Thinking Skills EYFS-KS2

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• Twenty questions - asking questions, listening to answers
• What's in the box? - how to ask questions to find information
• Which character? - finding out about characters and their motives
• Shape quiz - different types of questions

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• What's in the box (2)
• Teddy's birthday - making hats
• Teddy's birthday - planning a party
• Making a den

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• 'What I'm good at' shield - children draw or paint their talents on a shield
• My trophy - what being good looks like
• Picturing what I do well - recording things
• Class celebration - recognising others' achievements

All activities have clear learning outcomes, links to Early Learning Goals and assessment examples.

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• All tied up - understanding that sharing makes tasks easier
• Getting arty - understanding every group member has a role
• The Little Red Hen - sharing and working together
•  Board games - playing fairly

All activities have clear learning outcomes, links to Early Learning Goals and assessment examples.
 

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• Ordering pictures - completing tasks indepently
• Beat the clock - looking after myself
• How am I feeling? - recognising and expressing emotions
• Right or wrong? - recognising and explaning right and wrong

All activities have clear learning outcomes, links to Early Learning Goals and assessment examples.
 

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• People around my school - adults in the school
• Helping hands - what children do to help in class
• The big ones - being part of the whole school
• Celebrating my school community - the school community

All activities have clear learning outcomes, links to Early Learning Goals and assessment examples.

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• Question groups: explaining the difference between open and closed questions
• Yes or no game: useful questions for finding information about a person 
• Twenty questions for Year 1 and 2: making questions more effective
• What’s the question?: suggesting different questions with the same answer

In this section children learn about different types of questions and practise using these in different situations to find information. They evaluate the different types of questions and their uses.

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• What else could it be?: using imagination to suggest uses for objects
• The magic carpet: imagining uses for a blanket and painting pictures
• Magical lands: writing magical lands
• What if…?: imagining alternative endings to stories

In this section children learn to be creative in the things they produce and also in the way they think, using their imagination to create new things.

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• The right stuff: planning what resources are needed for an activity well
• What do you want us to do?: learning that you need information to carry out a task well
• Are you sitting comfortably?: children learn to take responisbility for where they sit so that they can see and hear clearly
• Making learning clearer: identifying barriers to learning in the classroom and suggesting ways to remove these.

In this section, children learn to recognise barriers to learning. They will consider what stops them learning and how to avoid these things to achieve greater success. They will also consider how to prepare themselves so they have the right information and resources to support their learning. 

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• Encouraging one another: learning that encouraging each other can help
• What do we have in common?: learning that different people have things in common
• Rules for working together: suggesting ways of working well together
• Trying out the team: carrying out activities and reflecting on teamwork skills

In this section children learn how to work well with different people. They will learn the importance of having rules and will put these into practice and evaluate them.

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• Feelings stories: suggesting how characters in stories could have reacted more positively
• Always ask first?: learning when you do and don’t need to ask an adult
• Helping myself flow chart: suggesting how to solve a problem on your own
• Helping myself board game: suggesting ways to solve problems.

In this section children begin to learn how to be independent in the way they organise themselves in the classroom. They will also learn to consider their own behaviour and how best to react to different feelings.

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• What is a community?: identify features of your community
• My community: learning how different people in the community help you and your families
• What I do in the community: what you do in your community
• Being a good citizen: saying how your behaviour affects other people in the community.

In this section children learn that they are part of a wider community. They learn to value the roles they play and that others play within their community and consider the importance of having rules.

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• Dragon’s den: learning that having more information allows you to make a more informed decision
• Would you rather…?: making decisions and providing reasons choices
• Picture perfect: learning that you need to see a whole picture to understand what's going on
• The crime of the missing jewels – An oldfashioned ‘Who dunnit?’: identifying which questions are most useful for getting information and making decisions

During this aspect of the skill independent enquirers, the children will learn how to select information to make decisions for themselves. They will begin to recognise the benefit of making an informed choice.

