Critical thinking helps with real life problem solving and making connections between ideas, logic, and reasoning. Teaching our kids to think critically will help them across all subjects and prepare them for future challenges. Why not incorporate some fun critical thinking activities into your child’s playtime or school? Here are 20 fun critical thinking games to help your kids build critical thinking skills. They’re perfect for school, playtime, or gifts.
20 Critical Thinking Games
These brightly colored magnetic blocks will boost fine motor and visual thinking skills. Kids can create one of 50 design challenges or come up with their own designs. (ages 3-15)
Laser Maze
This beam bending brain game comes with 60 challenges. It improves logical reasoning, spatial reasoning, and planning skills through fun game play. (ages 8+)
Tangram Brain Teaser
Brain teasers of all types are fun, but this set is a favorite in our house. It comes with a wooden tray and 40 wooden puzzle pieces. It improves hand-eye coordination, shape & color recognition, and sparks imagination. (ages 3+)
Instead of using numbers to solve the puzzle, this game uses brightly colored wooden balls. 104 puzzle cards come in 5 levels of difficulty and is an effective and fun logic game. Playing will improve your child’s memory and logic and will require him to think strategically and solve problems creatively. (ages 8+)
SmartGames
Our family loves Smart Games. These Belgium brain games are designed for preschoolers through adults. There are over 45 different games. Each single-player game has between 48 and 120 challenges. Some of our favorites are Three Little Piggies , Walls & Warriors, Asteroid Escape, and IQ Twist. (ages 3+)
These fun sets each provide over 2,000 brain challenges using a controller, tiles, and workbooks. Students build visual perception, concentration, critical thinking, language, and math. I love that these sets are high-quality, visually appealing, and promote independence. (ages 3-7)
Smart Cookies
This cookie game offers 64 brain-building puzzles in a fun format. The game promotes reasoning skills for young kids in a gradual way. It is a favorite in our home. (ages 6+)
FoxMind Brain Builder Series
This company offers five fun 3D brain games for all ages. These single-player games use just eighteen blocks to experiment with construction, geometry, logical analysis, perspective, design, and spatial logic. The series includes Equilibrio, Tangramino, Architecto, Cliko, and Perspecto. (ages 5+)
Marble Circuit
This solo-player marble marble strategy game teaches logic, problem-solving, spatial recognition and cause and effect. Marble Circuit includes 64 puzzle cards with solutions. (ages 8 +)
The Genius Square
This fun solo problem solving puzzle has 62,208 possible solutions! It promotes problem-solving, spatial awareness, logic, strategic planning, visual discrimination, motor manipulation skills, and concentration. (ages 6+)
Chess is a classic strategy game that will exercise your child’s critical thinking, spatial, analytical, and decision-making skills. For beginners, our family enjoys No Stress Chess. (ages 6+)
Q-Bitz Solo
Q-bitz is a fun visual agility game. With twenty pattern cards and sixteen cubes, kids will recreate the patterns as quickly as possible. (ages 8+)