enjoy without parental interaction. Such moments, built up over time, allow your child’s focus to be self-directed for periods, and allow a sense of curiosity and wonder to build.

Very young children learn about the world through their senses. Thus, to foster creativity and creative thinking right from the start, draw on this natural proclivity. Stimulating multiple senses, as babies develop the stamina, is a great way to foster imaginative thinking. A vast majority of your interactions should be hands-on activities where you and your baby interact face-to-face. However, there are also great ways to stimulate creativity with online interactions where parent and child are engaged in the experiences together. The element of surprise will also challenge your baby’s expectations, another great way to foster thinking.

Toddlers are ready for more when it comes to creative opportunities. Allow your child an expressive outlet for her thoughts, feelings, wishes, and imaginings. Challenge her new representational abilities by using her body in space: have her hop like a bunny, roar like a lion, etc. Get more abstract and see if he can become a kite, blowing in the wind, or a balloon blown too full that pops. Have her become a plane taking off or a lost kitten who finds its owner.

Challenge your child’s play to go beyond the familiar routine she may have developed. For example, fly your car to the moon. Look at everyday moments as opportunities to enhance creative thinking. Ask your child why she thinks the dog is chasing the squirrel, or where the bird that flew out of sight is off to. Ask your child what she thinks will happen next as events unfold in front of her, or make up her own ending to a story. While you are reading, have her start a new story the day after “happily ever after” and see where she goes with it. Along the same lines, bring literature to life: Act out We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, or the story of the Three Little Pigs . Then, surprise your child with an unexpected alternate ending!

Regardless of your child’s age, creativity is a process, as opposed to a product. This is especially true with babies and toddlers who are just developing the coordination to control and manipulate objects with intention, and the cognitive capacity to problem solve and organize thinking. Your excitement, enthusiasm, and interest will play a big part in what he continues to explore, and what he shies away from. So find ways to capture your child’s experience: photos of her painting, scribbles proudly hung at your child’s eye level, excited conversations relating your child’s experiments…even her frustrations or failures! Problems that are never faced cannot be problem-solved and overcome!

Parents' Guide

Developing critical thinking in preteens, introduction.

Teaching your child how to think critically and how to be a critical thinker is now more than ever an important foundational responsibility of parenthood. Challenges abound and there are more pitfalls in today’s media and technology driven society.

Throughout this guide you’ll find case studies, practical exercises, resources, and informational pages designed to assist parents to better understand age specific developmental factors that influence how children can the necessary develop critical thinking skills they need to effectively navigate their formative years as well as their future adult lives.

The four factors (basic reasoning, self-esteem, emotional management, and social norms) we examined in the first part of this guide, concerning children aged five to nine, are still relevant when considering the development of critical thinking in young people aged 10 to 12.

Why is it important to develop critical thinking skills?

Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about your actions and your surroundings. Children, given their formative stages of development, are especially vulnerable to outside influences as they’re still developing their capacity for independent thinking and personal identities.

A strong foundation with regard to critical thinking skills allows children to better navigate their surroundings and their relationships with their parents and peers, and even with themselves. The development of these skills is a lifelong process and you may find that even you, as a parent, can gain valuable insights into your own personal development.

Ways to increase critical thinking skills

The development of critical thinking in children aged 10 to 12 will be particularly influenced by the following three factors, around which this section of the guide is organized:

• The development of the ability to reason logically, allowing children to go beyond everyday argument.
• Puberty and its implications for children’s interests, self-esteem, and ability to manage their emotions.
• The digital universe, including video games, internet use, and the development of a new social life (or pseudo-social life) on social networks targeting young people.

These factors both deepen the child’s development in critical thinking and present new obstacles. There is much parents can do to help them further their development along productive tracks and avoid potential pitfalls. 

In terms of reasoning, the big step forward at this age involves the heightened capacity for abstraction and formal logic. Where younger children apply rudimentary reasoning to concrete situations encountered in everyday life, the 10- to 12-year-old begins to draw more general conclusions from his or her everyday experience. Parents can encourage this move to greater abstraction by continually challenging their children with more complex discussions at home and by working on basic formal logic exercises with them. 

This development is challenged by both the onset of puberty—along with the emotions and the process of individuation that accompany it—as well as by the new digital distractions children are increasingly exposed to during this period. Social networks, especially, can put a strain on children at this age.

But if adolescents manage to overcome some of these obstacles to cognitive development, critical thinking can itself serve as a way to channel some of their new energy, curiosity, and desire for independence. By recognizing the changes their child is going through and facilitating intellectual growth, parents can help make this challenging time an exciting and productive one, and prepare their children for the further cognitive advances to come in young adulthood. 

1. Cognitive Biases

As children’s cognitive capabilities mature, they begin to reason and make judgments about more complex topics. but children are often highly  vulnerable to cognitive biases and errors at this age. they tend to generalize based on their own limited experience., parents can help by encouraging children to reflect on their limitations and by bringing up alternative perspectives..

In children aged 10 to 12, the argumentative capabilities that we have analyzed in younger children can mature into lines of genuine reasoning, which are increasingly effective and cogent. Logic, therefore, comes to play a more important role, even though at this age it is primarily applicable only in concrete and imaginable situations and remains subject to multiple cognitive biases. 

What is cognitive bias?

We have already discussed briefly the kinds of biases that young children can begin to overcome through metacognition and engagement with new experiences and perspectives. “ Cognitive biases ” refers to something more specific: mistakes we tend to make in processing information. These are recurring cognitive tendencies that lead us to make errors over and over again. Cognitive biases are analogous to the biases in our perception that produce, for example, optical illusions.

What are examples of cognitive bias?

At a higher cognitive level (for example, in memorizing and recognizing), we encounter cognitive biases. For example, we memorize faces in the context in which we encounter them. If, for example, I only ever see the local baker in the bakery, we may well struggle to recognize each other if we meet by chance on vacation. This is a cognitive bias. 

How can you overcome cognitive bias?

We have all experienced this human bias, but recognizing real life examples of cognitive bias requires a metacognitive process. Unfortunately, metacognition (that is, being aware of a bias) often does not help us correct it. As a rule, the lower the level at which the bias operates (for example, in perception), the greater its resistance to metacognition.

Yet, there is an area in which metacognition does manage to correct certain common cognitive biases: the sphere of social cognition. For example, our cognitive system tends to produce overgeneralizations, which is how social stereotypes are born. The idea that “women are kinder than men” is a social stereotype.

If we learn to understand through metacognition (that is, through a cognitive process capable of analyzing, even correcting, other cognitive processes) how our tendency to overgeneralize leads us to harmful, unjust, and even dangerous stereotypes, we can thus try to stop ourselves from overgeneralizing and overcome common biases. In social cognition, metacognition (which can be improved with practice) is effective in reducing the possibly disastrous effects of cognitive biases.

