Solve It a Different Way | Critical Thinking Task | Flexible Problem Solving Activity | Years 3–8.

Help students become flexible thinkers by encouraging them to explore more than one way to solve a problem.

This engaging MindStretch Mini challenges students to generate multiple solutions, compare strategies, and explain which approaches work best. Instead of searching for one “correct” answer, students learn to think creatively, evaluate ideas, and approach problems from different angles.

Perfect for building flexible thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving skills through simple, high-engagement tasks.

Why Teachers Love This Resource

✔ No prep – ready to use immediately

✔ Encourages flexible thinking and creativity

✔ High engagement, discussion-based learning

✔ Open-ended tasks with multiple possible solutions

✔ Easy to use across subjects and age groups

What’s Included

• Flexible problem-solving thinking task
• Teacher Quick Start guide
• Push & Differentiate support page
• Sample real-world problem-solving scenario
• Student reflection prompts
• MindStretch framework connection page

Skills Developed Students practice:

• Critical thinking
• Flexible problem solving
• Creative thinking
• Comparing and evaluating strategies
• Explaining and justifying ideas
• Generating multiple solutions

How It Works

Students explore a problem or situation and:

• Generate as many solutions as possible
• Compare different strategies
• Evaluate which ideas work best
• Explain their reasoning

Example prompts include:

• How many ways can you solve this?
• Which strategies are most effective?
• Which ideas are similar or different?
• Which solution would you choose — and why?

There is no single correct answer — students are encouraged to think flexibly and justify their thinking.

Perfect For

• Stage 2
• Stage 3
• Critical thinking lessons
• Inquiry learning
• Whole-class discussion
• STEM and problem-solving tasks
• Early finishers
• Gifted & extension activities
• Warm-ups and brain stretches

Flexible Classroom Use

Use this resource for:

• Whole-class modelling
• Small group discussion
• Independent thinking tasks
• Inquiry and reasoning lessons
• Brain breaks and warm-ups

Part of the MindStretch Thinking Series

This resource is part of the MindStretch Mini collection and reflects skills developed in Volume 2 – Transferring Ideas Across Contexts.

Low Prep. High Thinking.

Encourage students to:

✔ Explore multiple possibilities

✔ Compare different strategies

✔ Build stronger problem-solving skills

with one simple but powerful thinking routine.

Want a ready-to-use classroom version of this thinking task?

This task is also available as a Task Card set, designed for easy implementation, student independence, and repeat use.

Explore the Task Card version to extend this thinking routine in your classroom.