Today's Tip for Families

[En español]

2026-07-06

Play Games That Teach Logical Thinking

Young children don't think like adults. That's as true of the next Albert Einstein as it is of a child with more typical intelligence. While you can't force your child to be logical, you can play some games that will help your elementary schooler learn logical thinking.

Here are a few to try:

• Alike/Different. Start by naming two objects—say, a red sock and a blue sock. Ask your child to tell you how they are alike. Both are socks. Ask how they are different. They are different colors.

  Then, add a challenge. Find objects that don't seem to have anything in common—for example, a banana and a barbell. How are they alike? One person might say those two are alike because they both start with the letter "b." Another person might say that both bananas and barbells can make you strong. Both people would be right.

• Pattern Search. Learning to recognize patterns is an important part of logic.

  Here's one interesting pattern:

  1 x 1 = 1

  11 x 11 = 121

  111 x 111 = 12,321

  1,111 x 1,111 = 1,234,321

  See if your child can predict the answer to 11,111 x 11,111. Look for other patterns—or create your own.

Brought to you by:

West Point Consolidated School District

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