The idea of getting your kids to develop critical thinking sounds complicated and formidable. Nevertheless, in reality, all it takes is for you to keep an open mind and to let your kids ask questions. When you are open-minded about everything, it does not take much time for your kids to pick up on this trait. The idea is to let the kids be sceptical about everything and get them to learn about things before believing them. Most importantly, you should teach your kids to not be afraid of being wrong or sounding stupid when they enquire about something. 

A good sense of reason and logic is required for children to comprehend their surroundings, situations and make the most out of them. Moreover, critical thinking and general analytical skills are essential to succeed in life anyway. 

Children learn best when a subject or a topic requires them to apply their logical thinking. It is only after developing logical reasoning that kids are able to make their own sound decisions. Most kids learn the ability to reason and apply logic to real-life scenarios on their own. Nevertheless, if you feel that your kid is lacking behind, teaching them these skills would help them enhance their performance and overall attitude.

Let’s take a look at how you can get your kids to develop logical reasoning:

As a parent, you need to switch between asking open-ended questions to your kids to guide their thinking process and letting them experiment to figure out the authenticity of their theories about how things work. 

Give them opportunities to explore their creativity

Letting them understand how things work by allowing them to play, practice, and experiment is one of the best ways to develop critical thinking in kids. Children are full of curiosity. They have a lot of questions about anything and everything and most often than not, they tend to ask the adults around them to satisfy their thirst for learning. In order to help them develop critical thinking and come up with the answers to their questions on their own, you need to let them play, experiment and come up to their own conclusions. The conclusions don’t necessarily have to be right and can be corrected later. But as long as the kids are able to come to conclusions on their own using logic and critical thinking, you can rest assured that they are on the right path.

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Give them their time

Offer your kids enough time to think and reflect before answering a question and let them attempt a task before getting to a conclusion in order to help them develop critical thinking. Allowing your child some time is crucial to helping them use logic and reasoning instead of rushing into answers.

Ask questions that require them to think

Instead of giving answers to the questions yourself that your child comes to you with, try to drop them some hints by asking them open-ended questions. Respect the response they give instead of patronising them or correcting them right away. If they make a mistake, try asking them what makes them think that way. Show your interest in their interpretation and try to figure out what made them approach a question or situation in the way they did. 

Let them develop their own theories

Take some time to create hypotheses about certain situations with your kids. If you are partaking in an activity with them and you reach an important point, pause for a bit and ask them what they think is going to happen next. It will encourage their creativity and give you a clear picture of whether they are following through with you on the given topic.

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Encourage them to think differently

The most important part of getting your kids to develop critical thinking is to let them think differently. Do not let them stick to singular beliefs or thought processes. Instead, ask them to question everything and encourage them to figure out why certain things happen the way they do on their own. Let them understand the importance of considering all the possible answers to a question and believe the ones that they find to be the most logically sound alternative.

Conclusion

Critical thinking and logical reasoning are imperative to the development of kids. In today’s rapidly changing world where kids are expected to be better performers both physically and mentally, critical thinking can help kids analyze, compare, complement, and develop better thinking and understanding skills. Enhanced critical thinking and logical reasoning abilities help kids be curious and able to evaluate information on their own. Moreover, it also encourages creativity and aids kids in solving real-world problems with a practical and scientific approach. 

As a parent, the best way to foster critical thinking in your kids is to encourage them to ask questions and help them find the answers to their questions on their own. In conclusion, let your kids be curious and allow them to have queries about everything.