ECE 350
Week 4: Strategies to Support the Development of Reasoning & Decision-making
University of Arizona Global Campus
ECE 350 Cognitive Development of Infants through Adolescents
Strategies to Support the Development of Reasoning & Decision-making
Reasoning
The advancement of thinking comes through handling things for themselves. Kids figure
out how to process things when problem-solving, observing, and analyzing. Higher-order
thinking is fundamental since it permits kids to see the thinking behind the choices they
make; it likewise assists kids with decisive reasoning and cooperation and arrives at the
objective that ought to be met.
Reasoning Strategy
Goal: With this activity, the children will use their critical thinking skills to place in the
correct groups (color, size, animal type) for the animals that are see.
Ages: 3-5 years old
Activity: What and how animals do you see?
Directions: Talk about the animals on a farm with animal figures. Ask children how many
animals they see. After the child has to predict the amount that they think is there, once they
have predicted have them count to see if the number is correct. Once the child is done,
counting have them sort out the animals depending on the ones they have.
Materials: Farm animal books and small farm animals.
Rationale: The rationale of this activity is that the children will start to learn the relationship
between the differences and similarities and start to problem solve. “Children need to learn
Week 4: Strategies to Support the Development of Reasoning & Decision-making
University of Arizona Global Campus
ECE 350 Cognitive Development of Infants through Adolescents
Strategies to Support the Development of Reasoning & Decision-making
Reasoning
The advancement of thinking comes through handling things for themselves. Kids figure
out how to process things when problem-solving, observing, and analyzing. Higher-order
thinking is fundamental since it permits kids to see the thinking behind the choices they
make; it likewise assists kids with decisive reasoning and cooperation and arrives at the
objective that ought to be met.
Reasoning Strategy
Goal: With this activity, the children will use their critical thinking skills to place in the
correct groups (color, size, animal type) for the animals that are see.
Ages: 3-5 years old
Activity: What and how animals do you see?
Directions: Talk about the animals on a farm with animal figures. Ask children how many
animals they see. After the child has to predict the amount that they think is there, once they
have predicted have them count to see if the number is correct. Once the child is done,
counting have them sort out the animals depending on the ones they have.
Materials: Farm animal books and small farm animals.
Rationale: The rationale of this activity is that the children will start to learn the relationship
between the differences and similarities and start to problem solve. “Children need to learn
