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Children are naturally curious, constantly seeking to understand how things operate and the reasons behind rules. Engaging in critical thinking games can address these inquiries across various subjects, including ELA, math, social studies, and science. Nearly any game can be adapted to suit elementary learners by incorporating visuals, prompts, or analytical tasks.
Enhance ELA Skills with Critical Thinking Games
Critical thinking activities empower students to delve deeper into literature, boost reading comprehension, and approach research with inquisitiveness—all while aligning with CCSS standards in reading, writing, and research. Younger students can benefit from movement-based activities like sentence sorting or acting out story elements, while older students thrive in discussion challenges and strategic games. Integrating these games into your ELA sessions transforms reading, writing, and research into dynamic, standards-aligned experiences that captivate students.
- Engineer a Word Rule: Students pair up to compile a list of words that adhere to a hidden rule, such as a specific word type or spelling pattern. Another team tries to identify the rule and generate new words that fit it, continuing until all rules have been discovered.
- Predict the Missing Word: Create worksheets with sentences containing missing words. In groups, students use contextual clues to suggest the missing word and explain their reasoning. The first group to finish wins.
- Design the Perfect Clue: Teams formulate challenging yet clear clues for vocabulary words, with others competing to guess the words for points. The team with the highest score wins.
- Create a Word Trap: Students partner up to design three multiple-choice word options that nearly fit a sentence, alongside one correct answer. Each pair tests their word traps to see who can answer the most correctly for points, with opportunities to argue for their choices to redeem points.
- Rescue the Misused Word: In timed groups, students must identify incorrectly used words in sentences and replace them with more appropriate choices.
Animal Inferencing Games | Reading Comprehension and Critical Thinking for Kids
By Educating Abroad
Grades: K-3rd
Subjects: Vocabulary, Science
Standards: CCSS SL.K.2, K.3; SL.1.2
This no-prep, digital resource includes 10 whole-class games ideal for brain breaks, Fun Friday activities, or classroom rewards. Each game is crafted to help students enhance their critical thinking, reasoning, and listening abilities while collaboratively solving mysteries. Featuring real photographs, these games are accessible for all learners.
Twistle – Critical Thinking Word Game by Time Saving Tools
By Time Saving Tools
Grades: 3rd-6th
Twistle offers a unique twist on classic word games where students complete word puzzles in innovative ways. The PDF resource includes 18 pages of entertaining word challenges.
Fact and Opinion “I Have, Who Has?” Game – Print & Digital | Critical Thinking
By Deb Hanson
Grades: 3rd-5th
Subjects: Literature, Reading
This engaging cooperative classroom activity helps students sharpen their critical thinking and reading comprehension skills. The game challenges students to differentiate between factual statements and opinions across various engaging topics. With 28 interactive cards, students must listen attentively, analyze the content, and determine whether they possess the correct fact or opinion to keep the game progressing.
Unlock Math Skills with Logic-Building Games
Board and dice games such as Yahtzee, Qwirkle, Blokus, and Proof! serve as excellent tools for enhancing logic, number sense, and probability. If these are unavailable, a blank board, dice, and cards can work effectively. Incorporate critical-thinking games during centers, small-group instruction, interventions, or review days to increase engagement while reinforcing essential math skills.
- Have a Fraction War: Players flip two cards to form a fraction and determine how to arrange them to create the lowest possible fraction. Opponents may challenge the fraction, requesting proof that it is indeed the lowest.
- Battle with Equations: In pairs, students flip two to four number cards and must strategically create an equation with the highest sum to win that round.
- Verify the Truth: Provide students with cards containing both correct and incorrect operations. Teams must classify these operations as true, partially true, or false, winning only if they classify all correctly.
- Prove to Move: On a game board, players roll a die and flip operation cards, needing to solve or disprove the operation to progress toward the winner’s circle.
Make 24 – Critical Thinking Arithmetic Math Game!
By Ryan B’s Classroom
Grades: 2nd-8th
Subjects: Arithmetic, Basic Operations, Mental Math
Standards: CCSS 2.NBT.B.9; 2.OA.B.2, 3.OA.B.5
The 24 game is an excellent way for students to enhance their arithmetic and fundamental math operations skills. Each round begins with one card that presents four numbers. Players must use each number exactly once to formulate an equation that totals 24!
