The ability to make decisions is an integral part of every person’s life. However, this skill must be developed at an early age because it’s one of the basic cognitive skills that a child should acquire before going to school. In life there will be many choices, some of which one should make daily, for example, what to wear or what to cook, others may completely change a person’s life. So, what should we do to teach a child to think in hypothetical situations, weighing all the pros and cons of the decisions made?

Although very little information is devoted to the activities that may develop a child’s decision-making skills, the ability to make the right decision is crucial. Most people assume that such skills as problem-solving or decision-making are too ‘grown-up’ and a child will learn them at teen ages or even while gaining first work experience. That is not even close to reality! The truth is that your kid is gaining all these kinds of skills till the age of 6. Start teaching your child to make their personal decisions to understand the concept of consequences and the way they’re connected with choices made.

How do you implement decision-making games into daily activities?

There are two most common ways to make decision-making training a part of a child’s life; learn more about them!

Board games

It’s much easier for children to learn through game activities, so we should use this knowledge to gain essential skills as well. Throughout a board game, a child will try their best to win. It takes quick, well-thought-out actions and sometimes even a bit of a strategy. So, make your kid feel safe while developing decision-making in a game’s settings.

Open discussions

Personal talks with your child about decision-making will help them to understand the idea of well-considered choices. Moreover, it is going to strengthen your parent-child relationships. Make some clear examples of different choices that may appear in a child’s life right now or in the future. Offer them to analyze the situation and think about the consequences of every decision. You may also set a time frame; if a choice is too difficult to manage, you may give your kid a day or two to make a final choice. Provide your child with a suitable vocabulary that will help them to express their ideas and thoughts.

Here are some of them

• Decide
• Choose
• Prefer
• Consequence
• Pros
• Advantages
• Cons
• Disadvantages
• Better
• Rather
• Careful
• Outweigh
• and so much more.

6 best decision-making games

This or that

The game ‘this or that’ develops the critical reasoning of a child. Moreover, throughout the game, a kid practices the ability to express personal thoughts and ideas orally.

Rules: Offer your child a choice of this or that. The kid should be able not only to choose an option but also to explain the reasoning. Thus, the main cognitive skills will be involved.

Examples:

• Would you rather be able to fly or be invisible? Why? Explain your choice.
• Would you rather become strong or tall?

How the story goes

How the story goes’ is a nice alternative to a bedtime story. In this activity, a kid will have an opportunity to influence the plot and to see the outcomes of the choices made. Rules: Choose a story that your child didn’t hear before. Start telling it, and when the character is going to make a decision, let the kid choose what to do next. For a child to choose, you should provide 2 alternatives, for example:

• The girl went outside.
• The girl didn’t go outside.

You may also involve a discussion after a story to let the child explain all the choices and the results you’ve finally got.

Dominoes

‘Dominoes’ is a strategy game aimed at developing cognitive skills and strategic thinking. Every time a child should make a choice of which piece they should play. A nice thing about the game is the fact that every time a kid makes a decision, it leads to certain consequences.

Musical chairs

Musical chairs is a well-known game that every child has experienced playing. This game is not only very fun to play, but it also develops a child’s fast thinking and ability to make on-the-spot decisions.

Rules: The rules of the game are quite simple. First, you’ll need 3 or more people to play with. At the start of the game, there should be enough chairs for every participant. Place the chair around the room randomly. Then turn on the music; while the music is playing, the participants should move around the room. As soon as the music has stopped, children should sit on chairs. After round 1, one chair is going to be removed. Repeat all over again. The person that didn’t get any place at this round is out. Continue playing until there is only one person left- the winner!

Hide and seek

‘Hide and seek’ is one of the most popular games. Thanks to this game, a child learns to build logical chains and make an informed decision, which is always interconnected with consequences. If a kid made a good choice- they won; if they made a bad choice- they lost.

Rules: Hide and seek.

Memory game

For this game you’ll need a set of cards with pictures, don’t forget that there should be 2 pairs of every imagination. There are many special ‘memory game’ sets with different themes these days. ‘Memory game’, as it is clear from the name, trains memory skills at the same time it teaches a child to understand the connection of a choice and its consequences. Rules: All the cards should be turned face down on the table. A child should choose a pair and turn them face up. Let a child continue searching for another pair if the pictures are identical.