How to Teach Critical Thinking to Kids: Start with “What Do You Think?”
Kids have never had more answers available to them. Ask a phone. Ask a search engine. Ask an AI chatbot. Ask Alexa, three feet from the person who could've just told you.
But all these answers make critical thinking more important, not less.
The future-ready skill is not knowing more facts than a machine. It is knowing how to think when an answer is not obvious—or when the answer in front of you might not be right.
And one of the simplest ways to foster this skill in our kids is with four words:
“What do you think?”
When they come to you with questions, consider responding with “What do you think?” And when your child gets stuck, add: “Let’s figure it out together.” The goal isn’t to leave them alone with a problem. It’s to give them room and support to think on their own.
Why “What Do You Think?” Matters
When a child asks a question, it’s only natural to want to be useful and give the answer. But sometimes the question itself is a chance to practice thinking.
When your child asks, that moment of curiosity is already there. That’s your opening. Instead of stepping in to be useful right away, hand that spark back to them for a few seconds. Let them try it out.
“What do you think?” says: You may already know something useful. Take a first swing. Look at the clues. Use what you know. Then if you still need help, we can work through it together.
That is not refusing to help. It is changing the order of the help.
In the early days of Spark + Stone, we saw this play out over and over in an after-school program we ran called Junior Detectives Club. Kids worked through mysteries, and they tended to get stuck in two very different ways.
Some questioned everything. Every clue might be a trap. Every theory stayed possible. They didn’t need more skepticism. They needed help deciding which ideas were actually plausible.
Saying, “What do you think?” signaled trust in their reasoning. It told them: We believe you can take the next step. Start narrowing it down. That helped them to trust themselves.
Others gave up when the answer wasn’t obvious. For them, a more focused question—“What do you think about…?”—combined a nudge in the right direction with an invitation to do the thinking themselves.
The lesson was simple: create room for them to think, then provide support to keep the thinking moving.
The Science: How Does It Work?
Every time a child gets a meaningful opportunity to generate an idea, explain why they think it, weigh possibilities, test an answer, or reconsider it, they are practicing the kinds of reasoning that make up critical thinking. Research indicates that those skills improve with deliberate practice—especially when adults provide dialogue, feedback, and just enough support to keep the thinking moving.
Additionally, research on learning shows that prompts asking people to explain their own reasoning improve learning and problem solving. Psychologists call this self-explanation: instead of simply receiving an answer, the learner has to generate connections, notice what they understand, identify gaps, and make sense of the problem.
Questions can also make thinking visible. When a child tells you what they think, you learn how their mind is working: what they noticed, what they assumed, where they got tangled, and what kind of help they actually need.
Confidence can grow in those moments too. Not from being told, “You’re so smart,” but from accumulating small experiences of trying out ideas, reaching solutions, and learning to trust their own judgment.
How Can I Start Using It?
Start somewhere extremely ordinary. Your child walks into the room and asks, “Where are my shoes?” Maybe you know exactly where they are. Or maybe not. Instead of immediately answering, try:
“I’m not sure. What do you think?”
If you get a shrug and a blank stare, add some support—“Where did you last wear them?” or “What are three places you could check?”
If they’re still stuck or getting frustrated, bring the support a little closer. “All right, let’s figure it out together. Tell me what you remember from right before you came in.”
Now your child is doing more than finding their shoes. They are reconstructing what happened, using memory, generating possibilities, testing them, and adjusting. But you’re beside them when appropriate.
The same pattern works in dozens of small moments.
“My tablet won’t charge.”
“What do you think could be wrong?”
“Why did she say that to me?”
“What do you think might have been going on?”
“The ad says this is the best one.”
“What makes you think we should believe that?”
Now realistically, sometimes you know where the shoes are, everyone is late / hungry / tired / all of the above, and the correct parenting move is simply, “They’re by the door.”
And different kids will need different amounts of help. Some will happily think out loud. Some will shrug. Some will become irritated because they know perfectly well that you know the answer and would like you to stop being mysterious about it.
That is okay.
“What do you think?” is a tool, not a rule—and certainly not a silver bullet. Use it when there is room for your child to reason something through. If they’re stuck, prompt their thinking. If they’re frustrated, help. If today is not the day, just answer the question and try again another time.
The long-term goal is not a child who never asks for help. It is a child who increasingly knows how to take a first swing before handing the thinking to someone else.
In a world full of instant answers, that small pause matters.
Before you tell them what you know, every so often, give them the question back.
“What do you think?”
Spark + Stone: Raising future-ready kids
Spark + Stone helps families raise confident, curious, screen-smart kids with the human skills to thrive in an AI-shaped world. Through hands-on books, games, activities, and practical resources, we help kids strengthen critical thinking, creativity, emotional intelligence, independence, and healthy technology habits — in ways that feel useful, joyful, and doable in real life.
Sources & Further Reading
Abrami, P. C., Bernard, R. M., Borokhovski, E., Waddington, D. I., Wade, C. A., & Persson, T. (2015). “Strategies for Teaching Students to Think Critically: A Meta-Analysis.” Review of Educational Research, 85(2), 275–314.
Wei, C., & Chen, L. (2025). “The Effects of Philosophy for Children on Children’s Cognitive Development: A Three-Level Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Intelligence, 13(10), 130.
Willingham, D. T. (2020). “Ask the Cognitive Scientist: How Can Educators Teach Critical Thinking?” American Educator, 44(3), 41–45, 51.
Bisra et al., “Inducing Self-Explanation: A Meta-Analysis,” Educational Psychology Review (2018).
Rittle-Johnson, Loehr & Durkin, “Promoting Self-Explanation to Improve Mathematics Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Instructional Design Principles,” ZDM Mathematics Education (2017).
American Psychological Association, “How do my students think: Diagnosing student thinking.”
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