The Importance of Developing Flexible Thinking Skills in Children & How to Guide

Fostering flexible thinking skills in children is one way we can empower them to navigate the complexities of the world with confidence and resilience. This means encouraging creativity, curiosity, and a willingness to step outside of one’s comfort zone. It also means teaching children how to embrace mistakes and setbacks as learning opportunities, rather than viewing them as failures.

Understanding Flexible Thinking Executive Functioning Skills

In a world that is constantly evolving, the ability to think flexibly is a crucial skill for children to develop. In its most basic form, it is being able to see situations differently and come up with multiple solutions to a problem.

Flexible thinking allows children to:

✮ adapt to new situations

✮ solve problems creatively

✮ approach challenges with an open mind

✮ consider multiple perspectives 

✮ find different (and sometimes innovative) solutions to a problem 

Flexible thinking also plays a vital role in personal development. It enables children to become more resilient and confident in their abilities. They learn to embrace change and uncertainty, viewing them as opportunities for growth rather than as obstacles. By developing flexible thinking executive function skills, children are better equipped to face the challenges that life throws their way.

Read more on what is the definition of flexible thinking here. 

The Benefits Of Developing Flexible Thinking Skills

Developing flexible thinking skills in children is important for many reasons. 

Here are some reasons this essential social skill is important:

✮ Better problem-solving abilities: Flexible thinkers are trained to find solutions to problems. They can approach challenges from different angles, think critically, and come up with ideas to solve the problem. This is helpful both inside and outside of the classroom. 

✮ Improved adaptability: Flexible thinking helps children to adapt to new situations and environments easily. They can adjust their mindset and behavior when faced with unexpected changes. This helps build resilience skills too.

✮ More creative: Flexible thinkers can generate unique ideas and think outside the box. 

✮ Better collaboration and communication: Flexible thinking fosters empathy and understanding, as children learn to consider different perspectives and viewpoints. This skill enhances their ability to work collaboratively with others and communicate effectively, leading to stronger relationships and more successful interactions.

✮ High confidence: Flexible thinkers are more confident in their abilities to navigate challenges and adapt to new situations. They have a growth mindset. This helps them to embrace learning from mistakes and allows them to bounce back quickly. 

Daily Flexible Thinking Activities

Promoting flexible thinking in children can be done in everyday situations. This will help students generalize the skills that they are learning. 

Here are some strategies to nurture flexible thinking skills in children:

✮ Encourage curiosity and exploration: encourage them to ask questions, explore new ideas, and seek out new experiences. Provide opportunities for hands-on learning, experimentation, and discovery.

✮ Embrace mistakes and setbacks: Teach children that mistakes and setbacks are an inevitable part of learning and growth. Encourage them to view these experiences as valuable opportunities for learning and improvement, rather than as failures. Having the adults around them model this is important. This might look like a teacher having a spelling mistake in a teaching material. Instead of trying to cover it up, you can point it out and say something about everyone making mistakes and how next time you’ll need to re-read a bit more carefully. 

✮ Promote critical thinking: Engage children in activities that encourage them to think critically and consider multiple perspectives. Encourage them to question assumptions, evaluate evidence, and make informed decisions.

✮ Provide open-ended activities: Offer children opportunities to engage in open-ended activities that have no fixed solution. This encourages them to think creatively and come up with their own unique approaches to problem-solving.

✮ Model flexible thinking: As adults, we can set an example by demonstrating flexible thinking in our own lives. Show children how you approach challenges with an open mind, consider different viewpoints, and adapt to new situations.

Strategies For Fostering Flexible Thinking In The Classroom

Flexible thinking can be nurtured through everyday activities and routines. Here are some ways to incorporate flexible thinking into a child’s daily life.

Flexible Thinking Book Reading

Encourage children to read books that show thinking that is flexible. 

One way to do this is to teach about the topic using books. This will allow students to really understand this important social skills concept. It also gives them social/emotional vocabulary so that you can help coach them during times of struggle. Some great teaching books are: 

✮ Flexible Thinking Ninja by Mary Nhin

✮ A Little Spot of Flexible Thinking by Diane Alber

✮ I am Stuck by Julia Mills

You can also have students read story books showing characters with diverse perspectives and ideas. Then discuss the stories with them. Have them think critically and consider different solutions to problems the characters face. 

Flexible Thinking Game Play

Get students engaged with games and puzzles. Things like puzzles, brain teasers, and riddles often require flexible thinking and problem-solving skills to solve. Or make your own game that practices thinking flexibly. To do this, pose different situations on the cards that students must answer when moving around a board. This will get students practicing their skills and growing their abilities to see situations from different viewpoints. 

If you are looking for a done-for-you flexible thinking game, grab this one. It is in the form of bingo, which is always a crowd-pleaser with kids. The different calling cards feature situations where students must identify if thinking in the situation was flexible or not. Extend the activity by having students give different solutions to the same problem. Download this engaging thinking flexibly game here. 

Flexible Thinking Group Activities With Art 

Provide opportunities for artistic expression through drawing, painting, sculpting, and other creative activities. These activities encourage children to think imaginatively and explore different ways of expressing their ideas. Not only will this help them develop their ability to look at things from other points of view, but it will also help them to increase their communication skills. 

Flexible Thinking Scenarios

Encourage children to engage in role-playing and pretend play different situations. They can explore different roles and perspectives across different settings. Either give students different situations or have them develop their own. 

Oftentimes, students need situations given to them to get their creative juices flowing. Try posing situations that happen at school, home, and different community spots. 

If you are looking for some situations, check these flexible thinking scenarios out. There are 100+ situations that happen during the different seasons. Each season features scenarios that could happen at home or school, creating diverse waves of thinking and conversations. Also included are vocabulary cards so children are sure to know what flexible and rigid thinking means. Students can work in a group identifying the different types of thinking in each situation or turn it into a write-the-room activity using the included response sheet. Plus it comes in both printable and digital options so you can customize it to how students learn best. Grab this time-saving resource here.

Outdoor Exploration 

Encourage children to spend time outdoors, exploring nature and engaging in unstructured play. This helps develop their observation skills, curiosity, and adaptability as they encounter new environments and situations.

More on Flexible Thinking

3 Helpful Flexible Thinking Exercises for Children – gather more ideas on how to grow this important social skill 

Need an Example of Flexible Thinking for Kids? – find some good examples to help you better understand this social emotional topic

3 Steps to Help a Child Become a Flexible Thinker – easy to follow steps to get students learning and generalizing this essential social skill

How to Help Students Think Flexibly With Games – games to get students engaged in their learning of flexible thinking

Happy Teaching!