Preeti was moving here and there anxiously.
She had heaps of work pending but she couldn’t find her specs.
Out of frustration, she muttered under her own breath about it.
She was just grumbling to herself but her toddler heard and exclaimed “Momma! Let me help you with that. I can find it.”
A 3 year old came to save mommy in distress.
It was a simple problem to be solved. The kid went through the typical places she had seen her mother keep her specs and even asked her where she saw it last.
A three-year-old can do this? Preeti started wondering about the intellectual capacities of a toddler brain.
“Found it mommy. It was in the kitch-in”
As she came out with the specs and fumbled to place it over her mother’s nose, Preeti sighed “You are a smart savior. Mamma loves you. And it’s not ‘in’ but ‘en’ in kitchen”
They both giggled.
A lot of parents wonder about how they can raise rational thinkers. While we have already given a few insights to it with our blog Raising well-reasoned kids & Wings to Fly: Fostering independence in toddlers, today, we will throw more light on how to foster critical thinking in toddlers that adds to their independence. After all, in a world with such rigid parameters, who wouldn’t want someone to think outside the box and provide insights to old situations, right?
Critical thinking strategies for 1 year olds and above
A child begins learning patterns even as a newborn. For instance a new baby understands that if they cry, they get picked up. If they are hungry, they get fed. Simple patterns mean better long-term understanding.
Let’s dive into the ideas:
- Being Self-dependent: Right from the early days, try making them capable enough to do small tasks for themselves. This will not only generate a sense of independence but also, in the process strive hard to figure out ways (cognition) themselves. For example
- Attach strings to their toys while the child is sitting in his crib. Show him that if the toy ‘falls far’, there is no need to whine as it can be pulled close again ‘like this’ with the help of the string. After a few repetitions, they will begin fishing for it themselves. (Please note: please keep it short enough that it doesn’t become a choking hazard)
- Try placing padded stools as a baby getting down off the couch would also mean they would want back up. They can eventually drag it as per their need, finding ways to get into drawers and reach things like the scissors even placed high (A part of encouraging critical thinking, problem-solving, and independence is teaching them safety, dangers, and hazards). Show them once and see how quickly they learn and come up with new ways. Hold the baby in your arms and have him/her turn the lights off and they will themselves learn to switch off lights and fans when no one is in the room out of habit.
- Teaching ways to get off from bed: Once a child begins rolling, parents often fear them falling from the bed. You can repeatedly direct and help them to swing their legs to the edge and then place them on the floor. Slowly, they learn how to do it safely. In fact, they extrapolate this ‘safe-landing’ and ‘reaching out to higher objects’ ideas to other times like while swinging, sliding and playing.
- Brain feeding toys. Learning concepts like object permanence, how to stack from big to little (building blocks of different shapes, hoops and rings) , and placing the correct size or shape object(stacking, balancing, nesting toys, jig-saw puzzles) in the correct position, In fact, small treasure hunts (to find phone, a toy, or chocolate) like in the beginning of this blog can help them construct patterns and conceptualize problem-solving.
- Encourage their reasonable ideas and creativity: For children, what meets the eye and looks fun is always wanted by them. A family reported that when their kid saw a slide in the backyard of their friend’s home, she wanted one too. The following days she would make her own “slides”. Whether it was her parent’s legs, a table she turned upside down, a ramp she made out of the lid of an ottoman or an old rectangular metal box she used, she came up with creative ideas. You should encourage such creativity (despite the mess in the process which can be cleaned later) because it will translate into their confidence to find creative solutions in other areas of life.
- Ask critical questions and let them take charge. Try not to serve everything on a platter to your child because that won’t allow them to use their brains. When your child comes to you asking to play, ask him what does he want to play and where does he want to. Ask him where the blocks or the ball was kept by him and ask him to get it. If you kept it high on a shelf, ask him if he can reach it. If he says no, ask him to drag a stool and try. Similarly if it’s in the trunk, ask him if he tried to get it himself and if he did what problems he encountered. You will realize that about two-third of what he wants, he can get himself. Try to intervene only if some safety issues or off-limits objects are into the picture. On any given day, just sit in the living room and watch your toddler move around the house as if they own it and are in charge of everything in it. You will begin to see and hear solutions to problems that work and are innovative. You will find them thinking through scenarios, and making what initially seemed impossible, possible. Without literal teaching, they will learn the basics of using simple machines like levers and inclined planes.
- Explore ways to ease out seemingly difficult tasks. You can make little modifications in your home settings and daily activities to ensure safety and self-reliance of your toddlers. For example, while teaching your toddler to drink from a glass without spilling,
begin with them pouring a very small quantity of water in the bottom of their glass. As this requires a lot of agility and concentration, make practicing drinking from a glass fun. Use glasses that have pictures of your child’s favorite characters or different glasses each day (cups, small glasses, tall glasses, etc.). For cleaning and sorting, pictorially label containers with what needs to go in them. For example, one container could contain trucks while the other one could contain dolls. Have fun sorting a pile of toys with toddlers. At first, children will need your help and guidance, but with time, you will even be able to add a third container. You can also involve them while executing simple recipes. Photograph each step and encourage children to look at the pictures to follow along as you execute the various actions. Like while making lemonade, this child will gradually pick up what looks what and what step comes next.
- Be patient as you are the guide: Instead of jumping the gun, you can show and guide your child once and twice for some routine stuff. For example, fetching the newspaper in the morning can be delegated to him and he will know where to grab it from once you show. Similarly, watering plants can be shown to kids initially and taught the level to which the pots have to be filled. They will learn how to open the tap, how much to fill the pot and even understand the ‘force’ with which the water comes out or if you press the pipe the water will stop etc. over time. It all takes a bit of patience on the part of the parent.
- Struggle is good: You are there for your kids everyday but they should be taught that they are capable, isn’t it? We are sure that nobody would want to raise an entitled child and it can be painful to see them struggle and jitter with little things like opening up wrappers, tying their laces, buttoning up, filling up the glasses and spilling etc. Let them do it still. They will eventually learn from their mistakes and become self-sufficient.
While fostering critical thinking in your kids, let them know their boundaries and safety. For that, you sometimes will have to try and be one step ahead of them. You need to facilitate moments throughout their childhood to help them solve problems innovatively and find solutions and not whine about outcomes (a little whining is okay at times, though).
Start early and see how amazingly it unfolds!