10 Decision Making Activities for Kids - Guide

Here's a quick overview of 10 fun activities to help kids learn decision-making skills:

Activity	Description	Key Skills Learned
1. This or That	Choose between two options	Making choices, explaining reasoning
2. Role-Playing Scenarios	Act out situations and make decisions	Problem-solving, understanding consequences
3. Deserted Island Choices	Pick 3 items to bring to an island	Prioritizing, critical thinking
4. Decision-Making Board Game	Play a game with choice-based cards	Considering outcomes, following rules
5. Story Continuation	Change endings of familiar stories	Creativity, cause and effect
6. Pros and Cons List	List positives and negatives of choices	Analyzing options, weighing factors
7. Memory Game with a Twist	Remember items and identify missing ones	Quick thinking, attention to detail
8. What Would You Do?	Respond to hypothetical situations	Ethical reasoning, empathy
9. Decision Tree Drawing	Map out choices and consequences visually	Breaking down complex decisions
10. Consequence Exploration	Discuss potential outcomes of choices	Long-term thinking, responsibility

These activities help kids:

• Think critically about options
• Understand consequences of choices
• Build confidence in decision-making
• Practice problem-solving skills
• Learn to explain their reasoning

Start with simpler activities for younger kids and progress to more complex ones as they grow. Regular practice will help children develop strong decision-making abilities for life.

Related video from YouTube

How Kids Learn to Make Decisions

Kids build decision-making skills as they grow up. Knowing how this happens helps adults support them better.

Stages of Decision-Making Growth

Age Group	Skills	Examples
2-5 years	Simple choices, emotion-based	Picking between two toys
6-11 years	Think about options, understand results	Choosing after-school activities
12-18 years	Complex choices, long-term thinking	Planning for college

Common Hurdles in Decision-Making

Kids often face these challenges:

1. Acting on feelings without thinking
2. Being afraid to make mistakes
3. Not knowing enough about life
4. Being swayed by friends

To help kids overcome these hurdles, adults can:

• Ask questions to make kids think
• Let kids make age-right choices
• Show good decision-making in daily life
• Teach kids about money and goals
• Help kids learn from wrong choices

By understanding how kids learn to decide and helping with common problems, we can better support them in building this key life skill.

Age	What Kids Can Do	How Adults Can Help
2-5	Pick between two things	Give easy choices, praise decisions
6-11	Think about good and bad points	Help list pros and cons, talk about what might happen
12-18	Make big choices, plan ahead	Teach goal-setting, include in family choices

Using This Guide

This guide offers many decision-making activities for kids. Here's how to use them well:

Changing Activities for Different Ages

Age	How to Change Activities	Examples
2-5 years	Make choices easier, use pictures	Pick between two toys with photos
6-11 years	Add more options	Act out stories with different endings
12-18 years	Use real-life examples	Plan a trip with a set amount of money

Tips for Grown-ups

1. Start easy: Begin with simple choices, then make them harder as kids get better at deciding.

2. Ask good questions: Help kids think more by asking "why" and "what if" questions.

3. Help when needed: Give advice if asked, but let kids make their own choices and learn from them.

4. Keep it fun: Add games and creative ideas to make decision-making enjoyable.

5. Practice often: Include decision-making in daily life to help kids get better at it.

Tip	What It Means	Why It Helps
Start easy	Begin with simple choices	Builds confidence
Ask good questions	Use "why" and "what if"	Improves thinking skills
Help when needed	Give advice if asked	Teaches independence
Keep it fun	Add games to decisions	Makes learning enjoyable
Practice often	Include in daily life	Strengthens skills over time

1. This or That

Description

"This or That" is a simple game that helps kids practice making choices between two options. It helps them think better, know what they like, and talk about their choices.

Materials Needed

• List of "This or That" questions
• Optional: Pictures or objects to show the choices

How to Play

1. Make a list of questions that fit the child's age.
2. Tell the child they'll pick one of two choices for each question.
3. Ask a question and wait for the child to answer.
4. Ask the child why they chose that answer.
5. Keep playing with more questions. Make it fun!
6. For younger kids, use pictures or objects to show the choices.

What Kids Learn

Skill	How They Learn It
Making choices	Kids pick between two options
Thinking	Kids look at different options
Talking	Kids explain why they chose something
Knowing themselves	Kids think about what they like

You can change the game for different ages. For little kids, ask easy questions like "Do you like dogs or cats?" For older kids, ask harder questions to make them think more.

2. Role-Playing Scenarios

Description

Role-playing helps kids learn to make choices by acting out different situations. This activity helps them understand others, think carefully, and solve problems.

