Philosophy Games The Thinking Mat & The Wondering Games
On a warm morning in spring, we walk into the cozy elementary school in Emmen. We are here for the third time, this time to play the game "This is My School" with students as well. After all, who better to tell you how learning works best than the students themselves?
Do you think you think as creatively as children do? Play philosophy games with us!
At NOT, a game session will take place daily at 2:30 p.m. at the Little Big Thinkers booth (01.C109). You will experience for yourself how our philosophy games turn on your wonder and your creative brain!
Not enough attention is paid to creative thinking in primary education
Have you ever noticed that children give answers that you had not initially thought of yourself? They interpret every question incredibly open-ended! Creative thinking is one of the 21st-century skills children need in the job market and in society. Unfortunately, in many elementary schools they are still too often asked for one right answer, which hinders and unlearns creative thinking. But if education is "preparing children for tomorrow," then we should be training creative thinking rather than unlearning it, right? By looking for multiple answers, your own answers and new answers, you train children's creative thinking skills.
Through playful philosophizing, children learn to trust their own thoughts
Through philosophizing, you start looking for possibilities and your own answers. You start looking for what it could be. This stimulates creative thinking skills. After the creative process, you can look critically at these answers. Another 21st century skill. To think creatively and critically, children need guts. They need the confidence to take their own thoughts seriously. Our vision of education does not mean that we should no longer teach children knowledge. However, we do stand for the broad education of children, in which creative thinking skills should be stimulated even more!
The Thinking Mat is a contender for the Innovation Award 2023 at NOT!
The Thinking Mat is a life-size game for children in grades 1 through 4 in which children practice creative thinking and finding words for their thoughts. Each face on the die represents a thinking task. The die then determines which thinking task will be played by the children. The four cards turned over at the top are going to have children relate to the theme in different ways. All answers are good, as long as you explain why you think so! In this way children learn to think for themselves, to explain their answers and thus practice their language skills. And in essence, this is also how children get in touch with each other's perceptions. Children hear how other children think and learn that that is also good. Thus, with our philosophy games we lay an early foundation for the citizenship skills that come back in the 'Wonder Games' (groups 5-8).
Philosophizing makes teachers better at asking thinking questions
By asking thinking questions, teachers activate all children in the classroom and learn from each other's perspectives. Philosophizing with children teaches teachers to position themselves as inquisitive questioners rather than all-knowing narrators. In this way, we create more space for children's individuality and give them the confidence to trust their own thoughts.
Little Big Thinkers will be present at the NOT; you will find them in Hall 1 at booth number 01.C109.