2. The Development of Reason

At this age, children’s reasoning evolves from a focus on the concrete world toward increasingly abstract problems. children make progress by way of challenges that force them to think more abstractly., parents can help by supplementing their school learning with games, discussions, and problems that exercise their emerging logic and reasoning abilities., what does reasoning mean.

Reasoning is defined as the process by which you reach a conclusion after thinking about all the facts. There are several types of reasoning and each provide some insight into how the human mind processes information. The most commonly referenced types of reasoning are deductive reasoning,  inductive reasoning, and abductive reasoning.

What are 3 types of reasoning?

Deductive reasoning is a formal logic process of reasoning  that uses information from one or more statements or premises  to reach a logically certain conclusion. It’s a form of top-down formal logic that you use everyday to navigate both small and large tasks and problems.

Inductive reasoning is a method of reasoning in which observations are taken and considered as evidence for a plausible truth. It’s a bottom-up logic that unlike deductive reasoning doesn’t end with a certain conclusion but rather a probable conclusion.

Abductive reasoning is a form of logical inference that seeks to find the most likely conclusion from a set of observations. Like inductive reasoning this form of reasoning leads to a probable conclusion rather than a certain conclusion. Where they differ is that abductive reasoning looks for a cause and effect relationship whereas inductive reasoning seeks to form probable conclusions from general rules.

Reasoning skills

In terms of reasoning skills, children aged 10 to 12 undergo a stage between the “concrete operational stage” (where children reason only with immediately present objects) and the “formal operational stage” (where abstract reasoning detached from the sensory world becomes possible). 

It is worth reiterating that from the age of nine or 10, children improve their ability to conceptualize and create lines of reason and reasoning that still nonetheless require a direct relationship to concrete factors. A certain degree of abstraction also allows children to develop reasoning ability and grapple with disciplines like mathematics beyond arithmetic. It becomes possible for them to resolve problems involving numbers and reasoning, but which still involve immediately present objects. The ability to systematically resolve abstract problems involving several variables is rare at this stage.

From the age of 11 to 12, children gradually develop what Piaget called “formal operations.” The new capacities that come with this stage, such as working logically with if-then statements and establishing abstract relationships, are generally mastered around the age of 15 or 16. At the end of this stage, teenagers can, like adults, use formal and abstract logic, but only if they have learned the language of logic (“if,” “then,” “therefore,” etc.) and have practiced using it. Teenagers also become capable of extrapolating and generalizing on the basis of concrete situations.

Therefore, between the ages of 10 and 12, children should be stimulated intellectually and pushed to reflect on and establish lines of basic logical reasoning. In this way parents can help them gradually move beyond the everyday logic based on action and observation onto logic based on rules of deduction that are independent of the situation at hand.

Reasoning examples

Our mind develops concepts by extracting shared features from a variety of different objects. For example, young children who hear the word “tree” spoken by others every time they encounter a dry plant 1 to 2 meters tall (dry climate trees like the Sahelian tree) will automatically extract shared features in order to produce a model of the concept of a tree. 

But they have never had a formal definition of the word. If we take these children to a temperate climate for the first time, stand under a verdant 20-meter oak tree, and tell them it is a tree too, their previously established model will collapse. This immense object, very leafy and very green, with a central, vertical trunk, does not respond to their “visual concept” of a tree —based only on small, dry plants. This collapse forces the cognitive system to revise its concept of tree, defining it with more complex and increasingly abstract properties that are common to the large, green oak tree and the small, dry plant.

Patterns and Reasoning

We learn about our environment and our native language in this way, departing from concrete situations and creating an assembly of memorized links between words and sensory representations.

It would be convenient to have a formal, universal definition for a tree and to simply insert it into a child’s cognitive system. But this is impossible: on the one hand, because children have yet to master basic language and even less so logical language; and on the other, because children are not yet capable of learning by deduction.

But children can train themselves to identify and extract invariable properties of increasing complexity—creating a mental representation of the world by repeatedly calling into question and refining the concepts created by the cognitive system. Through this process and through the progressive accumulation of vocabulary, children become capable of extracting representations not only from sensory fact, but also from previously memorized representations.

One way to define thinking is the articulation of representations combined at will through language in one’s mind. When this combination of representations is structured by links of deduction (if-then statements), this thought becomes reasoning.

A field of immense possibilities opens up before teenagers, who become able to reason toward universal conclusions in unfamiliar contexts.

Near age 10, situations requiring logical deduction will be gradually encountered at school. Students will be forced to consider when and how to use basic operations to resolve concrete problems. These situations are also sometimes encountered in a family setting, if the child’s parents promote an environment favorable to reasoning and if they take the time to make sure it benefits their child.

Through encountering situations requiring deduction, in which we collect data, work through it rationally, and reach a conclusion, children will gradually manage to identify invariable properties in the data and to internalize the rules for deduction. 

This begins developing slowly but surely around the age of 11 and stabilizes toward the ages of 14 to 15. This is how children reach the formal operational stage. Reasoning no longer requires imaginable, concrete situations. It no longer requires concrete elements, and it is even freed of the need to draw on memories of previously resolved problems. A field of immense possibilities opens up before teenagers, who become able to reason toward universal conclusions in unfamiliar contexts.

But this only happens if they are spurred on by having problems to resolve. Logical ability only improves with training. Adults must therefore encourage children to resolve problems. The struggle will create multiple new neural pathways and networks in the brain. These challenges are indispensable for the development of the brain and the capacity for reasoning.

3. Universal Reasoning

As their reasoning becomes more abstract, children can begin to construct arguments of increasing complexity. they also start learning to identify errors in other people’s arguments..

The capacity for universal reasoning—using the logical rules of deduction—begins to grow around the ages of 10 to 12. This means children can start using logic in situations that are not concrete—in areas that seem ruled only by language. The development of this faculty allows children to turn a critical gaze on someone else’s remarks. At this age, reasoning can become a powerful tool, especially to combat faulty or misleading reasoning.

During this intermediary stage, between the ages of 10 and 12, it is fundamental that parents train themselves if they are to aid the development of logical competence and critical reasoning in their children. To this end, families can play logic games, escape games, enigmas, or investigative games such as Clue together, combining the task of reasoning with fun.

If the child rounds off what they have learned at school within a family environment which promotes reasoning, this places their critical faculties in good stead when it comes time to progress onto more powerful, more universal critical reasoning.

We have seen that from the ages of five to 10, argumentation is a way of nourishing the child’s critical faculties in the period prior to the development of reasoning faculties. From the age of 10, the development of logical skills and the growing body of acquired knowledge will allow the child to combine argumentation and reasoning to support the effective use of critical thinking.

It is far easier to weaken, or even disprove, an idea through critical reasoning than it is to demonstrate its validity. For example, if someone makes a sweeping statement like, “Female politicians are all less aggressive than male politicians,” one needs only to use a  counterexample to prove that this is false. 

