Creative Problem Solving Level 1 from The Critical Thinking Co.™ Review

{Disclaimer:  I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.}


I love all the critical thinking resources for students that The Critical Thinking Co.™ provides.  We are currently enjoying Creative Problem Solving Level 1 as a family in our homeschool.  This book is geared for students PreK - 2nd.  While I'm mostly using our book with E and F, I'm enjoying asking the other kids for their ideas as well, regardless of their age.

I love that this book encourages creative, independent thought for coming up with solutions to various challenges.  This is especially important if you have children that see the world in black and white.  Having an opportunity for them to imagine and challenge themselves is both rewarding and beneficial.  I want my kids to be able to unlock the power of their imagination and this is the perfect outlet to explore that.

This can be viewed as a stand alone activity book and would work well as a supplement to most curriculums.

Table of Contents

Our book is divided into 11 sections:

• The Magic Pencil (students use their pencil to draw creative ways to fix a problem)
• The Creature Factory (students draw a creature with the best survival skills to survive in a unique habitat)
• Superheroes and Super Powers (students choose special powers to help in an emergency)
• Alien Designer (students draw a design to fit the specific needs of an alien)
• The Inventor (students find a solution to someone's problem)
• The Crisis Specialist (students must decide the order of steps to take to help in an emergency situation)
• The Best Tool (students must choose the best tool to help in a situation)
• The Enigma (students must use their imagination to discover the enigmas)
• The Mind Ride (students must shut their eyes and imagine they are a character in a story)
• 2-D and 3-D Figures and Shading (students have fun playing with 2-D and 3-D figures)
• Play With Mechanisms (students come up with solutions for issues with mechanisms)

Magic Pencil Challenge 3 and 4

Let's jump into a couple Magic Pencil challenges.  In Challenge 3, there is a boy that wants to eat a piece of cake.  Students must use their "magic" pencil to save the cake from the boy.

 E's solution was to create a cake dome to protect the slice of cake.  It will also keep it fresh 😉.

In Challenge 4, Ana wants to eat a coconut but she is unable to reach it.  Students have to use their "magic" pencil to help her get it without using a ladder.

 E gave Ana spring shoes to reach the coconut. 💟

 Magic Pencil Challenge 19 and 20

Let's look at two more.  In Challenge 19, lightning is going to strike an umbrella that a man is holding.  Students must use their "magic" pencil to keep the man safe.

Solution - put the man inside a house.  This one cracked me up.

In Challenge 20, Nicole is about to touch a very hot cup!  Students have to use their "magic" pencil to prevent her from getting burned.

Solution - oven mitts - an easy peasy option.

The Creature Factory Challenge 9: Planet Extreme Weather

Now, I'd like to show you a challenge from The Creature Factory.  In the above challenge students are told that on planet Extreme Weather, the mornings are very hot and dry while the nights are cold and snowy.  They planet has cacti all over.  Students are asked to draw a creature they think could survive in this habitat.  Give it a name and why do you think it would survive.

E's creature named Blue

Here is E's description of her creature.  This new creature's name is Blue because the only color it has is blue.  He sleeps in the day and is awake at night.  He has sharp claws to dig holes in the ground at daytime for him to sleep in and a strong coat of fur to protect him from cacti and keep him warm at nighttime. 

A look at a solution from the Superheroes and Super Powers challenges.

Alien Designer Challenge 2: Bushie's Sweater

Above, you can see the sweater design that B created for Bushie (a bear-tree alien).  I like how you sew him into it and then cut it right off after winter is over.

The Inventor Challenge 8: Ball Picker Upper

And you can also see C's solution for picking up balls.  He invented a container with a robotic arm with a hand on the end that is set to pick up round, spherical objects.  One of these could be really useful in our home 😉.

I am not going to show you every problem in our book but I hope that you can see how the problems throughout our book are fun and engaging.  And a feature that I love, there are no right or wrong solutions!  As long as you can rationally explain your idea, then it is a viable one.  Younger students who cannot read yet will need the challenges read to them.  Also, if your student is young and cannot write or doesn't like to draw, they can give you verbal explanations.  This book is designed to get students to think!  If you are looking for a critical thinking resource to add to your homeschool this is a great one to consider.  I highly recommend visiting The Critical Thinking Co.™ as they have a plethora of exceptional products and resources.

I appreciate that this book is reproducible within our homeschool so several of the kids can come up with their own unique ideas for the same problem {you can see the full copyright reproduction rights here if you are interested}.

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