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• Build a picture: exlporing different ideas in group and improving ideas
• How many?: learning not to assume answers, thinking in different ways
• Classroom flood: imaginging uses for resources in your environment
• Planet Zod: creating settings.

In this section children learn to consider new ways of looking at familiar situations. They also learn that the first decision they come to is not always the best and that there is value in exploring other options.

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• How good am I?: learning that in order to know if they have been successful they need to know what it is they are aiming to achieve
• Well done you!: learning that in order to repeat successes you need to know what you are doing
  well in the first place
• Selecting success criteria: selecting your own success criteria from questioning the intended outcome
• Success staircases: creating your own steps for success and using them to reflect and improve work.

In this section children will learn that success criteria are needed in order to be able to measure success.

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• Good cop bad cop: learning what makes a good listener
• Too many irons in the fire: learning that distractions hinder listening
• Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once: learning what helps you to listen better
• Tell a story: learning to listen carefully and to express yourdelf clearly

In this section children learn about what makes a good listener and that to work well within a team they have to listen carefully and discuss what they hear.

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• Inspirational people: overcoming obstacles with determination
• I’m frustrated!: recognising when you are beginning to feel frustrated and suggesting ways of managing your feelings
• Identifying obstacles:learning to identify emotional and behavioural barriers to learning
• Rewards: learning that rewards come in many different forms.

During this aspect of the skill Self-managers, children will learn how to manage feelings of frustration and how persevering can provide rewards.

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• Acting headteacher: making decisions based on others' needs
• Playground rules: learning to consider everybody’s point of view
• Relationship zones: thinking about different relationships and their influence
• Who cares?: learning that you can cause changes for the better in the wider community.

During this aspect of the skill Effective participators, children will learn about the effect they have on other people’s lives and comment on things that affect their own lives.

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• How do you know? learning that you cannot always rely on the same sources of information
• Well whaddaya know?: learning to explore information
• This or that: learning that the same information can be presented in different ways
• Agree to disagree: learning to accept the view of others.

In this section children learn that there are different sources of information available to them. They will learn not to take everything at face value but to question what they read and consider bias. They also learn to accept other people’s views even when they are different to their own.

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• My chair: looking at objects in new ways and learning that objects can be used to symbolise feelings and emotions
• I’m a superhero!: learning to express feelings creatively
• Twenty-first century uniform: designing something original and meeting requirements
• Room-mate: talking about how you solved a problem.

In this section children learn to challenge their thinking and learn to express different ideas and to solve problems in different ways.

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• Feeding back: learning that receiveing positive feedback is more motivating than negative
• The ABC of giving feedback: identifying and providing helpful feedback
• Report time: writing your own report, reflecting on attitudes and your approach to learning
• What’s my learning style?: identifying your primary learning style, questionnaires.

In this section children give and receive feedback and begin to understand their preferred learning style.

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• Hear no evil: learning that you can contribute to a team in different ways
• Team colours: learning that a successful team comprises of people with different skills and abilities
• Last one in the bunker: learning to come to a consensus through discussion
• Team leader: learning to think about what's best for a team.

During this aspect of the skill Team workers, children learn to appreciate and value diversity within team members, and how to deal with conflict within a team.

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• Running out of time: reflecting on how to prioritise
• Stressed out: learning what stress can feel like and that is the result of pressure
• Asking for help: identify ways to ask for help when feeling overwhelmed
• Too much to cope with!: learning to prioritise commitments.

During this aspect of the skill Team workers, children learn to deal with stressful situations and
practise organising and prioritising.

Resources that challenge children to think independently and imaginatively. Activities include:

• Something for everyone: talking about people's needs in the community
• Art or vandalism? – Looking after our area: talking about the effects of vandalism in your area
• Antisocial behaviour: talking about the effect that behaviour has on other people
• Two pound market project: learning how to work to create a profit that will support charities.

During this aspect of the skill Effective participators, children learn that they have the ability to
make a difference to themselves and their environment.