Cognitive flexibility: the secret to problem-solving
Trying out different solutions, adapting to schedule changes, and following new rules have one thing in common: cognitive flexibility. Your child is at the beginning of a growth period for this critical executive function skill. Here’s what that means.
In this post:
- Article: How to help your 2-year-old practice cognitive flexibility
- Article: Cognitive development at age 2: What’s happening in your child’s brain?
- Activity: Number stacks: count along with a book
- Ask & Learn: My son is very attached to things being the same every time. How can we help him be more flexible?
How to help your 2-year-old practice cognitive flexibility
Does your toddler sometimes switch to a quiet, sing-song voice when they’re around a baby or playing with a doll? Or do they know to hang their coat on a hook at daycare, but put it in a basket at home? These are early examples of cognitive flexibility. Of all the executive function skills your child is working on, flexible thinking is the slowest to develop—but that doesn’t make it any less important. Research shows cognitive flexibility is associated with math performance in elementary school and important problem-solving abilities in adulthood.
What does flexible thinking look like now?
At this age, thinking flexibly is mostly about learning to adapt to new rules or instructions. For example, they may know they can’t jump on your couch, but not understand yet that they can’t jump on the couch at Nana’s house. Your child is just starting to practice this ability. Here are some ways to help them learn:
4 ways to engage your toddler’s cognitive flexibility
1. Search the fridge
Ask your child to help you find different foods: “Do you see the carrots?” “What about the broccoli?” When they scan the refrigerator for a particular item and ignore the rest, they’re demonstrating cognitive flexibility.
2. Unload the dishwasher
Ask: “Can you pass me one of your dishes?” “Now can you pass me a plate?” “Where is something silver?” These questions prompt your child to shift their focus between categories, like shape, color, and ownership.
3. Set up a 3-part obstacle course
Have your child crawl through the Play Tunnel, then run across the room, and finally climb over a big cushion. This encourages mental rule shifting: “I have to crouch down to crawl through this tunnel and then stand up to run to the cushion.” Research shows physical play may increase cognitive flexibility in 2-year-olds.
4. Play sorting games
Give your child two bags: one full of red and green dots from the Drop & Match Dot Catcher and the other full of red and green buttons from the Mosaic Button Board. Set two bowls in front of your child and ask them to sort the objects by color—red in one bowl, green in the other. Next, invite them to put all the dots in one bowl and the buttons in the other. These games require your child to ignore competing information, like shape in the first game and color in the second. If your toddler puts an item in the wrong bowl, casually respond with, “Oops—the buttons go in this bowl!”
Cognitive development at age 2: What’s happening in your child’s brain?
At this age, your child’s brain is undergoing a reconstruction. The neural connections they’ve made since birth are being pruned and refined—paving the way for more complex thinking. If you observe closely, you might see some of these new skills in action:
- Following two-step instructions: At age 1, your child could follow one-step commands, like, “Bring me your shoes.” As their working memory and vocabulary expand, they may be starting to understand and follow simple, two-step instructions. At this stage, you’ll want to keep directions simple—with two specific, related actions and a single object: “Please put your dirty socks in the hamper and get a pair of clean socks out of your drawer.” Remember, just because they can follow two-step directions doesn’t mean they always will 😉
- Using tools to solve problems: Your child has already learned to solve simple problems, like rotating a puzzle piece to make it fit into its spot. At age 2, they’re starting to understand how to use tools to overcome new challenges. For example, they may get a small stool to help them reach a high counter.
- Deepening their understanding of causality: Your child may already understand some cause-and-effect relationships, like a light switch turns on a light. Now, you may start to see them act independently on their observations. For example, if your 2-year-old is in a dark room, they may use their causal knowledge to go turn on a light because they’ve seen you do it before.
Number stacks: count along with a book
Help your child stay engaged with the counting concepts in the “Making Muffins” Board Book by adding a motor element. Use the pieces from the Sort & Stack Peg Puzzle in place of the muffin ingredients, and invite your child to stack them as you count out loud. Towers of varying heights can help children visualize that larger numbers correspond to a greater quantity, and stacking pieces in ascending order introduces them to the concept of numerical progression 🙂
What parents are asking our experts…
“My son is very attached to things being the same every time. For example, he always wants to use the same cup or sit at the same spot at the table even if we have visitors. How can we help him be more flexible?”
Answer:
Toddlers thrive on consistent routines because it helps them know what to expect. It’s common for changes in your schedule or rituals to bring about big feelings. Your child’s ability to be flexible will increase as they age. Here are some things you can do in the meantime:
- Talk through changes to your routines in advance when possible. If your seating will change to accommodate dinner guests, talk to your toddler about it beforehand. Walk him through what he may see: “Nana and Poppi are coming over. You usually sit here for dinner, but tonight you are going to sit here. Let’s put your cup here to help you remember.”
- Build flexibility through play. Simply rotating playthings is a great way to expose your child to change and variety. You can also try combining two unexpected playthings during play—like washing the Carrots from the Wooden Coin Bank Set and the animals from the Montessori Animal Match game in the Super Sustainable Sink. Bringing two separate toys together demonstrates how your toddler can create new play opportunities by thinking flexibly.
- Set the limit and accept the feelings that come along with it. Part of building flexibility is staying firm when necessary and then supporting and coaching your child through their feelings. You might say, “You really wanted your blue cup. It’s in the dishwasher. That is so frustrating. This red cup is ready for you to use. Thank you for being so flexible!”
Answered by:
Keep Exploring:
- If you haven’t introduced scissors yet, it’s time to start
- First, you baby-proofed. Here’s how to toddlerize.
- Why speech-language experts love pretend play
Learn more about the research
Antrilli, N. K., & Wang, S. H. (2018). Toddlers on touchscreens: immediate effects of gaming and physical activity on cognitive flexibility of 2.5-year-olds in the US. Journal of Children and Media, 12(4), 496-513.
Blakey, E., Visser, I., & Carroll, D. J. (2016). Different executive functions support different kinds of cognitive flexibility: Evidence from 2‐, 3‐, and 4‐year‐olds. Child Development, 87(2), 513-526.
Diamond A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135–168. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750
Gilmore, J., Knickmeyer, R. & Gao, W. (2018) Imaging structural and functional brain development in early childhood. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 19, 123–137.
Girault, J. B., Cornea, E., Goldman, B. D., Knickmeyer, R. C., Styner, M., & Gilmore, J. H. (2019). White matter microstructural development and cognitive ability in the first 2 years of life. Human Brain Mapping, 40(4), 1195-1210.
Meltzoff, A. N., Waismeyer, A., & Gopnik, A. (2012). Learning about causes from people: observational causal learning in 24-month-old infants. Developmental Psychology, 48(5), 1215.
Norbom, L. B., Ferschmann, L., Parker, N., Agartz, I., Andreassen, O. A., Paus, T., … & Tamnes, C. K. (2021). New insights into the dynamic development of the cerebral cortex in childhood and adolescence: Integrating macro-and microstructural MRI findings. Progress in Neurobiology, 204, 102109.
Posted in: Learning & Cognitive Skills