Thinking Skills - Thinking Skills Game Teaches Reasoning Skills

These Fun Games Educate and Entertain

A family favorite in our house is "I'm thinking of an Animal." This guessing game builds your child's thinking skills, memory, language skills, and ability to think about characteristics and classifications of animals. It can be played by any number of children and adults and can be adapted to teach a range of children from toddlers to primary students.

How to Play:

1. The object of the game is for players to guess the name of an animal using clues provided.
2. One player silently thinks of an animal without telling other players. He then says, "I'm thinking of an animal, and it has (say one of it's characteristics)."
3. Players take turns guessing. After each guess, if incorrect, players get another clue.
4. The player who guesses the animal gets to make up the next animal for other players to guess. Alternately, children can take turns so each person gets a chance to choose the animal.
5. This game can be adapted for older children by making the clues more complex. For younger children, clues should be visual concepts such as colors and size, or whether the animal has wings, scales, or fur. For older children, include abstract clues such as where the animal lives, what it eats, or its behavior.

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