17 Valuable Problem Solving Activities for Toddlers
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Problem solving activities for toddlers don’t need to be overly complicated.
I would sit there watching my toddler as he was playing with his toys during his playtime. He would be trying to fit a block into one of those circular toys with the shapes cut out.
He was trying to put a square into a circle cutout. After a couple of attempts, he clearly couldn’t get it to work and he absolutely lost his cool.
There is yelling and screaming and the toy was eventually thrown some distance across the room. This was not a one-off event.
My second child didn’t seem to have such a lot of trouble with these kinds of situations but my third child is very much the same as her older brother.
Problem-solving skills come easier to some people than they do two others.
However problem-solving skills are an important asset to have no matter who you are or what stage of life you’re in.
Life can be complicated and challenging and we often come across situations that we’re not comfortable in and we’re not sure how to handle.
But is it really that important to start working on problem-solving skills when our kids are still just toddlers?
Why are Problem-Solving Activities for Toddlers Important?
Layers. Let’s think about problem-solving skills in layers.
You may feel as though it’s not very important for your toddler to be working on problem-solving skills but that is the furthest thing from the truth.
The toddler years build-up to the childhood years build-up to teenage years and the teenage years built up to adulthood.
Each stage contains its own unique set of problem-solving that needs to happen and problem-solving skills are a crucial part of toddler cognitive development.
The problem-solving skills that a toddler must learn are not going to be the same as what a teenager is going to need to learn.
However, the skills that a toddler learns are going to directly impact the skills that a teenager is going to be able to learn and how easily they’re able to learn them.
What your toddler learns now is going to make their problem-solving so much easier when they are a teenager.
To put it frankly you want to allow your toddler to be learning problem-solving skills now in order to make their future that much easier.
Important Skills that Problem-Solving Offers
Let’s just take a moment to really consider everything that your child will gain from having some problem-solving skills. Problem-solving is great but it isn’t the only thing that your child is going to gain.
They will gain the ability to be more creative, have more flexibility, patience, and lateral thinking.
Your toddler will gain skills such as resilience, level-headedness, and persistence. These may be basic skills, to begin with, but over time they will grow and get stronger and hugely benefit them in the long run.
Your child’s ability to increase their critical thinking skills and work out their own problems is made much easier if they’re given the opportunity to practice these skills as young children.
A List of Problem-Solving Games and Activities for Toddlers
As parents, we can sometimes overthink how our children are going to learn specific skills. An important thing to remember is that a child’s work is play. Play is a child’s work. Children need very little to learn important skills.
However, you can definitely help set up certain scenarios where your toddler can practice the art of problem-solving.
Because children learn through play I am listing a lot of games and activities for toddlers that are meant for building up problem-solving skills.
I have also included at least one general life activity that takes place in the home. Children do learn through play but there are also just daily activities that are going to help hone their problem-solving skills. Sometimes we just need them to be pointed out.
We often just need some new ways suggested to us when we’re at a dead end for what the best way and most fun way is to teach these kinds of cognitive skills.
#1 Puzzles
This seems like a really obvious answer but it is sometimes the simplest things that make the most difference.
There are there is an abundance of puzzles out there that are perfect for toddlers to home their problem-solving skills with.
My one piece of advice would be to make sure that it is age appropriate. If you pick one that is too advanced you’re only going to end up with a very frustrated toddler.
#2 Asking Open-Ended Questions (Imaginary Games)
This is something that can be a really fun activity to do with your toddler and there are different ways to do it. You could set up a storytime where they are going to be telling the story themselves. To help them with this you simply ask them open-ended questions. In my experience kids absolutely love this.
You can also make this in an imaginary game. We all know how much our children love for us to play with them and to play imaginary games specifically.
Let them run the narrative by asking them questions. Young toddlers very often come up with the most hilarious storylines.
#3 Scavenger Hunts
This is an activity that all of my children love even my kids who are well out of the toddler stage. For that reason, it can be a really great family activity to do together.
Create your own scavenger hunts or find one on Pinterest or Google. Make it into a treasure hunt if you really want to up the excitement level. Your older children will love this too.
Your toddler will have so much fun hunting for things around your house or your yard. It’s a great way of developing their problem-solving skills as they have to think about where certain things would be.
You could even have them create a scavenger hunt for their siblings are friends to do. This is one of those fun activities that can be rehashed many times over.
#4 Creative Play
Creative play isn’t necessarily a toddler activity that you have to set up because they naturally fall into it all on their own. However, it is important to acknowledge how wonderful creative play is for helping to develop problem-solving skills.
Have you ever had a child come to you and complain that their sibling or friend is not playing by the rules of the game that they themselves created?
This is a perfect example of how they are developing their problem-solving skills.
Children naturally create scenarios and situations that are promoted by their life experiences and the things that they see around them.
Creative play gives them the opportunity to role model the examples that they have been exposed to and to work out different scenarios. This is a vital skill for them to develop at a young age.
Most kids can come up with all sorts of games without any toys at all however if you do want to provide toys for the specific kind of play look under toys listed as role play or creative play.
