Creative Games to Promote Design Thinking in Children

November 15, 2019 / Parent Resources

Many of us have heard of the phrase, Design Thinking. It has become more popular as leading companies in the world, like Apple and Google, adopted Design Thinking approach. So, what is Design Thinking? It is a design philosophy which solves problem using a solution-based technique. You need to understand user needs, identify problems, brainstorm ideas and finally test these ideas using prototypes to find out the best solution.

Design Thinking can go a long way in contributing to children’s development. There are few ways that design thinking stands out from other problem solving methodologies:

  • Helps children pinpoint problems and recognize their features to construct goals to achieve
  • Provides a structured framework for generating ideas to solve the problem at hand
  • Enables productive rework for solutions based on the feedback given by prototype solutions
  • Enables one to learn quickly and effectively from past mistakes in implementation to create a better solution to the problem

Now that we know Design Thinking is an important skill to have, how can we help our children to learn it? As it turns out, we need to start with cultivating empathy since it requires one to empathize with users to understand their needs to come up with innovative solutions.

Creative Educational Games that foster Design thinking

Play is an ideal vehicle for children to pick up developmental skills ranging from cognitive to social-emotional skills, including cultivating empathy. The digital age has made educational games one of the best ways to help children learn while they play. As parents, you can give your children fun iPad games to get them started on their learning adventure. 

Osmo’s learning systems are excellent to pique children’s curiosity and get them learning in the process. Osmo Little Genius Stories game is a great design thinking exercise for children. Children get to be an explorer who goes on exciting adventures. Their quest will bring them unconventional challenges which require innovative solutions. For instance you have to tickle a dolphin with a feather to get it to break free from the ice in which its trapped. You may also need to use a skirt to parachute down a mountain! Children will learn out-of-the-box thinking and apply creative reasoning to solve problems by playing Osmo Little Genius Stories game.

It is a real world skill that children can use throughout the duration of their life. It is a broad problem solving mindset that will help them tackle problems in real time. Using fun educational games to encourage design thinking in children is bound to pay off in the long run in terms of enhanced cognitive abilities.