Materials Needed

• List of stories for kids to act out
• Dress-up clothes (if you want)
• Toys or items to use in the story (if you want)

How to Play

1. Pick a story that fits your child's age and likes.
2. Tell the kids about the story and who they'll be.
3. Set up the place and tell them what's happening.
4. Let the kids act out the story and make choices.
5. After they finish, talk about what they chose to do.
6. Ask them to think about other ways the story could have ended.

What Kids Learn

Skill	How They Learn It
Making choices	Kids decide what to do in the story
Understanding others	Kids think about how others feel
Thinking carefully	Kids look at what might happen
Solving problems	Kids work out tricky parts of the story
Talking to others	Kids speak as their characters

Role-playing is a fun way for kids to practice making choices without real-world risks. By pretending to be different people, children learn to think about how their choices affect others and what might happen next.

3. Deserted Island Choices

Description

This game helps kids learn to make smart choices. They pretend they're stuck on an island and can only bring a few things. It makes them think about what's really important.

What You Need

• List of things to choose from
• Paper and pencils (if you want)

How to Play

1. Tell kids they're going to a desert island and can only take three things.
2. Show them a list of things to pick from. Include useful and fun items.
3. Give kids time to choose their three things.
4. Ask each kid to say why they picked those things.
5. Talk about how their choices might help or not help on the island.
6. Think about other things they could have picked and what might happen.

What Kids Learn

Skill	How They Learn It
Thinking hard	Figuring out which items are best for survival
Picking what's important	Choosing between things they need and things they want
Solving problems	Thinking of ways to use the items they picked
Talking about choices	Explaining why they picked certain items
Thinking ahead	Understanding how their choices affect what happens later

This game is a fun way for kids to practice making choices. It helps them learn the difference between what they want and what they need. They also learn to think about what might happen because of their choices.

4. Decision-Making Board Game

Description

This board game helps kids learn to make choices and see what happens after. It's fun and teaches important skills at the same time.

What You Need

• Big cardboard or poster board
• Markers or colored pencils
• Dice
• Game pieces (small toys or tokens)
• Index cards for making question cards

How to Play

1. Make the game board on cardboard. Draw a path with spaces, some called "Decision Points."

2. Write questions on index cards. For example:

   • "If I eat too many sweets, then..."
   • "If I tell the truth to my parents, then..."
   • "If I go to bed late on a school night, then..."

3. Put the board, dice, game pieces, and cards on a table.

4. Players roll dice and move. On "Decision Points," they pick a card and finish the sentence.

5. Everyone talks about the choice and what might happen.

6. First player to finish wins, but good choices matter more than winning.

What Kids Learn

Skill	How They Learn It
Thinking hard	Looking at different choices and results
Seeing what happens	Talking about what comes after choices
Fixing problems	Finding answers to the questions
Talking to others	Explaining choices and sharing ideas
Following rules	Learning how to play by the game's rules

This game is fun and helps kids practice making choices safely. It teaches them to think about their decisions and understand that every choice leads to something, good or bad.

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5. Story Continuation

Description

Story Continuation helps kids make choices by changing well-known stories. They think about what could happen if characters made different choices.

What You Need

• Stories kids know well
• Paper and pencils
• Optional: things to dress up or play with

How to Play

1. Pick a story kids know.
2. Tell the story until a big choice comes up.
3. Ask kids to change the story by making a new choice.
4. Talk about what might happen because of this new choice.
5. Have kids write or act out their new story endings.

What Kids Learn

Skill	How They Learn It
Thinking of new ideas	Making up new story endings
Making choices	Picking different paths for characters
Understanding results	Seeing what happens after choices
Telling stories	Making and sharing new endings
Thinking carefully	Looking at how choices change stories

This game helps kids learn about making choices in a fun way. They see how different choices can lead to different endings, both in stories and in real life.

6. Pros and Cons List

Description

The Pros and Cons List helps kids look at both good and bad sides of a choice. This old method, first used by Benjamin Franklin in 1772, teaches kids to think carefully before deciding.

What You Need

• Paper
• Pencils or pens
• For groups: Whiteboard and markers (if you want)

How to Do It

1. Pick something to decide about.
2. Draw a line down the middle of the paper.
3. Write "Good" on one side and "Bad" on the other.
4. List good things on the "Good" side and bad things on the "Bad" side.
5. Look at your list and talk about how important each thing is.
6. Count the good and bad points, thinking about which ones matter most.
7. Make your choice based on what you've written.

What Kids Learn

Skill	How They Learn It
Thinking hard	Looking at good and bad sides of a choice
Being fair	Not letting feelings change their choice too much
Judging	Deciding which things matter most
Fixing problems	Breaking big choices into smaller parts
Talking	Sharing ideas with others about the choice

This activity shows kids how to make choices step-by-step. It's good for group choices too, letting everyone share what they think.