It would be more difficult to disprove the claim that female politicians are less aggressive than male politicians, on average. We cannot prove this false by way of a counterexample, a single “aggressive” female politician. 

This kind of logical error is often made even by adults. Demonstrating that the latter proposition is true or false would require a rigorous method, reliable indicators, and statistical calculations. By undertaking this kind of logical procedure, we can teach older children to go beyond mere argumentation.

Universal Reasoning

4. puberty and adolescence, the age between 10 and 12 is particularly fraught for many children because of the physical changes brought on by puberty. it is also a transitional phase in their cognitive development. strong critical thinking skills can help stabilize this period, especially if children are able, with the help of their parents, to avoid distractions., encouraging effort in the name of deferred gratification.

Some evolutionary biologists go as far as to claim that an individual’s singular journey through life is a  mere illusion : that our entire body works solely for the benefit of our species. Even if this claim seems ludicrous, it’s worth considering in light of the power of hormones, which can deeply affect children’s personalities and behaviors.

When the reproductive system begins to function, sexual hormones induce changes and veritable upheavals on every level. The brain is deeply impacted, and several interests and character traits can change considerably. 

Puberty is itself influenced by numerous biological, psychological, cognitive, sociological, and chemical factors. We are seeing an increasingly early onset of puberty as a result of synthetic chemical substances called endocrine disruptors . 

Exposure to media outlets and the internet plays a role in this as well: sexualized content that is increasingly accessible to young people contributes to directing their central nervous and hormonal systems (consciously or not) toward competition, seduction, aggression, and sexual impulses—in short, toward the survival of the species.

The immediate pursuit of pleasure is encouraged prematurely in pre-adolescents by advertising, magazines, films, TV, and the internet. Social norms also push in this direction: sports personalities, artists, educators, and psychologists talk more about pleasure than they do about effort. Yet, we have seen that, at the age when puberty starts, reasoning and formal logic gradually start to take root through practice and intellectual effort.

Puberty vs. Critical Reasoning

There are two opposing movements at play. On the one hand, we have the development of knowledge and understanding (language, reasoning, problem solving). This takes place through school, family, sports, the arts, and certain media outlets that can aid the development of the faculties of reasoning and critical argumentation. 

On the other hand, puberty and the norms of immediate gratification and freedom for all tend to direct thoughts and behavior toward rapidly attained pleasures that require the least possible effort—far from the demands of critical thinking.

It is therefore wise to start training children as early as possible (from earliest childhood) to use their faculties of reasoning. Once this habit has taken root, not even puberty or phases of adolescent conflict can destroy these critical faculties. They become something akin to a second language.

Teenagers do not destroy their mother tongue even if they reject virtually everything associated with their family and society. They may use terms and expressions specific to their age group, but these remain rooted to the language they learned when they were younger.

The window between the ages of 10 and 12—the pivotal moment between childhood and adolescence—is an optimal time for developing and consolidating critical faculties.

Likewise attitudes, behavior, and understanding acquired prior to their adolescence may be called into question during this critical period. But they are not wholly eliminated, and they also return at the end of adolescence. This is, in fact, how our culture is passed down.

In fact, intellectual curiosity is often high as students reach the end of primary school. Psychoanalyst Melanie Klein called this thirst for learning, “the  epistemophilic instinct .” Freud spoke of the  sublimation  of impulses at this stage, that is, the diverting of energy from unconscious sexual impulses toward sporting or intellectual activities.

We should seize this moment before puberty to direct children toward intellectual pleasure and critical reasoning. Children from ages 10 to 12 have the capacity to hone their critical faculties for reasoning and argumentation. They must be exposed to a multitude of subjects and be encouraged not to accept everything they read or hear. In a majority of cases, this works well. The influence of parents and schools remains solid even as the need to affirm and distinguish oneself develops.

5. Adolescent Social Life

Children’s social lives tend to undergo dramatic changes around this age, presenting new challenges. these can put a strain on children’s emotions. parents can help by encouraging growth and new intellectual pursuits pursuits as well as helping children identify interests that will engage them., social development in adolescence.

In addition to changes in personality and behavior, puberty tends to set in motion changes to the child’s social life. It generates a massive boost of individuation in children, and thus their parents’ “fall from grace.” Children begin distancing themselves from their parents, both on a psychological level and at the level of occupations and interests.

Pre-adolescents start to define themselves by their circle of friends at school or elsewhere. New social influences gradually contribute to the decoupling of children from their parents.

In these new social encounters, as well as in intellectual challenges, children often experience error and failure along with many other social challenges of adolescence. These can be tough experiences at this age in terms of identity and emotion. On a neurophysiological level, sexual hormones increase emotional instability. On a psychological level, the conflict between the desire for emancipation, on the one hand, and inexperience and gaps in knowledge, on the other, brings failure, notably in human relationships.

Children seek to break out of the family cocoon through their ideas, tastes, actions, and activities. But their lack of experience often makes them awkward. Parents must help them to deal with their errors in practical terms and without histrionics. Parents must also encourage them to persevere without bringing their whole existence into question at the slightest mistake.

Emotional social development in adolescence

At 10 to 12 years of age, emotional management becomes challenging. Emotional management takes place in nerve centers that are still immature at this stage. And puberty, of course,  intensifies emotions  and can lead children to act out.  

By spending enjoyable downtime with their children (going fishing or playing chess, for example) parents can help them rein in the chaotic side of their emotions and restore a sense of calm while addressing the social needs of adolescence. With their emotions in check, children can access their critical faculties more serenely, drawing upon their cognitive faculties without being overwhelmed by emotions that are too strong to manage. 

At this age, critical faculties can respond to rigorous intellectual demands. The prefrontal lobe has developed considerably, allowing executive functions to analyze situations, break down problems, and plan the stages and actions required to resolve them. This executive understanding combines with a growing mastery of language—both in comprehension and production—to develop critical reasoning and enable children to deal with complex situations or ideas. 

But we must consider the growing individuality of pre-adolescents and help them find and develop their own interests so that they can invest in them and hone their critical faculties on them. Cultivating their interests and assisting them in their reasoning not only helps critical faculties mature into ingrained character traits, but also helps critical thinking mature into critical reasoning. By finding happiness in applying their reasoned point of view to areas that interest them, children will learn to practice such critical reasoning more generally.

At this age, other people’s perspectives play an increasingly important role for children. Though they may seem to be becoming more independent, often children are just coming under new influences. Friends, YouTubers, and other figures gradually replace parents.

What are some factors that influence emotional changes throughout adolescence?

We must consider the growing individuality of pre-adolescents and help them find and develop their own interests so that they can invest in them and hone their critical faculties on them. Cultivating their interests and assisting them in their reasoning not only helps critical faculties mature into ingrained character traits, but also helps critical thinking mature into critical reasoning. By finding happiness in applying their reasoned point of view to areas that interest them, children will learn to practice such critical reasoning more generally.

