Toddlers need exposure to open-ended experiences with opportunities to make choices and decisions.1- Segatti, L., Brown-DuPaul, J., & Keyes, T.L. (2003). Using Everyday Materials To Promote Problem Solving in Toddlers. YC Young Children, 58(5), 12-18.
Problem-solving experiences with open-ended materials are often physical knowledge activities. The physical knowledge concept, which is based on Piagetian principles, is linked to specific activities for pre-school children.2- Kamii, C., & DeVries, R. (1993). Physical knowledge in preschool education: Implications of Piaget's theory. New York: Teachers College Press. (Originally published 1978)
Researchers found that when children take the initiative to act on objects and then observe the reactions, they learn about their physical world and develop intellectually.2- Kamii, C., & DeVries, R. (1993). Physical knowledge in preschool education: Implications of Piaget's theory. New York: Teachers College Press. (Originally published 1978)
Play can facilitate creative problem-solving skills, divergent thinking, symbolic transformations, recombination and multiple cognitive sets.3- Russ, S. W. (1998). Play, creativity, and adaptive functioning: implications for play interventions. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 27, 4, 469-80
It is an excellent opportunity for fostering problem-solving abilities.
Edward De Bono described convergent thinking as vertical thinking because it involves moving back and forth between higher and lower levels of thought.4- De Bono, E. (1992). Teaching Thinking. London: Penguin Books.
There is only one acceptable answer for convergent thinkers, so they are compelled to look for such. Puzzles, simple card and board games, and sorting and stacking materials are examples of convergent materials found in a pre-school classroom.
However, divergent thinkers search for many different ways of defining or interpreting a problem. Divergent materials, like blocks and building sets, are toys that encourage multiple uses and are more open-ended, and thus encourage divergent or lateral thinking. Divergent materials invite a variety of children’s responses through exploration, experimentation and original thinking.5- Clavio, J. C. & Fajardo, A.C. (2008). Toys as Instructional Tools in Developing Problem-Solving Skills in Children. Education Quarterly, December 2008, 66 (1), 87-100
De Bono added that it is the blending of literal and imaginative thought that is necessary for problem-solving.4- De Bono, E. (1992). Teaching Thinking. London: Penguin Books.
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