Every day youngsters navigate environments created for adults. Their approach to daily tasks can differ greatly from ours but are no less valid or effective. When did you last consider the world from a child’s perspective?
New research shows that when given the same information as adults to solve tasks, children can come up with creative solutions that are very much their own. The key is if they’re allowed to do so.
Problem Solving As A Child In A Grown-Up’s World
The differences between adults and children’s cognition are often taken for granted. Society often pushes adult expectations on children too early. And doing so can hinder confidence, success, and creativity.
Due to their stage of development, children are naturally less able to:
- Remember as much as adults
- Maintain long attention spans
- Hold persistent concentration for extended periods
Yet, the Max Planck Research Group found that while children have difficulty concentrating, they are often good at discovering hidden “tricks” to make tasks easier.
“They [children] are surprisingly flexible in discovering entirely new solutions,” says Nicolas Schuck, group leader of the Max Planck Research Group NeuroCode. “Especially considering their not fully developed ability to concentrate, these are important results for researching learning behavior in children.”
How Art, Music, and Dance Nurture Creative Problem Solving
The late professor Elliot Eisner spent his career advocating for the arts in school curriculum. Eisner believed their inclusion is essential to children developing critical thinking skills. He reasoned that:
- The arts celebrate multiple perspectives.
- The arts teach students that small differences can have large effects.
- The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution.
- The arts’ position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young what adults believe is important.
- The arts teach children that complex forms of problem-solving purposes are seldom fixed but change with circumstance and opportunity.
Problem Solving As A Child In A Grown-Up’s World
The many typical differences between adults’ and children’s cognition are often taken for granted. Rather than foster innate creative ability and intelligence, we push an adult skillset, hindering confidence, success, and creativity. It turns out this approach could be premature and unnecessary.
Due to their stage of development, children are naturally less able to:
- Remember as much as adults
- Maintain long attention spans
- Hold persistent concentration for extended periods
These are not “problems” to be addressed but rather opportunities to understand what children are innately good at when the adults take their misperceptions and get out of the way.
A new study by the Max Planck Research Group found that children are often good at discovering hidden “tricks” to make tasks easier and that spontaneous strategy changes help them do this. In fact, decreasing adult based expectations when it comes to problem-solving allows children the possibility of “aha moments.”
“Our findings provide evidence that educators, parents, and teachers should be less insistent on rigid rules, and only teach the one concrete way to solve problems, but also value and encourage children’s broader attentional focus,” says Anika Löwe of the NeuroCode team and co-author of the study. “Our findings show: We can have more confidence in children’s creative problem-solving strategies.”
Löwe suggests that in the field of cognitive developmental psychology, there should be more research on creative processes rather than on lack of concentration in children.
How Art, Music, and Dance Nurture Creative Problem Solving
Professor Elliot Eisner, a leading scholar of arts education, spent his career propagating that a school curriculum including music, dance, and art is essential in developing critical thinking skills in children.
Considered a visionary and stalwart for the vital role of art in education, he reasoned that:
- The arts celebrate multiple perspectives.
- The arts teach students that small differences can have large effects.
- The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution.
- The arts’ position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young what adults believe is important.
- The arts teach children that complex forms of problem-solving purposes are seldom fixed but change with circumstance and opportunity.
If your child has the opportunity to engage in the arts, they’re able to practice and realize skills critical for problem-solving and for navigating life in a meaningful way.
Consider how your life might be different had you been supported in thoroughly developing these skills as a child:
Being uncomfortable exploring the unknown: The arts are often an expression of the unknown and unknowable. They can teach us how to hold the tension between where we stand and the mysteries of life around us.
Fostering an attitude of curiosity: Releasing rigid and conditioned ways of doing things, and embracing an attitude of exploration, allows new possibilities to arise. Curiosity helps us depersonalize experiences, freeing our minds to attend to whatever life presents.
Building inner resilience: The arts allow us to explore creating, experimenting, and failing safely. Things don’t always work out, and we learn to embrace this as part of an infinite process rather than a defined outcome.
Letting go: Adopting a beginner’s mind—free, unconditioned, and open—supports the discovery of new information, unique solutions, and “aha moment” intelligence.
Fostering confidence: You’re in charge of what you’re doing. You’re responsible for creating the container, deciding the direction, and knowing when your creation (a painting, a song, or a dance) is complete.
How To Nurture Your Child’s Problem-Solving Ability
“Children don’t need our ideas and expectations, or our dominance and control, only for us to be attuned to them with our engaged presence.” —Dr. Shefali Tsabury, family therapist
Support your child to lean into their innate creative problem solving with these three approaches to daily family life:
You don’t always know better: Let go of the idea that your child should do as you do. Embrace the fact that they have their intelligent methods by giving them the space to figure things out on their own, in their way.
Don’t make them do everything your way: This is an effective way to erode confidence. Rather than make a fish climb a tree, put them in the ocean. Don’t ask for more concentration and attention. Encourage creativity by asking for your child’s advice and input. Give them responsibility and allow them to take the reins on small tasks at home.
Encourage the arts at home: Between art, music, and dance, there’s bound to be an activity your child is interested in. Children know what they like. Let them choose. Make a point of supporting them to engage in the activity they enjoy. Rest easy knowing that they’re developing critical skills for life while you see scribbling or hear a commotion.