Children's ability to solve problems when making their own goals vs having goals set for them.

What is it about?

Previous studies have investigated children's ability to design and make a tool to solve a problem. In contrast to learning from others, coming up with solutions by themselves has been shown to be difficult for children in these tasks. In this study we investigated whether previous tasks were too structured and restrictive, therefore hiding children's abilities to problem solve for themselves. Children aged 4–7 were presented with playful, story-based challenges (like retrieving pirate treasure or helping an alien) in two different scenarios. One where a goal was given by the researcher and one where they were simply told to play and could therefore come up with their own goals. No difference was found between these two set-ups. What did matter was exploration. Children who spent more time trying things out, experimenting, and playing with the materials were much more likely to come up with successful solutions—regardless of their age or task type. The takeaway: To understand children's problem solving we need to focus on the process—especially their willingness to explore. To support children's independent problem solving, we should focus less on outcomes and more on how children engage with problems.

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Photo by Kris Len Lu on Unsplash

Photo by Kris Len Lu on Unsplash