Provide toys, tools, cooking sets, and take-apart toys, such as large boxes and blocks. Let your child play with other children in free play with these items.
Collaboration with adults and other children also helps sharpen problem-solving abilities. Toddlers learn how to problem-solve by imitating others. Two-year-olds don't always respond well to being told what to do, so forming a partnership with the child and asking open-ended questions, for example, "Oh, no. The ball is stuck. What do you think we can do?" may be a more effective way of guiding the child.
Developing the ability to collaborate with adults when children are younger will help them collaborate better with other children to solve problems later on. A systematic review of older children four and above found that collaborative interactions are beneficial for measuring visual perception, problem-solving and rule-based thinking, but not for word-reading and spatial perspective-taking.
A study suggests that when children collaborate to solve problems, providing open-ended materials (which encourage divergent thinking) encourages creativity and better problem-solving abilities. While problem-solving, the children also learn social and emotional skills.
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