7. Memory Game with a Twist

Description

This game helps kids make choices and remember things better. It's a fun way to learn and think quickly.

What You Need

• Picture cards with matching pairs
• Tray (for the new version)
• Small objects (for the new version)
• Paper and pencils (if you want, for older kids)

How to Play

1. Put picture cards face down on a table.
2. Players turn over two cards at a time.
3. If cards match, keep them and go again.
4. If they don't match, turn them back over.
5. Keep playing until all pairs are found.
6. Player with most pairs wins.

New Way to Play: Find the Missing Item

1. Show small objects on a tray for a short time.
2. Cover the tray and take away one item.
3. Uncover the tray and ask players to name the missing item.
4. Give a point for right answers.
5. Do this again with different items.
6. First player to get a set number of points wins.

What Kids Learn

Skill	How They Learn It
Remembering	Keeping track of card spots and tray items
Making choices	Picking which cards to flip or naming missing items
Paying attention	Looking closely at objects or pictures
Thinking	Matching pairs and seeing patterns
Planning	Figuring out how to get more matches

This game helps kids remember things and make quick choices. It's a fun way to learn important skills.

8. What Would You Do?

Description

"What Would You Do?" helps kids think about how to handle tricky situations. It teaches them to think carefully before making choices.

What You Need

• List of made-up situations for kids to think about
• Paper and pencils (if you want)
• Things to act out the situations (if you want)

How to Play

1. Make a list of pretend situations for kids to solve.
2. Tell kids about each situation.
3. Ask kids what they would do.
4. Help them think about different ways to solve the problem.
5. Let kids share their ideas with others.
6. Talk about what might happen with each choice.
7. If you want, let kids act out their answers.

What Kids Learn

Skill	How They Learn It
Thinking hard	Looking at problems from different sides
Making choices	Picking the best way to fix a problem
Understanding others	Thinking about how choices affect people
Talking to others	Telling people why they made a choice
Fixing problems	Finding ways to make things better

This game helps kids practice making choices without real risks. By talking about different ways to solve problems, kids learn to think carefully about what they do and how it affects others.

9. Decision Tree Drawing

Description

Decision Tree Drawing helps kids see how choices work. It makes big decisions easier by breaking them into small steps. Kids learn to think about what happens after they make a choice.

What You Need

• Big paper or whiteboard
• Markers or colored pencils
• Ruler (if you want)

How to Do It

1. Pick a big choice to make
2. Draw a circle at the top of the paper for the main choice
3. Draw lines from the circle for different options
4. For each option, draw more lines for what could happen next
5. Keep drawing until you reach the end of each path
6. Look at the whole tree with the child
7. Talk about the different paths and what might happen

What Kids Learn

Skill	How They Learn It
Thinking hard	Looking at choices and what happens after
Fixing problems	Breaking big choices into small steps
Drawing ideas	Turning thoughts into pictures
Making choices	Picking the best path after seeing all options
Thinking about cause and effect	Seeing how one choice leads to another

This game helps kids see how choices work. By drawing it out, they can understand big decisions better and think about what might happen next.

10. Consequence Exploration

Description

This activity helps kids understand what happens after they make choices. It teaches them to think about results before deciding.

What You Need

• Paper and pencils
• Big paper or whiteboard (if you want)
• Markers (if you want)

How to Do It

1. Pick a choice kids might face
2. Ask kids what they could do
3. For each choice, think about what might happen
4. Talk about good and bad results
5. Help kids pick the best choice based on results
6. Talk about what they learned

What Kids Learn

Skill	How They Learn It
Thinking hard	Looking at what might happen after choices
Planning ahead	Thinking about long-term results
Being responsible	Understanding how choices affect things
Fixing problems	Picking the best choice after thinking
Talking	Explaining why they made a choice

This activity shows kids that what they do matters. By doing this often, kids can make better choices every day and get ready for bigger choices later.

Wrap-up

Teaching kids to make good choices helps them grow into strong, independent people. The activities in this guide can help parents and caregivers build these skills in children.

Learning to make choices takes time. Start with easy decisions and slowly move to harder ones as kids grow. Always be there to help and guide them.

Ask questions to make kids think about their choices. Show them how you make decisions in your own life. This helps kids see how grown-ups handle big choices.

Key Points	Why It Helps
Practice often	Kids get better at making choices
Start small	Kids don't feel too stressed
Talk about choices	Kids learn from mistakes
Show how you decide	Kids see real-life examples
Be patient	Kids learn at their own pace

By helping kids make good choices, you're giving them tools to do well in life. Remember, it's okay if they don't always get it right. The goal is to keep getting better.

As you help your child learn to make choices, keep in mind that every decision is a chance to learn. With time and practice, your child will get better at making smart choices throughout their life.