At this age, other people’s perspectives play an increasingly important role for children.  Though they may seem to be becoming more independent, often children are just coming under new influences. Friends, YouTubers, and other figures gradually replace parents as their social development deepens..

Parents should alternate between playing the role of educators and protectors and that of supportive “friends” who help their children become individuals.

It is essential to reinforce positive sentiments toward children and to spend quality time that is not “educational” with them. This maintains a healthy bond and parents’ influence despite normal and necessary individuation. Quality time such as this will contribute greatly to maintaining high levels of self-esteem. Children also won’t feel as if they are simply education receptacles. By participating in, rather than resisting, individuation parents can better protect their children from harmful influences of undesirable friends or the internet.

Self-Esteem

For children aged 10 to 12, social aspects of adolescence and the development of self-esteem are intrinsically tied. This requires striking a balance between educational time and time for fun, where the hierarchy of teaching is put on hold. In such moments, children feel that they’re being treated as people and can more easily accept the advice and authority of parents and educators in the face of other influences, which may turn out to be harmful or dangerous.

Parents should alternate between playing the role of educators and protectors and that of supportive “friends” who help their children become individuals. If this balance is struck successfully, children’s self-esteem becomes firmly rooted. Their critical faculties can, furthermore, be used to reject harmful influences.

But from this point onward, an opposing force to critical thinking is a part of many children’s lives: the digital universe.

6. Media and Children

At this challenging age, digital distractions can easily become a way for children to avoid painful emotions. parental control software and other limits can help control how media influences child development. but it’s more important that parents help their children work through these emotions. parents should also spend time discussing the harms of excessive screen time with their children..

For 10 to 12 year olds, the digital universe is principally centered on two domains: gaming and using the internet to watch videos or simply browse.

We have seen how puberty exacerbates emotions, which makes it more difficult to manage them. The primary challenge is to resist the temptations of instant gratification and of giving in to one’s impulses. Controlling and distancing oneself from one’s own emotions is indispensable to critical thinking and reasoning at any age.

Impact of media on children

You may be wondering what are the negative effects of media. The digital universe has an adverse effect primarily on emotional control. 

Firstly, gaming, like web browsing, transports us into the realm of imagination and magic, akin to that of our earliest childhood. For example, we can have many lives after having been “killed,” we can teleport wherever we like, and we can rapidly obtain answers to numerous questions. This begs the question of what effect this has on the immediate gratification of our impulses. Yet, this seemingly infinite power does not reward the effort and distancing necessary for the development of critical thinking and reasoning.

Moreover, we have seen that children’s distancing themselves from their parents is complicated, notably because their identities are still works in progress. Online, children witness the emergence of a new cohort of idols from YouTube and elsewhere. They also encounter multiple characters while gaming; they can even begin to identify with these characters. 

In this way, grappling with frustrations linked to puberty (foiled freedoms and impulses) and with an identity still “under construction,” children can escape their negative emotions through gaming: at the push of a button they can enter a separate world. Alternatively, they can assume an online life through videos posted by other children.

By fleeing their emotions through digital distractions, children deprive themselves of an opportunity to reflect on and overcome their emotions and impulses.

Parental control software theoretically provides a means of blocking violence and pornography, but it can do nothing to block the sea of stupidity and false information that circulates over the web. Furthermore, children can access violent video games from friends.  Aside from parental control software, several media planning tools such as the AAP public education site, HealthyChildren.org and the AAP Internet safety site can provide additional guidance on helping children navigate the digital landscape safely as well as help you form a family media plan.

How media influences children's behaviour

By fleeing their emotions through digital distractions, children deprive themselves of an opportunity to reflect on and overcome their emotions and impulses. In other words, they don’t learn to manage their emotions and to put them in context through metacognition. This would help them override their emotions through reasoning and help them take a more objective, critical perspective on themselves and others.

Negative emotions linked to frustration and identity are normal during this period. These negative emotions, and the child’s processing of them, are what pushes the mind to reconfigure itself, managing suffering by interpreting and grappling with the challenges of growing up.

The effects of media on children are numerous.  Too much time spent playing video games or on the internet stunts the development of emotional management capacities and, by extension, of critical thinking. In addition to their addictive side effects, video games and the internet can bring about neuropsychological effects not unlike the effects of drug use .

7. Video Game Addiction

Video games are more widespread and accessible than ever. addiction and overexposure are genuine problems that can stunt children’s cognitive development. parents should be clear about these problems with their children and take steps to address them early on., causes of video game addiction.

Video games are more accessible and inexpensive than ever. Phones, tablets, and computers can all be used for playing video games. And the days when video games could only be played on pricey consoles are long gone. Accordingly, the video-game business model is evolving.

Today, many children aged 10 to 12 own a phone, a tablet, and/or a console. And, of course, today these technologies can all be easily and systematically connected via the internet. The “freemium” subscription model entices many children to nag their parents to purchase such-and-such virtual accessory. A  game that was initially free can end up costing a lot of money.

We know that this intermediary period between childhood and adolescence is a sensitive time. Many children, especially boys, are drawn in by games in which power and violence predominate. These video games respond simultaneously to impulses aroused by puberty and to the need to escape the unpleasant realities of daily life (e.g., school). Such games are more and more commonly designed to be addictive. Today, children’s addiction to video games is an affliction recognized by both psychiatrists and psychologists. Of course, not every child who plays these games reaches this point, but addiction must be recognized as a danger.

When asking how to stop video game addiction it’s important to understand the underlying mechanisms at play. Our brains are genetically programmed to seek pleasure and satisfy our impulses. It is only education that can lead children to control and defer their impulses. The pleasure of playing a video game and being forced to stop sets off a sensation of withdrawal from the so-called neurological reward circuit. This is the same addictive mechanism at work with drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol.

The part of the brain which allows us to defer pleasure and control our emotions and impulses is located in the prefrontal lobe. If children regularly cave in the face of immediate gratification, they do not have the mental energy to self-regulate. From the age of 10 to 12, the prefrontal lobe, whose function is to inhibit, is far from being fully developed (which happens after the age of 20). What’s more, the less children try to stop themselves playing, the less they reinforce their inhibitive neural networks, and the more difficult this task becomes.

Anyone who becomes a video game addict, be they a child or adult, begins losing interest in other activities.

Effects of video game addiction.

What relationship can we establish between this phenomenon and the development of critical thinking and reasoning? Addiction to any substance or activity adversely affects our self-image. Anyone who finds themselves addicted, be they children or adults, begins losing interest in other activities. They don’t feel that intellectual, cultural, or sporting activities have anything to offer. The only things that are important are immediate gratification and that which invokes it. This no longer leaves any room for critical thinking and reasoning and can even cause regression.

Addicted children will rationalize their lack of motivation by stating that everything else is uninteresting and that they play the game out of free will—because it’s the only interesting thing out there. This absence of critical thinking about oneself will forestall the possibility of shaking the addiction and even leads to video game withdrawal.

