According to research, there is a strong link between play and learning for young children, especially in problem solving, language acquisition, literacy, numeracy and social, physical, and emotional skills.

Encouraging learning-based play will help with children’s social, cognitive, physical and emotional development. Children develop a strong foundation for intellectual growth, creativity, problem-solving and basic academic knowledge through play. It helps them learn how to cope with feelings, get creative, take turns and cooperate with each other.

In my last article, Top 10 Skills Every Child Must Have To Thrive In Today’s World . I discussed the 10 skills every child must have today. Le’s now look at how children can learn these skills from a young age.

One of the key ways children learn is playing. They also learn by being with other people, being active, exploring and new experiences, talking to themselves, communication with others, meeting physical and mental challenges, being shown how to do new things, practicing and repeating skills and having fun.

The 10 skills every child needs to have and how to teach them.

Complex problem solving:

Allowing your child figure out a way out of challenges or around obstacles from a young age will help them build problem solving capacity and self confidence. Allow them make mistakes and teach them how to move forward instead of always jumping in to rescue them. Make problem solving a fun part of the culture of your home. Read problem-solving stories together and teach them how to break the problem into manageable parts, so each task does not seem impossible. They will grow into adults who are not scared to take on challenges.

2. Critical thinking.

Critical thinking skills are an increasingly important element of elementary education, but teaching them can often be a challenge on how to incorporate it into everyday lessons.

Critical thinking exercises for elementary education

Ask questions

Asking open ended questions allows kids think deeply about the answer to respond with. Makes them think on their feet, replay memories of things they have learnt in the past and tap into a depth within themselves to solve the problem.

Encourage decision-making

Learning how to make decisions on their own enables students to apply what they’ve learned to different situations, weigh the pros and cons of a variety of solutions, then decide which ideas work best.

Work in groups

Cooperative learning not only exposes students to the thought processes of their classmates, it expands their thinking and worldview by demonstrating that there’s no one right way to approach a problem.

3. Creativity.

A lot of people think creativity is an inborn gift that children are born with. It isn’t. Creativity is more skill than inborn talent, and it is a skill parents can help their kids develop.

Here are some ideas for fostering creativity in your kids:

Time.

These Kids need a lot of time for unstructured, child-directed, imaginative play.

Space

Unless you don’t mind creative messes everywhere, give them a specific place where they can make a mess, like room or a corner they can go ‘wild’ creatively. Painting, lego, block building etc are activities you can encourage them to engage in.

Resources

Lego, painting brushes, palettes, cameras, painting board, colouring books, etc are resources you can provide to encourage creative activities.

4. People management:

It’s a digital world as it is easy for kids to get buried in gadgets, but your child still needs to master human relation skills like making small talk and looking someone in the eye. These simple steps will help you teach your kid these important social skills. Encourage ‘no media’ time especially at meal times or when people are around your kid. This makes them interact better, study body language and become better with communication. Communication, collaboration, active listening, teamwork etc. all enhance People Management skills.

5. Coordinating with others.

‘Getting along and engaging with others is the building block of many things in life,’ says chartered clinical psychologist and parenting adviser Claire Halsey. ‘From a young age, children need to learn how to give and take, share, take turns, play to their strengths and draw in other people to fill the gaps. It’s a core social skill.’ Children are innately selfish since they are born with the drive to have their basic needs for food and comfort met. Therefore, it is only normal for them to always look out for themselves. It takes life lessons to understand the importance of collaboration, teamwork and empathy. Encourage them to participate in circle games, board games, music concerts with siblings, etc.

6. Emotional intelligence

Do you want to raise an emotionally intelligent child and and you’re wondering where to start? Acknowledge your child’s perspective, feelings and empathize. This doesn’t mean you agree with what your child wants or what she is doing, but the feeling of being understood communicates that she is entitled to her perspectives. This is good for her emotional stability.

7. Judgement and decision making.

Teaching kids how to make decisions is a valuable life skill for children to have. As kids get older, the kinds of decisions they make become increasingly more complicated. Here is a step-by-step guide to better decision making.