Consider a toy kitchen dress-up clothes play money. All of these things can have open-ended uses for play and learning vital skills.
When they practice this kind of creative free play with other children, they’re also practicing their language development and working on solving difficult situations. It’s a really good way to overhear what they really are learning.
#5 Creating Patterns
I homeschool my children and one of the things that they all really in have enjoyed doing is learning about patterns. However, this is not something that you have to wait to teach your child until they are school-aged.
Toddlers are more than capable of recognizing patterns around them.
You can get free printables or printables that are very affordable that are specifically made to use with toddlers.
You can get them to continue the pattern or create their own pattern using flashcards.
This is an excellent way of developing problem-solving skills using simple games and even small objects. Use chocolate chips and cheerios to create a pattern. It’ll be great for their fine motor skills and they’ll love the treat when you’re finished the game!
#6 Chores
Now, this is obviously not a game or specific activity for toddlers however chores are a normal part of life. In our home, everyone does their bit to help the home run smoothly.
You can totally give your toddler some basic chores that they are responsible for. Simple things like taking a rag and dusting the baseboards. My toddlers have always loved to be helpful in this way. It’s a great way to teach them problem-solving skills. They will learn about the tools they need to use the job to complete the job and how to get the job done well.
As they get older their skills will also get better.
#7 Stacking Blocks
Stacking blocks are a pretty staple part of many toddlers’ toy chests. It’s an open-ended imaginative toy that your toddler can learn great problem-solving skills from.
The simple act of having to balance blocks on top of one another without them falling over is a skill in and of itself. These were a favorite toy in our home when I had really little kids.
Using building materials such as wooden blocks helps them to problem solve and learn important concepts such as balance, spatial reasoning, and many other great skills.
Little minds can be seen working through the thought process of all the possible solutions for what they want to build.
This was a toy that I often had set aside for independent play (a great tool to have during the early years!).
#8 Magnatiles
Magatiles are another great toy option for open-ended imaginative play. Again your toddler will have to make sure that they understand how to get the tiles to fit together and create the shapes that they’re trying to achieve.
#9 Hide n Seek
Playing hide n’ seek honestly holds some of the fondest memories I have of my kids. There is just something about hearing their little giggles as they are trying their best to hide from me that just melts my heart. Ultimately I end up in fits of vehicles myself.
In all seriousness, your toddler can learn some great problem-solving skills by playing this game with you their siblings or friends.
#10 Grouping Activities
Another simple activity that teaches great problem-solving skills is having your toddler practice grouping specific items based on either their shape color or other identifying thing.
#11 Playing Playdough
Play-Doh is one of the cheapest and most accessible open-ended play items that you can give to your child. You can either just leave them to play with it or you can give them playdough mats where they can create specific shapes with their player.
This is a great activity for developing hand dexterity and also problem-solving skills amongst other things.
#12 Reading Together
You might not consider reading together an activity that would develop problem-solving skills. However, as your child goes through the story with you and the character that you are reading about is struggling with specific issues your toddler is also going to be thinking about how those issues might be resolved.
A way to make this activity even better is to have a discussion with your toddler as you’re reading a story or after you’ve finished it.
#13 Gardening
Gardening is a really wonderful activity for your toddler to be involved in.
Not only are they going to learn about plants how they grow and what they can produce for us but they can also learn some valuable problem-solving skills as they help alongside you in the garden.
#14 Shape Insert Toys
Remember that toy that my son was really struggling with at the beginning of this article? Well despite his frustration it is actually a really fantastic toy for teaching toddlers problem-solving skills.Â
#15 Games (Think, Fun, Roll)
There are different games that you can play with your toddler that can also help with problem-solving skills. One that we really love in our home is Think, Fun, Roll.
But there are also board games such as Candyland that toddlers really love and will teach them great skills.
#16 Playing Memory
Some toddlers may find it a little frustrating playing the game memory. However, if you’re smart and modify it and make it a little easier then this can be a really really wonderful game for toddlers to build up their problem-solving skills.
They’ll learn the process of elimination. They also work on extending their concentration and obviously they’ll be working on their memory skills too.
#17 Daily Activities
Finally, I just want to address one of the most obvious things and that is daily activities. Your child will be doing things like getting dressed brushing their teeth picking up their clothes taking their plate to the kitchen and many other simple tasks like this every single day.
Do not fail to see the wonderful skillset that they will gain from doing these basic tasks.
Toddlers can learn great problem-solving skills simply by getting dressed in the morning.
We really don’t need to overcomplicate things.
Conclusion
Problem-solving is such a vital skill to have especially in adulthood but the things that we provide for our children now will make a big difference in the future.
It can take patience on our behalf and a lot of grace at times to give them the space to really practice their problem-solving skills.
It’s not fun having to listen to your toddler frustrated and whining as I try to learn something new and not step in to fix it for them.
However, you have to see how good is for them to learn these skills. There will be times when you will need to step in and help but a lot of the time it will be great for them to figure it out on their own.
I hope these toddler activity ideas give you a great jumping-off point for a way to teach a child really great problem-solving skills.