Overexposure to video games can therefore be disastrous for pre-adolescents and teenagers in terms of the development of their critical faculties. It can affect children’s future for good. It can deprive children from experience in sublimating their impulses and in taking joy in learning.

How to stop video game addiction

Wait as long as possible before introducing children to video games, other than those which are cognitively or intellectually stimulating. 

Guide children in the direction of games that do not play into impulses linked to domination, violence, or seduction, but that instead stimulate curiosity and reflection. You can find some good examples here .

If children have already taken a liking to an addictive game, it will be necessary to limit their access to it and to make it conditional on participating in other activities that facilitate critical thinking and reasoning.

Parents should also converse with an addicted child to try to get them to recognize that games are stifling his or her interest in other things.

It is critical to pay attention to all of these considerations and keep an eye out for any signs of game addiction for children around the age of 10. Once puberty hits, it will be a lot more difficult to call into question addictive behavior and simple, instant gratification.

Video-Game Addiction

8. children and the internet, like video games, the internet can pose serious problems for children’s cognitive development. online advertising, inappropriate content, and bad information can all hamper children’s critical faculties., parents should impose limits, keep an eye on their children’s activity and habits, and spend time browsing the internet with their children and practicing good habits..

The Internet can be an extraordinary tool for developing children’s critical faculties, but, if it’s used without care or reflection, it can quickly become toxic.

Everything that has been said about video games also applies to various parts of the internet.

Studies have shown that a significant percentage of children  have already watched pornographic videos . Just as in the case of video games, these videos can become addictive and have the same effects on critical thinking and reasoning. Moreover, unlimited viewing of pornography from the age of 10 to 12 disturbs children when they are at an important developmental stage.

Also troubling can be the personal channels run by video content creators. Certain channels have millions of followers  who are often very young children . Some of this content is, well, drivel, and some inspires violent, provocative, and/or disrespectful behavior.

The Internet is, for this younger generation, the place where the “truth”—the world beyond their limited experience—emerges. Earlier generations had the same relationship to what they saw on television. But the internet has an almost boundless capacity for broadcasting, targeting, and updating.

We must help children learn to evaluate information online by reading and browsing attentively and checking facts.

Internet safety for children.

“ Fake news ” arises from the convergence of this power, the ill intentions of certain agents, and a lack of critical acumen in consumers analyzing information. This is a growing problem. We must help children learn to evaluate information online through attentive reading and fact-checking.

Texts, videos, and photos are always uploaded for a particular reason. We must first teach children, as soon as they start using the internet, that online content on is not necessarily true. This must be repeated tirelessly.

Sources must be viewed as having varying degrees of credibility (something that bears repeating to adults as well). Wikipedia should not be equated with reputable educational institutions like Harvard or Oxford. We should also teach students which sites are reliable for each area of knowledge, whether it be IT, science, or culture.

How should parents monitor their children's internet use

Parental supervision on the internet is essential. Parents should keep quantitative and qualitative surveillance over children’s Internet browsing. For this, parental control software is required. But this is becoming more and more difficult, notably because of mobile phones, which can access the internet in its entirety. It is therefore necessary to spend time browsing with children, to set a good example of healthy browsing habits. Stupid, derisive, pornographic, and violent websites and videos must be forbidden.

Internet risks for children are numerous. That said, we must not lose sight of the fact that the internet also provides a magnificent opportunity to develop children’s critical faculties. If children are guided well by their teachers and parents, they will find many activities to nourish their curiosity, increase their general knowledge, laugh, and encounter artistic (or other) expressions of emotions. They can also be entertained by videos on the art of rhetoric and logic, which are not taught in elementary or primary school.

Excellent content and methodology for developing critical and reasoning faculties can be found on the internet. It is all a question of adults guiding children. The adults themselves must call into question their own use of the internet and their own application of their critical faculties. We can only teach what we know. Here are a few examples of reliable educational content online:

PBS | Encyclopedia Britannica | Library of Congress | Digital Public Library of America | Khan Academy | TedEd

Searching the Web

Browsing and marketing.

Whereas younger children are typically only capable of refining their everyday reasoning, which is bound to a particular concrete situation, adolescents are increasingly able to use abstract reasoning and formal logic in arguments. They can formulate and evaluate deductive arguments. 

At this stage, therefore, parents should begin to push their children to formulate arguments in more coherent logical terms. They should point out mistakes in logical deduction, logical leaps, or the use of unwarranted generalizations, and they should challenge their children to use more abstract reasoning in evaluating the claims that others make.

Consider the following anecdote:

Lionel, 11 years old, says to Pamela: “Motorcyclists are all reckless drivers. My father doesn’t have a motorcycle. So he’s not a reckless driver.”

From the age of 10, more and more children, when tasked with a puzzle requiring the use of logic, can respond like Helen does: “Just because your father doesn’t have a motorcycle doesn’t mean he’s not a reckless driver.”

It is unlikely that a 10 year old would come up with such a response but it becomes increasingly likely as they approach the age of 15. 

Yet, some adults can make claims like Lionel’s over the entire course of their lives, fostering a culture of illogical thought within their respective families. This will contribute to difficulties with mathematics, which will appear as soon as higher reasoning beyond arithmetic is required.

At this age, it is possible for children to begin to grasp logical concepts and logical entailment more precisely. Their development in this regard can be helped by prompting from parents and teachers. Ask them, for example, to explain exactly why Lionel’s argument doesn’t work. Are the facts on which he bases his argument true? Does his conclusion follow from them? How could he change the argument to make it coherent? 

During early adolescence, puberty inevitably threatens to interfere with schoolwork, attention, and cognitive development more generally. It is crucial for parents not to make their children feel ashamed about these changes or blameworthy for them. Instead, parents should be sure to reinforce the fact that these changes and the challenges they produce are universal and positive. 

At the same time, they should help their child prevent the challenges of puberty from interfering with developmental goals. In the anecdote below, two different approaches to addressing a problem puberty presents to cognitive development are offered.

Sarah and Paul are in sixth grade. This morning, they are seated next to each other in science class. The teacher is lecturing on the diversity of living beings and their classifications.

Sarah and Paul share a passion for animals and would normally both be interested in the teacher’s lecture. Yet, since the beginning of term, they have fostered a romantic interest in each other, passing notes of affection written in their diaries, not following anything taught in the class, and certainly not taking any notes on the coursework.

The teacher eventually picks up on their behavior, confiscates the notes, and contacts the two children’s parents.

Sarah’s father, who is very angry after speaking with the teacher, summons Sarah for “a discussion.”

He forbids her from sitting next to Paul in class. “You’re too young for this,” he tells her, alluding to the love notes exchanged between the two kids. Furthermore, he declares, from now on, every night he will check to see if Sarah has taken notes in all of her classes that day. “And if this keeps up, I’ll contact Paul’s parents and find out exactly what is going on,” he concludes.

