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Development Topics
Inside the Mind of a Child
Test Your Preschooler’s Thinking
For a personal example of the thinking of young children, you can try the following exercise at home. If you have children in both the preschool and elementary grades, you can try it with both. You should see a difference between their responses.
Materials needed:
- 1 pitcher of fruit punch
- 2 tall, thin glasses
- 1 short, wide glass
Steps:
While your child watches, pour the fruit punch into two tall glasses. Make sure each glass has the same amount.
Ask whether the glasses have equal amounts.
While your child watches, pour one of the glasses of punch into the smaller, wider glass. Ask which glass has more punch.
Pour the punch from the smaller glass back into the tall glass. Again ask your child which glass has more.
I used this activity with my friend’s 4-year-old daughter, Maegan. Maegan told me that the tall glass had more than the small glass “because it was taller.” However, after pouring the liquid back into the tall glass, she assured me that the two tall glasses had the same amount.
Maegan’s responses are typical of a preschool child. She focused only on the level of punch in the glass rather than the fact that the amount of beverage did not change.
Note: Cognitive development theorist Jean Piaget originally created this exercise.
Last updated: May 2005
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