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Flexible thinking is the mental ability to adapt your thoughts and approaches when faced with new information, unexpected challenges, or different perspectives.

Scientifically, flexible thinking is linked to cognitive flexibility, a component of executive function, which is primarily managed by the prefrontal cortex. This brain region allows us to switch attention, hold multiple concepts in mind, consider various scenarios, and inhibit rigid responses.

For children, thinking flexibly might look like finding a new way to solve a puzzle or being able to play a game with new rules. For adults, it involves problem-solving at work, navigating life changes, or considering other people’s ideas without getting stuck in rigid thinking.

Benefits of Flexible Thinking

Multiple studies indicate that flexible thinking correlates with better problem-solving, creativity, and emotional regulation. For children, cognitive flexibility predicts academic success and social competence. In adults, it is linked to resilience against stress and improved decision-making and problem-solving skills under uncertainty.

Here are some benefits of flexible thinking for children:

• Improved problem-solving: they can try multiple ways to solve puzzles, schoolwork, or conflicts with friends.

• Enhanced creativity: when kids are open to new ideas, they feel encouraged to allow their creativity to shine.

• Better social skills: if children understand other points of view, they may also find it easier to work in groups and make friends; this can also build social awareness.

• Emotional resilience: when plans or games don’t go as expected, they can adapt and stay calm.

• Curiosity and learning: flexible thinkers are more likely to explore, ask questions, and enjoy learning new things.

Adults, on the other hand, benefit from flexible thinking in the following ways:

• Adaptability to change: they find it easier to adjust to life transitions, work challenges, or unexpected events.

• Improved decision-making: considering multiple options leads to smarter and more effective choices.

• Enhanced creativity and innovation: flexibility encourages new ideas and solutions in professional or personal life.

• Stress reduction: adults who are able to shift strategies experience less frustration and anxiety when things don’t go as planned.

• Better collaboration: the ability to see things from multiple perspectives can improve teamwork and relationships.

Flexible Thinking Activities for Kids

If you're a parent or teacher looking for some fun and adventurous flexible thinking activities for kids, we've got you covered! This process is all about encouraging curiosity, creativity, and adaptability, so make sure to make things fun and enjoyable! Happy teaching!

1. Building Alternate Endings for Stories

Reading is more than following a story (kids don't really know this yet, so it's your secret weapon!). It's also a chance to imagine what could happen next! And this, of course, builds flexible thinking and creativity! Here's what you can try:

• Pick your kids' favorite book or movie and ask them to think about three new ways it could end.

• Ask your kids to draw pictures or write short scenes showing their new endings.

• Ask them to talk to other children at school about their ideas and exchange perspectives.

• Ask them to imagine what would happen if a different character made the big decisions.

2. “What If?” Games

“What If?” questions are a fun way to practice thinking outside the box and considering multiple possibilities. Plus, this will be an incredibly fun activity for you as well–kids can be highly creative, so we're sure you won't expect some of the answers!

Here's what you can try:

• Ask your kids questions like, “What if animals could talk?” or “What if we lived underwater?”

• Take turns answering the questions with unusual or creative ideas. It's important for adults to participate as well.

• Challenge your children to come up with at least three different answers for each question.

You can schedule this activity during snack time! As long as you're pairing it with other activities, even a few minutes of playing the "What If" game can be really helpful!

3. Switching Roles in Play

Playing different roles encourages kids to see situations from other perspectives, which builds empathy and flexible thinking. And it's also a really fun activity you can schedule for a leisurely afternoon! Try this:

• In games, ask the kids to swap roles or characters. They can even sit in different chairs while doing this (if you're playing in the classroom).

• Play games where everyone is pretending to be someone they know or a character from a story.

4. Brain Teasers and Word Games

Games that challenge the mind can help kids practice problem-solving in creative ways. Here's what you can try:

• Try word searches or crossword puzzles.

• Play word association, where you say a word and someone else has to come up with a related word quickly.

• Ask your kids to come up with new game rules (for Scrabble, for example).

• Set mini challenges, like finding long words or words with a lot of consonants or creating a funny sentence with random words.

5. Coordination Challenges

Activities that use different body parts in new ways can help the brain adapt and think more flexibly. For example, you and your children can:

• Walk backwards slowly or try hopping on one foot for a short distance.

• Brush your teeth or eat with your non-dominant hand.

• Play balance or coordination games, like tossing a ball while standing on one leg.

Make it a challenge to improve each day, noticing how your brain and body adjust.

6. Charades

Now, your kids will definitely love this! And they'll also benefit from this engaging activity, because acting out words or actions in different ways helps kids think flexibly and creatively. Here's what you can try:

• Pick a word or action and ask your kids to act it out in three or four different ways.

• Everyone else needs to guess what they're showing.

7. Other Flexible Activities for Kids

Want some more activities? Try these:

• Digital puzzle games: use apps or websites with puzzles that adapt difficulty based on the child’s performance (e.g., Osmo, DragonBox). These help kids adjust strategies as challenges evolve.