Sarah goes to her room, sobbing and feeling ashamed.

Paul’s father waits until bedtime. As he goes to wish his son goodnight, he tells him that he received a phone call from the science teacher. “He’s worried about your studies, you know. He doesn’t want you to give up on science.” 

Paul’s father then talks to him about Sarah. “Being in love is a beautiful thing, and I’m happy for you. It’s the best thing that can happen to you. But you need to be careful. It’s such a strong emotion that it can sweep away everything in its path! If you and Sarah neglect your school work, you will have to catch up on your classes from your friends, and it’s not easy to understand someone else’s notes, because everyone has their own way of doing it. 

“Plus, if you don’t listen in class, a great deal of information slips by you; and then you’ll be in trouble for your exams. The risk is that you or Sarah, or both of you, will get bad grades. That’s not what you want, is it? Neither for you nor for Sarah? Promise me that you’ll talk to her. You will have other moments to talk to each other. She can come here one afternoon, if her parents are okay with that, or she can come to the movies or the swimming pool with us some time.”

In this situation, we can figure out two distinct reactions from the parents:

Sarah’s father tries to overcome the problem by imposing a ban on his daughter. He is denying the beginning of puberty and the impulses that arise from it, construing her behavior as inappropriate. In doing so, he is not ridding her of these impulses, but rather simply inciting her to hide them and even to be ashamed of them.

Paul’s father explains to his son that he understands the situation and that he accepts it . He even says that, in certain respects, it is a very positive situation. He recognizes and acknowledges the beginnings of puberty and the impulses it arouses in his son. For all that, he doesn’t deny the difficulties it produces and tries to make his son understand the risks for both children, how the situation could work against them and eventually cause them a lot of harm. To this end, he proposes several options, including inviting Sarah around outside of school hours. He wagers that his son’s capacities for reason will allow him to overcome the situation, and he assures Paul of his support.

Along with the internet, video games present adolescents with new temptations and new potential obstacles to cognitive development. At its worst, video-game addiction can lead adolescents to replace the real world with a fantasy world. They can come to identify too strongly with fictional characters. Real life can begin to seem dull by comparison with the fast-paced thrills of the game. The consequences for adolescents’ patience, emotional stability, and concentration can be dire.

Twelve-year-old William clutches his gaming console. Playing in his darkened room he prepares to attack a pack of seemingly peaceful wild boars. It’s his first mission of the day. He shoots; the wild boars become enraged and, grunting, surround him, charge, and trample William underfoot. In spite of the assault rifle that he just bought for 50 cents, William is no match for the onslaught. 

On screen, William’s avatar lies dead on the ground. A message appears on the screen, suggesting that he dissociate his soul from its current body and find a new one to inhabit. William accepts. Now William only has an hour to find another body for his avatar, and the countdown has already begun. If he fails, he will lose his streak and the weapons and features purchased using his parents’ credit card. He makes the most of his new status as a phantom, flying over lakes and volcanoes until he reaches the Isle of Sirens… 

A light knocking at his bedroom door diverts his attention. William’s father has come to tell him that it’s lunchtime. But William can’t come down to eat; otherwise he will die. His father insists and his voice goes up a few notches. William flies into a blind rage.

In the wake of this incident, how might William’s parents bring up the issue of video game addiction with him? Here is one suggestion:

“William, this video game has started to take on a problematic role in your life. We are concerned about yesterday, when you didn’t even want to come have lunch with us.”

“It just wasn’t the right time. If I had come down to lunch, I would have died. And I would have lost everything.”

“You wouldn’t have died. OK, maybe your avatar would have died. The real you—William—needs regular, healthy meals. The real you also needs light, fresh air, and exercise. Not to mention a little time with family—and friends. When you spend so much time locked up in your room taking care of your avatar’s needs, you start forgetting about your own!

“How long has it been since you last played ping-pong or volleyball at the park? You used to love that. We want you to realize that the health and strength of your avatar are working at odds with your own health. But he is virtual and you are not. You identify strongly with him, and we sometimes get the impression that you are living his life instead of your own. 

“You love playing your game and we don’t want to stop you from doing so, but we do want to lay down some ground rules, so that you can strike a balance between time spent on your game and time spent doing group activities and playing sports.”

In this situation, William’s parents are trying to make him understand the dynamics of his relationship to the video game. To this end, they explain to him that in order to succeed in the game, he would have to spend all his free time on it (and spend money on accessories); this is exactly the outcome the game’s creators want. 

Consequently, players who wish to succeed in the game must cut themselves off from everything and play for hours on end, which leads to a decline in both their health and their social lives. In a nutshell, the stronger William’s avatar becomes, the weaker William himself becomes. His parents therefore do not suggest banning the video game, but rather spell out for him what they feel is necessary to strike a balance regarding his health and developmental needs.

Searching the Web​

Although the internet puts a wealth of information and media at our fingertips, it is a challenge to filter out the distracting or outright malicious content from what is of value. As adolescents begin to use the internet more independently to complete their homework and pursue their interests, they need guidance and instruction in how to use the internet productively to expand their knowledge and horizons, and in how to avoid distractions and potentially harmful material.

Parents, along with teachers and other adults, can help by accompanying their children when they conduct searches for information online and discussing how to find genuine and useful content. Consider the following anecdote:

Jonathan is very interested in sharks. He owns shark-themed books, games, and even figurines. One rainy Sunday afternoon, he asks his mother if he can watch videos of sharks on the family laptop.

His mother is wary, and she suggests that they browse together.

“So, what are you putting into the search engine?” she asks.

“‘Shark video,’ right?” responds Jonathan.

“OK, try that.”

Here are some of the suggestions on the first page of results from the search engine.

“You see, Jonathan, most of these are violent videos that a child your age shouldn’t be watching. They’re not appropriate for adults either! We don’t even know if these videos are for real. We just can’t tell. And when in doubt, it’s better not to watch them.” 

“You mean that I can’t watch the videos?”

“Not these ones, that’s for sure. They’ll give you nightmares. Let’s go to the National Geographic website. Should we try that? National Geographic is a magazine that’s been around for over 100 years and specializes in great photography of nature, animals, countries, and things like that. The videos on their site are really interesting and beautiful. We won’t find any nonsense there. Here, look…”

“Whoa, OK, that looks good!”

Jonathan’s mother ensures that he understands that anything can be found on the internet, making him especially aware of the lowest-quality content. She shows him how to do a thoughtful, critical search on the internet, ensuring that he only gets verified content. Jonathan now understands that to find a result that corresponds accurately to his demand, it is necessary to consider the best route to take, and that the quickest, most direct route is not necessarily the best.

With the rise of online shopping, online advertising, and other digital marketing techniques, children and adults alike face a new set of obstacles to their concentration and calm. 

