Reasoning and Problem-Solving

Trying again when something is out of reach, changing an approach that did not work, or remembering a successful method—children's thinking often appears in action. Parents can first notice what the child is trying to solve and what they have already tried, then offer just enough of a cue to leave as much of the problem-solving process as possible with the child.

Birth–9 months: using one's own actions to approach a goal. Repeated attempts help children discover how their bodies can affect a result and build actions they may use again.
9–18 months: comparing the effects of different approaches. Trying and then adjusting helps children gradually find an action that works for the immediate problem.
18 months–3 years: drawing on experience and accepting new approaches. Tools, asking for help, negotiation, and advance preparation can all become strategies; problem-solving does not have to mean doing everything alone.

After age 3, these experiences with trying and planning remain a cognitive foundation and are extended in later Reasoning and Problem-Solving sub-domains. Early thinking-through-action continues to matter.

Below are selected skills to notice at specific ages. Age is a developmental reference point; understand each skill alongside what you see in everyday life.

4 months

Engages in simple repeated actions to reach a goal, such as trying to get whole hand and then fingers or thumb in mouth.

What to notice: Is your baby's repeated action directed toward a desired result, with another adjustment or attempt after it does not work? Focus on trying toward a goal rather than only whether the goal is reached.

How to support it: Early problem-solving often occurs through action: sensation and results from one attempt inform the next movement. Identify what your baby is trying to do, create safe conditions in which an attempt can continue, and respond to changes that bring them closer.

Keep in mind: Do not complete the action immediately or add obstacles deliberately to train persistence.

6 months

Uses own actions or movements to solve simple problems, such as rolling to the side to reach an object or kicking to make something move.

What to notice: Does your baby use an action they already know to reach, push, or change something in front of them? Look for an action serving a problem; a plan formed in advance or expressed in words is not required.

How to support it: Children begin using body movements as ways to accomplish a purpose, and this experience is an early basis for reasoning. Follow the goal your baby is pursuing, leave room for their own action, and adjust the environment or offer a small amount of support when necessary.

Keep in mind: Do not infer complex planning from a single movement or attribute every change to an adult instruction.

12 months

Explores how to make something happen again by doing actions over and over agian, such as repeatedly filling a container and emptying it out.

What to notice: To obtain a desired result again, does your child repeat an action and make adjustments? The focus is attempting and using feedback; every attempt does not need to be a different strategy.

How to support it: Before a reliable method has been found, repeating an operation can reveal what works. Make the result easy to perceive, allow another attempt, and demonstrate one small variation only when your child is truly stuck before returning control.

Keep in mind: Notice how they use feedback rather than merely counting attempts or taking over because an approach looks inefficient.

15 months

Tries different solutions to everyday problems until discovering one that works.

What to notice: When one approach does not work, does your child try another and gradually select one that is effective? Focus on the relationship between the method and problem, not knowing the answer immediately.

How to support it: Children increasingly use action experience to choose an approach, and thinking can occur within the attempt. Help your child notice what worked and where the earlier attempt became stuck. Offer one understandable alternative when needed, then let the child test it.

Keep in mind: Do not deliver the whole answer at once or present persisting with one ineffective action as the only admirable response.

2 years (24 months)

Uses a variety of strategies to solve problems, such as trial and error, simple tools, or asking someone to help.

What to notice: When a difficulty appears, does your child try an action, use a tool, or ask for help rather than have only one response? Asking for help can be a strategy and does not cancel the child's role in problem-solving.

How to support it: A wider strategy set lets children draw on different resources according to the problem. Understand the goal first, show how a tool or a helper can contribute, and then let your child decide and try. Support comparison of actual effects without choosing every step for them.

Keep in mind: Independent completion is not a prerequisite; appropriate help-seeking deserves a response too.

2½ years (30 months)

Uses problem-solving and experimenting to figure out solutions to everyday problems, including in social situations, such as when two children who both want to fit into a small car agree to take turns.

What to notice: With an everyday or social problem, does your child consider an approach, try it, and see whether it helps? Focus on the solution's function rather than evaluating it only as friendly, obedient, or otherwise socially approved.

How to support it: Familiar experience can be applied to a more complex situation, with children gradually comparing approaches before and after acting. Help make each person's needs and real constraints clear, demonstrate a feasible idea, and let your child join in choosing and testing it.

Keep in mind: When emotions are intense, offer support first; negotiation should not become a reasoning exam, and one solution will not suit everyone.

Plans ways to solve problems based on knowledge and experience, such as getting a stool to reach a book that is on a shelf after trying to reach it on tiptoes.

What to notice: Does your child recall an earlier experience and use it to prepare or select an approach before acting? The focus is experience informing a plan, not completion after an adult supplies every step.

How to support it: Planning connects a known approach with a current goal so the child does not have to begin entirely from trial and error. Use a brief prompt to recall a successful experience, invite your child to decide whether it fits now, and observe the effect together.

Keep in mind: Adults screen for safety first; if a retrieval plan involves climbing or another hazard, offer a safe alternative rather than letting the child test it alone.

Sources and notes

Better Parenting’s child-development framework draws in part on the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Ages Birth to Five. For this pathway, you can also review Head Start’s Reasoning and Problem-Solving Effective Practice Guide. Official framework sources inform domain, sub-domain, goal, and developmental-progression terminology where applicable. Better Parenting independently organizes the parent-facing What to notice and How to support it explanations and connects them with its own activity library.

The ELOF itself is not a curriculum, assessment, or checklist. Better Parenting’s Skill Assessment and Growth Path are Better Parenting product features, not Head Start assessment tools.

Skill wording and age references on this page come from the Better Parenting child-development framework. A child may show different behaviors in different situations, so understand these examples alongside everyday experience rather than treating one activity as a judgment of an entire sub-domain.

This page helps you understand what you can observe and how you can offer support. To explore your child's current position in this sub-domain, open the corresponding Growth Path in the Better Parenting app and use the Skill Assessment.

Better Parenting Content Team | Updated September 2, 2026