Blog - International Life Skills Olympiad

Enhance Your Child’s Critical Thinking Skills

Critical thinking is a key life skill and must be developed and applied at a young age. Earlier the foundation is built, sooner the children will be able to develop and practice essential life skills. As a parent/ teacher, it is a must to encourage the development of Critical Thinking Skills among children. It has been observed that kids with an early exposure to critical thinking skills, perform better in the school, make better decisions beyond school and achieve success all through their life.


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What is Critical Thinking?

Critical Thinking is the ability to make decisions after analyzing and assessing the gathered information(which is the result of research, opinion, knowledge, or even communication). It can also be defined as a self-directed and disciplined approach to achieve your desired goals. Critical thinking skills helps children to go beyond the “what?” — and question “how?” and “why?” .

Why Children Need Critical Thinking Skills

Children have flexible minds, and can absorb new information easily. Critical Thinking skills will enable them to think analytically by asking important questions about complex situations and problems. With Critical thinking skills they can

  • Think, argue, and research effectively
  • Generate their own creative solutions
  • Form their own opinions based on analysis
  • Following are some of the proven ways to enhance critical thinking skills among children.

    Reading and Comprehension

    Critical thinking is a key life skill and must be developed and applied at a young age. Earlier the foundation is built, sooner the children will be able to develop and practice essential life skills. As a parent/ teacher, it is a must to encourage the development of Critical Thinking Skills among children. It has been observed that kids with an early exposure to critical thinking skills, perform better in the school, make better decisions beyond school and achieve success all through their life.


    Asking Questions

    Asking questions is a great way to help prepare the young brains to think dynamically. It also helps them to distinguish between the important and not so important part of the information. By asking the right questions about any information, children can demonstrate their understanding about a subject, and at the same time they can identify particular areas where extra effort is required.

    Developing a thought process

    we can encourage the younger kids to think about new and different ways to solve any problem. This will help them hone their creative problem-solving skills and will initiate the development of an effective thought process.

    Pause and weight

    By instructing the children to always think (10-15 seconds) before answering any question, we can further inculcate the habit of critical thinking. The thinking time will get them into the habit of choosing a well thought and better solution after analyzing all the possible outcomes.

    Idea Mapping

    Encourage kids for “Idea Mapping ” by asking them to write their ideas on a sheet of paper or white board. This will help them to brainstorm ideas and further develop the habit of creative thinking.


    Note - It is imperative for school children to learn critical thinking skills, so that they are ready to face real life challenges.


    Skillizen Learning Solutions offers an easy and fun way to learn 21st Century Critical Life Skills via Online and offline sessions.