This document provides examples of thinking skill games to play with children, including "What If" games that encourage imagining different scenarios, "How Many Ways" games that prompt alternative solutions, and "Why Questions" games that have children brainstorm possible reasons for events. It also lists guessing games like "What's in the Box?" and categorization games like "I Spy" to stimulate thinking. Storytelling games are suggested to foster imagination.

1. THINKING SKILL GAMES
WHAT IF
A fun game to play with your child is "What If". It not only is
fun but it exercises your child's thinking skills. To play, you take
turns with your child making up funny or serious "what if"
situations. Examples: What would you do if...
You could ride on a cloud?
You had a tail?
Candy grew on trees?
Your brother was a mouse?
Your T.V. broke down?
There was no sun all day?
The postman brought you a monkey?
Your hair turned orange?
You found a dollar?
HOW MANY WAYS
Another fun game is to have your child think of alternatives to
common occurrences. Examples: How many ways can you think
of to...
Go down a hill?
Cover your head?
Keep warm?
Get across the room?
To read a book?
WHY QUESTIONS
Children love to ask questions. Well, in this game you get to ask
the questions while you both take turns making up as many
scenarios as possible for each question. Examples:
Why was there a monkey on Mary's car?
Why did the chicken fly up on the roof?
Why was the postman all wet?
Why did father have on two hats?
Why was the dog barking last night?
The idea of the game is to not have to always think up a logical
answer but to encourage children to brainstorm other possible
reasons why something might happen, even if it is far fetched.
Examples of possible answers to the first question about Mary
and the monkey on her car.
Mary wanted to show everyone her monkey.

2. The monkey was wet and Mary wanted to dry him off.
The monkey jumped on the top of the car and wouldn't let go.
The monkey was looking for his mother and thought he could
see better on the top of the car.
GUESSING GAMES
WHAT'S IN THE BOX? - Hide an object in a box.
Let your child rattle and shake the box and ask you
five questions. Can he guess what's inside? Your
child's interest in this game will last longer if you take
turns trying to fool each other.
WHAT'S IN THE SOCK? - Place a common object
in a dark sock. Tie or pin the end closed. Let your
child feel the object through the sock. Can she guess
what it is?
I SPY - Take turns finding object in a room with your
child. One person picks out an object and tells the
other, "I spy a blue object". The other person gets 4
chances to guess the object.
CATEGORIES - Pick a category and take turns with
your child naming objects in that category. Examples:
Toys, Decorations, Pies, Things with wheels, etc.
STORYTIME
Tell or read your child a short story and have her
make up her own name for the story.
Show your child a picture from a book or a magazine
and have him tell you, "What just happened?" or
"What will happen next?"
Make up a new version of a fairy tale with your child.
Act out the tale using available stuffed animals.
Example: The Green Frog and the Three Elephants"
After reading a story or watching a video, ask your
child to describe the main character. "What did she
look like?" "What kind of a person was she?" etc.