Children learn key problem solving skills through play. It’s so important that youngsters are able to make quick decisions and consider risk for themselves. These are invaluable for later life and for helping them be risk aware, not risk adverse. But, how can you support playground problem solving?

There are lots of ways! Use these games and ideas to encourage your child to make decisions and develop their critical and analytical skills through play.

Build an obstacle course

It’s super fun to create an obstacle course at home or in your local park. Set up challenges with cushions, chairs and throwing targets in your home, or make use of natural obstacles and pieces of play equipment in your local park.

Completing obstacles is a great way to help children problem solve through play. We’ve come up with some fun ideas to inspire your home obstacle course in another blog that you can read here.

Drawing challenge

The drawing challenge can be really good fun. Set your children up with a blank sheet of paper and some colouring pencils and let them know they’re the ‘drawer’ for the game. You, as the ‘talker’ must describe the picture you want them to draw, but don’t let them see it.

This works best if you can print off a picture to describe so you can compare the original and their drawing once the game is done.

Treasure hunting

This can be done inside or outside, but does require a little preparation. Decide on a treasure – a new toy or chocolate coins are good motivators – and get your child excited about finding it.

Create clues that lead from one spot to another that children must solve to be able to find the next one. Solving all these clues will ultimately end up with the child discovering the secret location of the treasure.

Move the object

Asking youngsters to move object X without touching it is really simple and gets those problem solving muscles working. Crumple up a piece of paper, grab a ball or a can – any object will do!

Create a zone that it needs to move out of, whether that be a different tile on the kitchen floor or a box marked out with masking tape on the table. Your child must then come up with a way to move the object without touching it with their hands.

Guessing game

You don’t need to prepare anything for the guessing game, so it can be played anytime and anywhere. Think of an object and ask your child to guess it by asking one question at a time. Give them a bit of a clue at the start to help guide their line of questioning and offer hints along the way if they’re starting to get frustrated.