Critical and creative thinking, like any other skill, must be exercised and challenged to grow. Combining creative and critical thinking activities is a great way to help prepare children to become effective problem solvers. In the future, children must know how to use both creativity to come up with new ideas and critical thinking to focus and analyze processes.
Children are increasingly spending more time in front of screens, while studies are telling us they need more time away from technology to develop their imaginations. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children between the ages of four and five have less than one hour of screen time per day while children six and older have consistent limits placed on their screen time.
When my children were young, my husband and I agreed to limit the time our children spent in front of screens and to encourage creativity, personal interaction, and critical thinking. We still allow monitored television and tablet games during the weekend, but our primary focus is teaching our children to tap into their own imaginations.
Television and the Internet offer so much uncensored content and information. How is your child assimilating and evaluating that information? In this digital age, it is important for children to learn how to screen out the distractions in their environment and critically analyze the world around them. Improving analytical and creative thinking through mental exercises develops the habits of imagining, experimenting, and questioning and builds internal tools within our children to evaluate the world around them.
5 Alternatives to Screen Time
- Top Kid’s Board Games: Some of our favorites are:
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- Apples to Apples
- Connect Four
- Aggravation
- Clue
- Yahtzee
Create your own board game! Working backward is a great exercise that combines creative new ideas with careful analysis and organization.
- Using cardboard, cut out a game board and pieces.
- Create a goal and theme.
- Develop a set of rules that participants must follow to win.
- Create a catchy title.
2. Switch up reading routines: Encourage reading with a variety of reading materials. Sometimes unconventional reading options are the best to help reluctant readers with their daily reading.
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- Calvin and Hobbes comics
- Garfield comics
- National Geographic Magazine for kids
- Check out the New York Library of top reading books for kids here.
Let your children build or create a fun reading nook at home, even if it is temporary.
- Build a fort with sheets under a desk
- Pitch a tent in the backyard
- Use pillows to create a reading space in a bedroom
- Transform a large cardboard box into a cozy reading space
- Hang a hammock chair from the ceiling
3. Let kids get messy and creative with art: Inspire the inner artist with these free art activities.
Pop Art
4. Family Reading night: Designate a family reading night with fun treats and read-alouds. Stories provide opportunities for children to imagine the impossible and allow their creative minds to roam with possibilities.
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- Where the Red Fern Grows
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
- Little House on the Prairie
- Stuart Little
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Create a festive mood with a fun treat like a popcorn, pretzel and chocolate mix!
5. Set aside 15 minutes for quiet time with activity books. Quiet time allows children to process and synthesis new information. It increases creativity, focus, mindfulness and confidence. Allowing children a few minutes at the end of every day is a wonderful activity to foster their creativity and critical thinking.
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The Never-Bored Kid activity books for ages 4-9 fosters creativity and higher-order thinking with puzzles, mazes, crafts, word games, art projects, and games. Perfect for summer fun, evening boredom busters and road trips, the full-color activities provide fun and easy entertainment that doesn’t involve a screen.
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Skill Sharpeners: Critical Thinking activity books offer creative and fun activities that challenge your child to use higher-order thinking skills such as analyzing, inferring, solving, and creating.
Education is not the learning of facts. It’s rather the training of the mind to think.
-Albert Einstein
Education should not be left to the classroom alone. As parents, we are instructing our children every day in our conversations, interactions, and habits. How are you educating your children?
Heather Foudy is a certified elementary teacher with over 7 years’ experience as an educator and volunteer in the classroom. She enjoys creating lessons that are meaningful and creative for students. She is currently working for Evan-Moor’s marketing and communications team and enjoys building learning opportunities that are both meaningful and creative for students and teachers alike.