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Children have a natural curiosity that, when fostered and encouraged, can help them develop into the leaders and innovators they’re meant to be. So how do you turn students’ questions and interests into the critical thinking skills they’ll need for the future?

Discover how to teach critical thinking with a guide that includes ways to fold these specialized skills into your curriculum, as well as teaching tips and valuable resources to develop deeper thinking skills. You’ll find easy and straightforward ways to turn your classroom into a critical thinking refuge and learn to help students see why these skills are so important in the long run.

Critical Thinking Skills to Teach Kids

Critical thinking is the way students consider a problem before solving it. Critical thinking skills are the individual steps they go through in that consideration, whether it’s asking questions, checking their own assumptions, thinking about other perspectives, and involving observations and evidence. 

But aren’t critical thinking skills meant for older kids? Definitely not, and addressing critical thinking skills early can enhance learners’ approach to problems or new challenges. The main critical thinking skills to bring into your curriculum include:

• Problem solving: How effectively and creatively can you find a solution to a problem?
• Open-ended thinking: A broad application that allows students to consider multiple perspectives and possibilities.
• Evaluating: Reflective thinking that uses evidence and reasoning to apply judgment in a situation.
• Innovating: A creative and more efficient way to improve a situation, item, or process.
• Inquiring mindset: A questioning mindset that connects curiosity with making observations.

When you read the list of skills above, they may sound like the typical soft skills needed for a job interview, and they are! Learning how to teach critical thinking early helps students long beyond your classroom and into their future careers.

1. Practice high-interest problem solving

Problem-solving skills mean a lot more when they involve something students have a strong interest in. Whether you’re designing a soccer-themed math lesson or assigning engaging STEM projects for kids, you’ll find that students are able to solve common and complex problems much more easily than in non-practical situations.

To reinforce these critical thinking skills, use SODAS (Situation, Options, Disadvantages, Advantages, Solution) in your classroom. Present teams or individuals with a situation, decide on the options, weigh the disadvantages and advantages, and have them come up with the best solution possible.

2. Add depth and complexity to assignments

Is it possible to infuse your existing curriculum with critical thinking activities? When you focus on depth and complexity, it is! Find ways for students to think critically and collaboratively in your everyday assignments, whether it’s reacting to a class story or teaching a new science concept.

A common depth and complexity framework includes big ideas, details, patterns, ethics, trends, and multiple perspectives. Use these activities to promote deep conversation in class, extend learning, and encourage students to take more time to consider a side they hadn’t thought about before. For example, what’s the big idea about the story of Cinderella? How would it be different with multiple perspectives, and what patterns do you notice that relate to other fairy tales?

Push students to look past their first impressions

Can you learn everything you need to know with just one look? Not in school, you can’t, and critical thinking activities on depth and complexity encourage kids to take another moment before coming to a conclusion about a lesson.

Depth and Complexity Critical Thinking Resource
By Read Like a Rockstar
Grades: K-3rd
Subjects: Literature, Math, Social Studies

Go deeper with elementary discussions using this resource that focuses on depth and complexity. A series of tasks and thinking mats takes students through finding multiple perspectives, big ideas, important details, and unanswered questions to apply to any subject.

3. Bring in everyday challenges

You already know that students need to be challenged in order to grow. But when those challenges come every day, such as in daily practice activities, scheduled discussions, or teamwork projects that push students out of their learning comfort zones, you’ll start to see real growth in critical thinking.

For example, you can turn your typical math lesson into a math escape room for a challenging twist, or add brain teasers to tests for extra credit (and extra fun). Consider interdisciplinary assignments as a way to get students thinking critically about the curriculum and help them make connections across both subjects.

Challenge students with daily brain busters

Students love brain busters, and teachers love bell ringers! Bring brain busters to your daily introductions with resources that include a variety of challenges in different subjects and skill levels.

Critical Thinking Daily Brain Busters | Enrichment Activities | Morning Work
By Teaching with a Mountain View
Grades: 3rd-5th
Subjects: Creative Writing, English Language Arts
Standards: CCSS W.3.1b, 3.10, W.4.1, W.4.10, W.5.1, W.5.10, CCRA.W.3, W.10 

You’ve got the school year handled with this CCSS-aligned resource! Master how to teach critical thinking to kids with 180 days of critical thinking brain busters, including math puzzles, hypothetical questions, creative elementary writing prompts, analogies, and more. Each challenge allows students to practice important critical thinking skills before class even gets started.

4. Encourage independent learning

Elementary students who are quick to ask for help may struggle to think critically about assignments down the line. To encourage these skills, program independent learning opportunities into your day to let them struggle and solve problems organically.