While many adults have already developed the habits of mind and attention management techniques to cope with these challenges, children and adolescents are often more vulnerable to them. If children succumb routinely to them, these attempts to control users’ attention can have long-standing negative impacts on cognitive development.  

It is therefore vital that parents set clear ground rules for their children’s use of digital devices and that parents talk to their children about how to avoid getting involuntarily sucked in by marketing ploys. Consider this anecdote:

Iris asks her father for permission to use the family’s digital tablet. She has a passion for horses and wants to watch videos of Arabian thoroughbreds, her favorite breed. After getting permission from her father, she seizes the tablet and types “Arabian thoroughbred” into the search engine.

She starts browsing, looks at some photos, watches some videos, and then cries out: “Dad! Come look. There’s a great book about Arabian thoroughbreds. Can we order it? Please!” 

“Iris, we’ve spoken about this before. Don’t get sucked in. When you search for something on the internet, the search engine uses the keywords you entered and proposes links to you. But it will also try to sell you things related to those words. The company selling that book on Arabian horses pays the search engine to show you their ad. They are working together to try to sell you this book. But you didn’t start by entering, ‘books for sale about Arabian horses,’ did you? You just wanted to see some videos of them.”

“Oh… that’s true. I get it now. It’s true that I wasn’t thinking about books at all when I started searching…”

Iris’s father has ensured that she understands what a “created demand” is and how personalized marketing works on the basis of data provided by search engine users. While her initial desire was simply to obtain information, the search engine suggested Iris make a purchase. 

• A recurring error in processing information
• A psychological condition
• A tendency to overthink things
• A prejudice
• Children may let relationships with parents and friends suffer.
• All of the above
• Children may lose interest in schoolwork and other activities.
• Children may not develop strong emotional management skills.
• Children may have trouble concentrating and managing impulses.
• When children learn how to pour concrete.
• When children’s motor skills become as advanced as adults.
• When children beginning learning to think conceptually about concrete situations.
• When children learn how to behave themselves with company.
• Work on honing critical reasoning and argumentative skills.
• Closely monitor what they do and who they hang out with.
• Encourage them to identify and pursue new intellectual or cultural interests.
• Help them structure their social lives so they don’t interfere with their studies.
• Emphasize that what they’re going through is healthy and positive.
• By reading about different objects and experiences.
• By identifying and extracting shared features from the experience of a variety of different objects.
• By applying the knowledge of logic and high-level mathematics to everyday experience.
• By memorizing formal definitions.
• Always monitor children in person when they’re using any device.
• Conduct web searches together with children and practice identifying good and bad content sources.
• Use parental control software and impose screen-time restrictions.
• Emphasize that not all content online is true.
• Ban internet use at home.
• Start children on a course of college-level symbolic logic.
• Reason through logical games and puzzles, and ask them to explain their reasoning.
• Nothing. Skill in logical reasoning is innate. Children either have it or they don’t.
• Read to them every night.

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NYPD: Moped driver critically injured in crash into 46-year-old woman on Grand Concourse

Authorities say both he and the woman he hit were taken to the hospital..

News 12 Staff

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2 men killed in Wacousta fatal hit-and-run crash identified; one person in critical condition

ST. JOHNS — Clinton County Sheriff's Office officials Monday identified two men who were killed in a Saturday evening hit-and-run crash and provided further information about 14 other members of their family that were injured.

Johnathan Esch, 30, of Grand Haven, and Daniel Harris, 42, of Grand Ledge, were killed Saturday when they were struck by a suspected drunken driver on South Wacousta Road, near Corrison Road, while walking with family members.

Ashley Marie Monroe, 35, of Perrinton, was charged Monday with 11 felonies in connection with the crash and was being held on a $1 million cash bond.

Monroe is accused of striking 16 members of the extended family walking along South Wacousta Road. Six family members who were struck remained hospitalized Sunday, one in critical condition, the Clinton County Sheriff's Office said.

Eight others were treated for injuries and released Sunday after what first responders called a mass casualty event.

Monday, the sheriff's office said a 38-year-old woman remained in critical condition at an unspecified hospital.

Victims of the crash included a 2-year-old girl, a 2-year-old boy, a 3-year-old girl, two 6-year-old girls, a 7-year-old boy, an 8-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl — all suffering non-life-threatening injuries.

In addition, a 28-year-old woman, a 32-year-old woman, a 33-year-old woman, a 36-year-old woman and a 61-year-old woman all suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Police did not provide names of any of the people who were injured.

The sheriff's office said a follow-up investigation is continuing.

Three residents raised concerns at Monday's Watertown Township Board of Trustees meeting about the speed limit in the area, and the lack of stop signs or sidewalks along the stretch of Wacousta Road. They said residents have expressed concerns for years.

Clinton County Sheriff Sean Dush told the board that while adding traffic and road improvements might help in the future, they would not have prevented Saturday’s crash.

“This is not the board's problem or their fault,” Dush said, adding that the crash was the result of someone “highly intoxicated” who should not have been driving. He said he expects the blood tests to show Monroe’s blood-alcohol level, which measured at 0.183 at the jail, was actually higher than 0.2 at the time of the crash.

Dush told the board and gathered residents that the scene was the most tragic traffic crash he’s seen in his time in law enforcement, even though he arrived after several victims had already been transported to area hospitals.

“There’s certain things that you see that you can’t (unsee),” he said.

The mass casualty incident prompted from response from across the Lansing region, and including police from DeWitt, DeWitt Township, Bath Township and Michigan State Police, as well as the Lansing, Delta Township and Lansing Township fire departments. Ambulances were also sent from across the region, including Mercy Ambulance, Clinton Area Ambulance, Grand Ledge Ambulance and Portland Ambulance.

The Clinton County Road Commission, Clinton County Victim Support and Clinton County Central Dispatch assisted.

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• Healthy Habits
• Data and Statistics
• Resources for Child Development
• Positive Parenting Tips
• Keeping Children with Disabilities Safe

Positive Parenting Tips: Middle Childhood (6–8 years old)

• As a parent you give your children a good start in life—you nurture, protect, and guide them.
• Learn about developmental milestones, including emotional and social development, for children from 6 to 8 years old.
• There are many things you can do to help your child stay safe and healthy.

Developmental milestones

Middle childhood brings many changes in a child’s life. By this time, children can dress themselves, catch a ball more easily using only their hands, and tie their shoes. Having independence from family becomes more important now.

Events such as starting school bring children this age into regular contact with the larger world. Friendships become more and more important. Physical, social, and mental skills develop quickly at this time. This is a critical time for children to develop confidence in all areas of life, including through friends, schoolwork, and sports.

Emotional/social changes

Children in this age group might

• Show more independence from parents and family.
• Start to think about the future.
• Understand more about their place in the world.
• Pay more attention to friendships and teamwork.
• Want to be liked and accepted by friends.

