Activity Edge Developing Logical And Critical Thinking Skills

Divya Palaniappan holds an M.Phil. in Psychology and has over five years of experience in the field of child development and early learning.

- Divya Palaniappan

She specialises in developmental psychology and play therapy for children. She works at the Flinto R&D Centre, that is focussed on child development and early learning.

Logical and critical thinking skills are important for academic success. Research has established that children who are exposed to different stimuli in early years exhibit refined critical thinking in later years. Critical thinking refers to the ability to make reasoned judgment through means of objective analysis.

For children two to six years

According to Piaget’s cognitive development theory, children develop logical thinking about events after the age of seven. Prior to that, young children think symbolically. It is challenging for preschoolers to see different perspectives as they see events as centered around them.

Even though abstract thinking is still in its formative stage, it is essential to hone the cognitive skills in the early years as it creates the foundation for critical thinking and reasoning in later years.

It is also essential to introduce structured play in the early years to challenge young minds to solve simple problems. Sorting tools and games are the best learning aids for improving thinking ability as sorting requires children to make a decision based on logic to different items in a group.

For children six to ten years