If students have limited resources and time, they’re much more likely to think of innovative and convincing solutions than if the teacher has intervened throughout the process. For younger learners, include low-stakes components of an assignment or project for independent problem-solving, while older students may be able to complete an entire open-ended project on their own.

Give students choices in their activities

Nothing encourages independent learning more than giving students choices. Have resources ready to go with a selection of projects for students to choose from, and promote their ability to follow their own path and make their own decisions.

Early Finishers Choice Boards | Monthly Critical Thinking Activities
By Lauren Ely
Grades: 3rd-5th
Subject: Creative Writing

Build student autonomy and enhance critical thinking skills with a series of monthly choice boards. Ideal for early finishers or extra enrichment, this resource includes printable choice boards for each month of the year for students to self-direct their own activities.

5. Add critical thinking to art

Art is a decidedly creative process, but it’s also an effective way to teach critical thinking. Add depth to your class art projects by inspiring evaluation, observation, and open-ended perspectives in elementary students.

After the class finishes an art project, set up a gallery walk where students write down their observations about peers’ work. They can evaluate the artist’s choices without criticizing the work itself, and they can evaluate their own work and view it from different perspectives that aren’t their own.

Create new images by following directions

Every choice in art is an expression of critical thinking, as one brush stroke rules out all the others once it’s made! Encourage this combination of artistic and critical thinking skills with art projects that guide students through the decision-making process of creating something that didn’t exist before.

Finish the Drawing Picture Activity Critical Thinking Early Finisher Worksheets
By Your Thrifty Co-Teacher
Grades: 3rd-5th
Subject: Creative Writing

Teach critical thinking to elementary classes with a unique art challenge: They must use two or three shapes to complete the drawing by following written directions. This engaging and enriching activity makes a good addition to elementary shape lessons, sub plans, or early finisher packets for students who need an activity to do.

6. Model making observations

We use critical thinking skills based on the day’s weather every time we get dressed and choose the fastest route to work based on traffic. Making observations is a key part of the critical thinking process, and chances are, your students are already working on it (with room for improvement — just ask any teacher who’s had a student inquire “Are you 100 years old?”).

Model the observation-making process by describing things you notice throughout the day. You can also fold projects based on observations into your curriculum, such as weather tracking or pattern observations in stories, and encourage friendly observations during class discussions or elementary debates.

Teach students to observe their own observations

Perfect for introducing any subject in your day, an observation-based resource can build these important skills even before the lesson begins. Have students note what they observe about a book cover, science diagram, historical painting, or another image, then have them take notes on their own observations. Why did they notice that detail? What does it tell them about their own understanding? 

Notice, Think, Wonder – Critical Thinking by Rockin Resources
By Rockin Resources
Grades: 2nd-6th

What do students notice in an image, and what do they wonder about it? Use 20 photographs to inspire students’ curiosity and encourage them to detail what they see, what they think about it, and what they wonder or question.

7. Ask open-ended questions

You don’t need to look far in an elementary curriculum to find questions with “right” and “wrong” answers. By the time students reach your classroom, they may have learned that these are the only two acceptable answers, and if they don’t know the “right” answer, they might be inclined to stay quiet.

Prevent this closed-minded thinking and open up your questions beyond the concepts of right and wrong. Start more questions with “Why do you think …?” and “How does it make you feel?”, including on class assessments. Open-ended questions encourage students to think critically about the topic at hand, and bring otherwise quiet students into a discussion where their thoughts and opinions are welcome.

8. Let them be leaders

A traditional teacher-led classroom structure puts the teacher at the front of the classroom, with students addressing their questions and attention toward them. While this approach may result in proficiency in some academic skills, it’s not an ideal way to foster critical thinking for students who desperately need leadership experience.

Add student-led components to your day to encourage creativity and leadership. Split your class into groups and assign team-building activities for kids, with each team member a leader of one part of the project. You can even involve students in your curriculum planning by asking about their interests and preferred ways to learn!

The Benefits of Teaching Kids Critical Thinking Skills

With the sharp increase of disinformation in online media, as well as manipulated news and images in the 21st century, critical thinking is more important than ever. Starting students on this path early has many positive benefits for their overall development as well, including:

• Higher confidence in their identity as a student
• Healthier relationships
• Inspires them to challenge the status quo
• Prepares them to become leaders in their community
• Increased ability in future skills, such as financial literacy and emotional regulation

As they get older, students can work on more sophisticated critical thinking skills, including assessing sources to determine bias. The foundations they learn in elementary school will prepare them for these educational challenges, and for the many opportunities to think critically long past graduation.

The moment students walk into your classroom, they can start building those important critical thinking skills. With well-developed resources and everyday implementation, you’ll find that these lessons may be the most rewarding (and the most fun!) activities that you teach all year. Find more elementary critical thinking resources to learn how to teach critical thinking and to inspire and challenge your students all year.