• Improv storytelling: kids take turns adding sentences to a story on the spot, requiring quick thinking and adaptability to different scenarios.

• Nature exploration challenges: give your kids a nature scavenger list, but change the items they need to find along the way.

• Art with constraints: give your kids a limited set of materials but challenge them to create different objects or images, encouraging creativity within limits and social interaction.

Flexible Thinking Activities for Adults

Training your flexible thinking should never stop, whether you're a kid, high-school student, or adult! Plus, when you're an adult, you can also model flexible thinking, so kids can learn from you!

Because of this, we've selected some activities that will encourage you to see issues from new angles, solve problems creatively, and adapt to different situations! Ready to start? Here are some activities you can try to become the most capable flexible thinker!

1. Play Word Games

Word games are fun indeed! But they also force your brain to think creatively, recognize patterns, and switch strategies quickly. They help develop flexible thinking and critical thinking skills by requiring you to come up with different solutions under constraints and think in ways you might not normally use. Here are some exercises you can try:

• Try finding as many words as possible from a single set of letters, challenging yourself to go beyond the obvious options.

• Play “word association” with a small group of friends or family, where each player builds on the last word. You can also do this under time pressure to support mental acuity.

• Learn new words and strive to implement them into your everyday vocabulary, so you can use them in real-life scenarios.

• Set personal challenges, like creating a sentence using a random set of words, to push your flexibility further.

2. Train Your Brain with Mendi Neurofeedback

Want to encourage flexible thinking? Try Mendi neurofeedback, a cutting-edge tool that trains your prefrontal cortex. Here's how it works:

• You wear a headband that incorporates state-of-the-art fNIRS technology.

• At the same time, you're playing a game on the Mendi app.

• The sensors in the headband measure your prefrontal cortex activity. When it increases (which is a good thing for executive function!), you receive immediate feedback in the game (the ball on the screen rises). When prefrontal cortex activity decreases, the ball falls back down.

• Over time, this process encourages neuroplasticity through a learning technique called operant conditioning.

Plus, you can use the same Mendi headband for your entire family! It is also suitable for children aged 5+ and seniors.

3. Make a Change in Your Life

When you make a change, even if it's small, you're forcing your brain to adapt and think in new ways. This kind of activity promotes cognitive flexibility by encouraging you to break habits and approach situations differently. Don't know where to start? Here are some ideas:

• Rearrange furniture in a room, take a new route to school or work, or try a different way of organizing your day.

• Pick up a new hobby or skill you’ve never tried, like cooking a new cuisine, learning a musical instrument, or trying a craft project.

• Swap roles or responsibilities with someone at home or work to gain a fresh perspective.

4. Join a Debate Club

Debating is an excellent way to practice flexible thinking because it requires you to consider multiple perspectives, construct clear arguments (even if you do not agree with the statements), and adapt on the spot when faced with opposing ideas. Here's how to make this even more challenging:

• Take on positions you don’t naturally agree with to stretch your thinking and develop empathy.

• Actively listen to counterarguments and adjust your stance if you find a stronger perspective.

• Prepare multiple arguments for the same topic to train your brain to see different angles.

• Practice summarizing opposing viewpoints in your own words, which strengthens perspective-taking and mental flexibility.

• Engage in timed debates or quick-fire discussions to improve your ability to think and respond under pressure.

5. Try Coordination Activities

Did you think this only works for kids? Not a chance! Coordination activities are perfect for adults as well! They engage multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, which improves mental flexibility. Try these:

• Brush your teeth, eat, or write with your non-dominant hand to strengthen brain connections.

• Walk backwards or sideways in a safe environment to challenge balance and spatial awareness.

• Try juggling, yoga poses, or dance routines that require coordination and focus.

• Combine movement with problem-solving, like solving puzzles while performing a physical challenge.

6. Look at Optical Illusions

Optical illusions can help you train your brain to hold multiple perspectives at once. They challenge your perception and teach you that things are not always as they seem, which is a key skill in flexible thinking. But take great care, you may end up with a headache if you look at optical illusions for too long!

• Spend a few minutes studying different optical illusions and try to describe everything you see.

• Switch perspectives: look at the same image from different distances or angles.

• Discuss your perceptions with others and notice how they see things differently.

• Challenge yourself to draw or recreate the illusion to engage both visual and cognitive skills.

You can also try this activity with your kids; we're sure they'll enjoy it!

7. Try the Six Thinking Hats Method

This method, created by Edward de Bono, can help you examine problems from multiple perspectives, training your brain to consider different viewpoints systematically. Here's what you need to do:

• Assign each “hat” a role. When you have a problem, imagine that you're wearing one hat at a time and do the following:

• White Hat: Focus on facts and data

• Red Hat: Look at feelings and intuition

• Black Hat: Be cautious and look for risks

• Yellow Hat: Be optimistic and look for benefits

• Green Hat: Think creatively and look for various alternatives

• Blue Hat: Manage the thinking process and see the bigger picture

• Discuss or journal your thoughts under each hat to strengthen perspective-shifting skills.

