What these games build

Most logic games ask children to do three things: notice a pattern, test an idea and give a reason. A four-year-old sorting buttons by colour is already using a rule. A ten-year-old ruling out suspects in a deduction game is doing the same thing with more steps.

The adult's most useful move is to ask how the child knows. Saying a reason aloud turns a lucky guess into a method the child can use again.

Logic games suit mixed groups because children can take part at different levels. One child may notice colour while another spots that every object in the hoop is made of wood. Both are reasoning, and hearing each other's ideas widens what the group looks for next time.

Game 1: Guess My Rule

Players: 2 to 6, or a whole class in teams. Ages: 5 to 11. Time: 10 to 15 minutes. Materials: a mixed pile of about 30 objects such as buttons, blocks and pencils, and two hoops or sheets of paper.

• The leader secretly chooses a sorting rule, for example 'things that are red' or 'things with corners'.

• The leader places a few objects inside the hoop and a few outside, without saying the rule.

• Children take turns to pick an object and predict where it goes. The leader places it.

• A child may guess the rule only after a correct prediction, and must say why they think so.

• Easier: use one feature only (colour or size). Harder: combine two features, such as 'blue and round', or use a 'not' rule.

Game 2: Three Clues

Players: 2 to 4. Ages: 7 to 12. Time: 10 minutes. Materials: a 3 by 3 grid drawn on paper and nine small picture cards (for example three animals in three colours).

One player hides a card and writes three clues, such as 'It is not in the top row', 'It is next to the cat' and 'It is not green'. The others use the grid to eliminate options until only one fits. Players then swap roles.

For younger children, give two clues and a grid of four. For older children, add one misleading clue and ask them to work out which clue cannot be true.

Making it work in class or at home

Keep rounds short and let children create their own rules and clues as soon as they understand the format. Writing clues is often harder, and more useful, than solving them. Model your own thinking once ('I put the pencil outside because it has no corners') and then step back.

Key points

• Ask 'How do you know?' after every guess, right or wrong.

• Start with one-feature rules before combining features.

• Let children invent the rules and clues themselves.

• Short, repeated rounds work better than one long game.

Ready-made resources

Printable session plans and materials for this topic are available from EduTrend Contents: G4C-110 Thinking Games.

Photos: Rewired Digital, Ryan Fields / Unsplash