Helping Your Child Develop Their Problem Solving Skills

As your child grows so will their skills in handling different problems through school, at home and with friends or siblings. Giving them plenty of ways to develop these skills from a young age will prepare them for the future.

We’ve teamed up with a boys school in London to look at the different ways to practice these skills with your child at different times in their lives.

3 – 5 years

When they’re around 3 years old, you can begin to develop problem solving techniques with your child. They’ll already have an idea of problem solving from their very early age by playing with toys and through the nursery.

When they’re a little bit older and are able to talk to others freely, you can begin to add new problems through their path. Start by reading them stories that pose a problem with a solution they can manage – a lot of picture books help with these. You can also let them explore through free play time – even the smallest issue that appears in their path will let them practice.

5 – 7 years

They’re now older and able to talk to others comfortably, as well as having a heap of confidence from school. You can now try out reflective sessions by asking them open-ended questions, letting them think about what the solution to the problem could be. Try not to force them to say an answer, rather let them think about it for a few moments before giving them a hand. Working together to resolve something will give them a lot of self-esteem to work towards the next obstacle.

7 – 9 years

They’re now at an age where a lot of problems they face can be easily solved – from discussions in class to maths homework problems. Allow them to break down any issues they’re having into chunks and work towards a solution together. A lot of the time these are focused on school activities, but they can also be about friendships and sibling rivalries.

9+ years

They can now take on a lot more complicated problems in the lead up to them going to high school. They’ll start to work on larger projects, focus on difficult assignments and they’ll also have exams to face in the lead up to the big jump to high school.

This is also a good time for kids to start taking part in different extra curricular activities, if they’ve not already done so. They can learn a lot more about problems they’ll face in a range of scenarios with other people.