Thinking and learning

• Show rapid development of mental skills.
• Learn better ways to describe experiences.
• Learn better ways to talk about thoughts and feelings.
• Have less focus on one's self and more concern for others.

Building strong connections

Following are some things you, as a parent, can do to help your child during this time:

• Talk with your child about school, friends, and things they looks forward to in the future.
• Talk with your child about respecting others. Encourage them to help people in need.
• Do fun things together as a family, such as playing games, reading, and going to events in your community.
• Get involved with your child’s school. Meet the teachers and staff and get to understand their learning goals and how you and the school can work together to help your child do well.
• Continue reading to your child. As your child learns to read, take turns reading to each other.
• Support your child in taking on new challenges. Encourage them to solve problems, such as a disagreement with another child, on their own.
• Encourage your child to join school and community groups, such as team sports, or to take advantage of volunteer opportunities.

Fostering responsibility and positive behavior

• Show affection for your child. Recognize their accomplishments.
• Help your child develop a sense of responsibility—ask them to help with household tasks, such as setting the table.
• Help your child learn patience by letting others go first or by finishing a task before going out to play. Encourage them to think about possible consequences before acting.
• Make clear rules and stick to them, such as how long your child can watch TV or when they have to go to bed. Be clear about what behavior is okay and what is not okay.
• Use discipline to guide and protect your child, rather than punishment to make them feel bad about themselves. Follow up any discussion about what not to do with a discussion of what to do instead.
• Praise your child for good behavior. It’s best to focus praise more on what your child does (“you worked hard to figure this out”) than on traits they can’t change (“you are smart”).
• Help your child set their own achievable goals—they'll learn to take pride in themselves and rely less on approval or reward from others.

Child safety first

More physical ability and more independence can put children at risk for injuries from falls and other accidents. Motor vehicle crashes are the most common cause of death from unintentional injury among children this age.

• Teach your child to watch out for traffic and how to be safe when walking to school, riding a bike, and playing outside.
• Make sure your child understands water safety, and always supervise them when they are swimming or playing near water.
• Supervise your child when they are engaged in risky activities, such as climbing.
• Talk with your child about how to ask for help when they needs it.
• Keep potentially harmful household products, tools, equipment, and firearms out of your child's reach.

Car seat recommendations for children‎‎‎

Healthy bodies.

Here are a few tips to help keep your growing child healthy:

• Parents can help make schools healthier. Work with your child's school to limit access to foods and drinks with added sugar, solid fat, and salt that can be purchased outside the school lunch program.
• Make sure your child has 1 hour or more of physical activity each day.
• Practice healthy eating habits and physical activity early.
• Encourage active play, and be a role model by eating healthy at family mealtimes and having an active lifestyle.
• Make sure your child gets the recommended amount of sleep each night: 9–12 hours per 24 hours (including naps) for school-age children 6–12 years.

Screen time limits‎

For more information.

CDC's Parent Information (Children 4–11 years) has information to help you guide your child in leading a healthier life.

CDC's Healthy Weight Information has tips for parents – Ideas to help children maintain a healthy weight.

CDC's Youth Physical Activity Basics has information on how to help children be active and play.

CDC's BAM! Body and Mind is a website designed for kids 9 through 13 years of age to give them the information they need to make healthy lifestyle choices. The site focuses on topics that kids told us are important to them—such as stress and physical fitness—using kid-friendly lingo, games, quizzes, and other interactive features.

My Plate by The U.S. Department of Agriculture provides information on health and nutrition for children over 5 years of age.

AAP's Healthy Children website provides information on feeding, nutrition, and fitness for all developmental stages from infancy to young adulthood. Visit this website to learn more about emotional problems , learning disabilities and other health and development concerns.

Just in Time Parenting's site provides quality, research-based information to families at the time it can be most useful.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has information on safety recalls and safety tips for children riding in motor vehicles, walking, biking, playing outside, waiting at school bus stops, and more.

StopBullying.gov provides information from various government agencies on how children, parents, educators and others in the community can prevent or stop bullying

Teens Health site for information on healthy eating for children and teenagers, safety tips for your child when you can't be there, and other important health and safety topics.

Child Development

The early years of a child’s life are very important for their health and development. Parents, health professionals, educators, and others can work together as partners to help children grow up to reach their full potential.

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1-year-old in critical condition after cars collide in Brownsville

BROWNSVILLE (WABC) -- Two drivers are in police custody after a crash left a 1-year-old in critical condition.

The incident happened in the Brownsville section at Mother Gaston Blvd and Dumont Ave around 7 pm.

Police say the child was inside one of the vehicles at the time of the crash.

The child was taken to an area hospital in critical but stable condition.

One of the drivers was arrested on suspicion of DUI charges, while the other was taken in for driving with a suspended license.

MORE NEWS: NJ man accused of attacking mechanic with bleach at service station

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Two Henrico teens killed, 18-year-old in critical condition after crash in Goochland

G OOCHLAND COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Two teens from Henrico County are dead and an 18-year-old is in the hospital in critical condition after a crash in eastern Goochland County on Saturday night.

According to Virginia State Police, troopers responded to the 1200 block of Hockett Road at around 11 p.m. on Saturday, May 18 for a report of a single-vehicle crash.

It was determined that a 2011 BMW 550i was bring driven by 18-year-old Kyle Alexander Haden of Henrico at a high rate of speed when he lost control, ran off the right side of the road and struck a tree sideways, splitting the car in two.

Two 16-year-old males from Henrico who were riding in the car were killed on impact, they were both not wearing seatbelts. Haden was taken to a hospital in critical condition, he was wearing a seatbelt.

This crash is still under investigation by state police.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRIC ABC 8News.

Two people killed, another in a critical condition after fiery crash south of Coffs Harbour

Two people are dead and another is in a critical condition after a road crash on the New South Wales Mid North Coast. 

Emergency services were called to the Pacific Highway near Bonville, about 25 kilometres south of Coffs Harbour, at 12:40am on Wednesday when a car burst into flames after crashing into a tree. 

The bodies of a 20-year-old female driver and a 21-year-old male passenger were found at the scene.

A 20-year-old male passenger was able to free himself from the wreckage of the vehicle.

He was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to Coffs Harbour Health Campus in a critical condition.

The man has now been transferred to the Gold Coast University Hospital. 

Coffs Clarence Police District crime manager, Detective Chief Inspector Guy Flaherty, described the crash as an "absolutely tragic event".

"It is a horrific scene," he said. 

"It's too early to comment as to what may have caused the incident, whether it's driver error or fatigue.

"We cannot make those claims at this time." 

The Pacific Highway has been closed in both directions, with traffic diversions in place.

It is the second double-fatal crash on the state's North Coast this week.

A  25-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman died in a head-on crash at Maclean on Sunday night.

Two passengers were freed from the wreckage by members of the NSW State Emergency Service.

NSW Ambulance paramedics treated the pair and took them to the hospital in a serious but stable condition.

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