Encouraging Preschoolers’ Cognitive Development with Books and Shared Reading

Children are immersed in a highly social world from the moment they are born. This social world includes not only people such as parents, siblings, teachers and classmates, but also objects and values that are part of their culture. All of these things provide a context for a child’s cognitive growth and development.

During the ages of 3 to 5, preschoolers’ thinking skills are undergoing tremendous change. Their ability to use representational thought and symbols to stand for objects, people and events, which began in toddlerhood, is becoming even more complex. Preschoolers also begin to use logic to think about how and why things work in the world around them. Despite huge cognitive gains in the preschool years, however, they are not little adults and still display many cognitive limitations. As part of their social environment, teachers play an important role in preschoolers’ cognitive development. By understanding their advances and limitations in thinking, teachers can best support preschoolers in their cognitive growth.

One way for teachers to engage preschoolers’ thinking skills is through reading quality children’s books that promote aspects of cognition such as reasoning and problem solving, symbolic play, metacognitive knowledge, memory and social cognition. Outlined below are teaching methods, book recommendations and activities that can be used to encourage cognitive development in each of these areas.

REASONING AND PROBLEM SOLVING In the preschool years, children attempt to explain how things work and why things occur. While their explanations can often seem far-fetched to adults, their stream of how and why questions display a real desire to reason and solve problems about the causes of events.

To hone in on the natural curiosity of 3- to 5-year-olds, teachers should pose thought-provoking questions as they read aloud to their students. For example, Eric Carle’s “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” is a perfect opportunity to ask children how and why animals or people might change. Teachers should try to help children understand the natural causes of phenomena to push their cognitive development beyond merely seeing superficial changes in the appearance of things, a cognitive limitation often displayed at this age.

Another technique that teachers can use to promote reasoning and problem solving is to use children’s books as an introduction to a problem-solving activity. For instance, after reading such books as Byron Barton’s “Building a House,” “Houses and Homes Around the World” by Ann Morris or “How a House is Built” by Gail Gibbons, teachers could present students with “building materials” such as craft sticks, glue, paper and straws and ask them to figure out how to build a house of their own using only what is given to them.

SYMBOLIC PLAY One of the hallmarks of preschoolers’ thinking is the ability to engage in symbolic representation. A block may become a telephone, or a box may become a car. Preschoolers, unlike toddlers, begin to show an understanding of the difference between what is real and what is not.

Make-believe play should be encouraged by teachers in the preschool years. Since children often identify with characters in books, reading stories that show children or other characters engaging in symbolic play is a good method to inspire children to participate in pretend play in new or unique ways.

“Have Fun, Molly Lou Melon” by Patty Lovell is a great book to stimulate preschoolers’ imaginations. The main character, Molly Lou, doesn’t need fancy toys or television to have fun: instead, she makes dolls out of twigs and looks for pictures in the clouds! “Not A Box” and “Not A Stick” by Antoinette Portis are two books that show fun ways to pretend with simple objects. After reading these stories, teachers can present students with their own box or stick and see what creative ways they play with them on their own.

Early childhood education

Children learning website Draper Utah

Preschool for kids Draper Utah