Think Like a Historian with Social Studies Strategy Games
Students can step into the roles of explorers, leaders, and everyday individuals from history through critical thinking games designed for kids. Younger learners can engage with visuals and guided choices, while older students face more complex scenarios and evidence-based reasoning. Incorporating movement, such as placing scenarios around the classroom or analyzing maps, can further enhance engagement.
- Evaluate the Evidence: Teams assess multiple sources to support a claim, ranking them from strongest to weakest before the time runs out.
- Decide the Verdict: Provide students with a significant historical claim, and have them analyze documents to determine a verdict. The strongest arguments prevail.
- Trace the Impact: Divide students into teams and assign them a geographical area and an event, like a drought. They must use system thinking to hypothesize the societal and economic effects on the area and propose solutions within a set time.
- Balance the Power: Assign teams a scenario where they must determine which level of government should intervene and justify their reasoning. The team with the most compelling argument wins.
Logic Puzzles Worksheets Brain Teaser Activities Critical Thinking Games States
By Catch My Products
Grades: 4th-6th
Subjects: U.S. History
Standards: CCSS CCRA.R.1; CCRA.W.7, CCRA.W.10
This 22-page bundle features 12 logic puzzles and two Sudoku puzzles covering a wide range of topics, from celebrities and family pets to geographical regions, all complemented with an answer key.
Explore the World with Science-Based Critical Thinking Activities
Short yet purposeful critical thinking games can transform routine science sessions into significant reasoning and discovery opportunities. These games can be tailored for varying skill levels of elementary students, ranging from basic observation and prediction to data analysis and evidence-supported conclusions. These NGSS-aligned activities fit seamlessly into science classes and can serve as a morning challenge, an effortless transition from math, or a brain-boosting review at the lesson’s end.
- Defend the Claim: Split the class into two teams to race against each other in determining whether a simple claim is backed by evidence.
- Fix the Problem: On a game board, students advance by resolving simple science scenario cards, such as the effects of neglecting to water a plant for a week. For younger learners, incorporate movement by converting the classroom into a game board.
- Decide If It’s Real or Not: Split the class into two teams, assigning each team a science scenario or problem. They must collaboratively decide if it’s genuine or not within 60 seconds.
Ignite Creative Reasoning with Artful Thinking
Art class can become a vibrant space for thinking as students solve, create, and reflect through engaging critical thinking games. Even simple assignments can be gamified; for instance, students might redesign an object in various ways or compete to identify differences in artworks. Younger learners may explore through guided prompts and tactile materials, while older elementary students analyze techniques and justify their artistic choices.
- Create the Design: Pair students and supply them with unconventional materials to create a mask within a designated time. The best design wins.
- Fix the Piece: Teams work together to repair an unbalanced piece of art to claim the title of top artists.
- Invent a New Art Technique: In pairs, students must devise a new art technique and produce a piece using it, racing to finish their masterpiece first.
- Change the Rules: All students commence painting a sun scene together, but midway, the teacher modifies the picture. Students must adapt their artwork without starting anew before time expires.
Enhance Thinking with Online Games
Online games offer an engaging and interactive way for students to develop critical thinking skills. These include brain teasers, logic puzzles, and problem-solving challenges that encourage reasoning and reflection while practicing core abilities. Introducing a bit of online fun can make teaching critical thinking both enjoyable and effective.
- ABCya: Features brain teasers and interactive logic games for grades K-6th that promote critical thinking, problem-solving, and metacognitive skills.
- IXL Language Arts Games: Offers online ELA games for grades PreK-5th designed to enhance reading comprehension and research competencies.
- IXL Math Games: Provides interactive online games for grades PreK-5th that challenge students to think critically, solve problems, and apply mathematical reasoning.
Uncover Critical Thinking Games on TPT
Transform ordinary games into logic challenges and witness elementary students expand their critical thinking abilities. Ready-made games from TPT Teacher-Authors simplify problem-solving and make thinking feel like play. Help students develop their metacognitive skills by exploring more elementary games for critical thinking. Enjoy effortless preparation and print engaging games designed to make critical thinking irresistible!