• Practice this method on both everyday decisions and complex problems to build mental adaptability.

8. Brainstorm Alternate Endings for Your Favorite Books/Movies

Yet again, an activity that works for both kids and adults! When you think of different outcomes for your favorite stories, you're forcing your brain to think creatively and challenge the “expected” storyline, which is excellent for flexible thinking. So:

• Pick a story you know well and list three or more alternative endings.

• Consider how changing one key decision or event would affect the story’s outcome.

• Discuss your alternate endings with friends or family to get new perspectives.

• Try rewriting scenes from another character’s point of view.

9. Change Game Night Rules

Want to take your game nights to a whole new level? Change the rules! Have some fun! All while improving cognitive flexibility! Here's what you can try:

• Introduce new rules or variations for board games, card games, or sports.

• Swap roles or objectives to see how strategies shift.

• Encourage players to suggest and test creative twists.

• Play the same game multiple times with different rule changes to strengthen flexibility.

10. Play Charades (But Differently!)

What's the first thing you're thinking of when you hear the word "time"? Probably a watch or clock, right? And your first instinct is to "illustrate" the word by pointing at your wrist, correct? Well, this is just one way of acting this word out. So, try this:

• Choose one word (preferably a complicated one!) and challenge your friends to act it out in at least three distinct ways.

• Encourage them to improvise and even exaggerate to explore different interpretations.

11. Join a Book Club

Besides the fact that they're quite fun and allow you to enjoy your favorite books and discuss the best and worst characters with your friends, book clubs are excellent for cognitive flexibility as well! The meetings are great for sharing perspectives and ideas. Just make sure to keep an open mind and consider alternative viewpoints! Here's how to make it more fun:

• Take turns as meeting moderators.

• Discuss themes, characters, or plot decisions to explore multiple layers of meaning.

• Discuss what genre the book is part of and explore how the genre has changed over the years.

• Participate in debates or thought exercises based on the book’s content.

Age-Specific Flexible Thinking Activities

Toddlers & Preschoolers

• Shape-sorting toys with changing rules

• Pretend play with role swaps

• Simple “What If?” questions about daily routines

Elementary Kids

• Building alternate story endings

• Brain teasers and word games

• Drawing variations of the same scene

Teenagers

• Debating controversial topics from multiple angles

• Creative writing with plot twists

• Team problem-solving projects with changing objectives

• Neurofeedback training to enhance executive functioning skills

Adults

• Updating daily routines or schedules

• Participating in discussion groups or book clubs

• Trying physical coordination challenges like juggling or dance

• Neurofeedback training to enhance executive functioning skills

Seniors

• Learning new technology apps or devices

• Memory games with changing rules

• Neurofeedback training to enhance executive functioning skills

• Social role-playing in community centers

Barriers to Flexible Thinking and How to Overcome Them

Barriers can often hold us back from developing flexible thinking, even though it’s such a valuable skill. One common challenge is habitual thinking, where reliance on familiar routines and patterns, as well as the comfort zone, limits our openness to new approaches and ideas.

Another best friend of stuck thinking is the fear of making mistakes. Many people avoid experimenting or considering alternatives because they worry about failing. Because of this, it's important to accept that mistakes are learning opportunities rather than failures, which is the foundation for a growth mindset.

Perfectionism can also restrict flexible thinking. When you’re focused on doing things “right” all the time, you may resist exploring creative or unconventional options. To counter this, practice reframing your mindset to value progress over perfection.

Additionally, cognitive overload from stress and fatigue can seriously impair mental flexibility, making it harder to shift perspectives or try new solutions. In this regard, you can try mindfulness techniques like meditation or neurofeedback training to develop coping strategies.

Get Your Mendi to Build Flexible Thinking Skills!

If you're eager to actively train your brain to build this critical life skill, hurry up and get your Mendi!

Mendi offers a scientifically supported, interactive brain training experience that helps strengthen your prefrontal cortex activity. Incorporating Mendi into your routine can accelerate your progress and provide measurable results.

Ready to join thousands of other Mendi users and benefit from neurofeedback? Get your Mendi today!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an example of flexible thinking?

Here's an example of flexible thinking: a child tries a new approach after a puzzle or game doesn’t work out as expected. For adults, it could be adjusting a plan at work when unexpected challenges arise.

What are some flexible thinking activities?

Flexible thinking activities include word games, role-playing, brainstorming alternate story endings, and coordination exercises. Even changing routines or trying new hobbies can strengthen mental adaptability.

How to teach a child flexible thinking?

To teach a child flexible thinking, encourage them to explore multiple solutions to a problem and consider different perspectives during play or storytelling. Praise creative attempts and model adaptability by showing how you handle changes or challenges calmly.

What is an example of flexibility in creative thinking?

Here are two examples of flexibility in creative thinking: a writer imagining several alternative endings for a story shows; an artist experimenting with different materials or styles.

How can I teach flexible thinking to high school students?

To teach flexible thinking to high school students, try incorporating word games, debate activities, and scenario planning into your lessons.