If you have been following me for a while now you will know that I am a BIG fan of teaching logical thinking and critical thinking. These skills are so important for our children to learn, yet sometimes it is overlooked or pushed to the side.
I was recently given a book “Critical & Creative Thinking Activities Grade 1” from Timberdoodle. I was really excited to review this book because it is something that I have become quit passionate about. I have all kinds of logic building games (you’ll see those pop up on my Instagram a lot), but I never had many hands on books that helped teach critical and creative thinking skills.
When first looking over the book I was really happy to see that it was separated into different seasons and subjects. This told me right off the bat that I could practically just jump in anywhere I wanted to and get started and that is exactly what we did.
Here is a quick run down of what this book covers:
Through the Year: Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Valentine’s Day, 100th Day of School. Animals: Cats and Dogs, Elephants, Lions, Giraffes, Kangaroos, Bears, Snakes, Butterflies, Ants, Fish. Places: At the Store, At the Playground, At the Beach, On the Farm, In My Room. Fairy Tale Fun: Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Three Little Pigs, The Gingerbread Man, Hansel and Gretel. Things That Move: Cars, Trucks, Buses, Boats, All Aboard!, Planes, Bikes. In My World: Apples, Trees, Water, Crayons, Vegetables, Shirts, Hats, Ice Cream, Shapes, Shoes and Socks, My Family.
If you remember I recently reviews Three Little Piggies Game. Since that was fresh in our minds we started with the Three Little Pigs section of this book.
These pages are really fun and get your kids to put on their thinking caps for a bit. It also helps them to practice and reinforce other skills that they are learning in other subjects. I really felt that the material was good for grade one. There were a few pages where they will need to write out sentences on their own. My son is 6 and isn’t quit there yet, but I’m sure he will be by the time we get to covering those units.
Overall I am very happy with “Critical & Creative Thinking”. I will be looking to get grade 2 next year as well if it isn’t already included in the Timberdoodle Grade 2 Curriculum Kit next year. I am such a huge fan of books and games that get your child thinking out side of the box and this book does just that.
I will leave you with a peak at their Spring pages since this is what we will be working on tomorrow.
