Would This Work Somewhere Else? | Transfer Thinking Task Cards | Critical Thinking Activity | Years 3–6.

Help students build deeper understanding by transferring ideas across different contexts.

This engaging MindStretch Mini challenges students to take a rule, system, idea, or strategy from one setting and apply it somewhere completely different.

Students explore whether the idea would still work, what would need to change, and what new problems or possibilities might emerge.

Instead of simply recalling information, students learn to make connections, transfer understanding, and think flexibly across contexts.

Why Teachers Love This Resource

✔ No prep – ready to use immediately

✔ High engagement, discussion-based thinking

✔ Encourages transfer and deeper understanding

✔ Open-ended tasks with multiple valid responses

✔ Easy to use across subjects and age groups

What’s Included

• 8 transfer thinking task cards
• Teacher Quick Start guide
• Push & Differentiate support page
• Student reflection prompts
• Flexible discussion and inquiry activities
• Built on the MindStretch Thinking Framework

Skills Developed

Students practice:

• Critical thinking
• Transfer thinking
• Flexible reasoning
• Making connections across contexts
• Perspective-taking
• Explaining and justifying ideas

How It Works

Students take an idea from one setting and apply it somewhere new.

Examples include:

• Would school rules work in a workplace?
• Would sports strategies work in a classroom?
• Would team roles work in a family setting?

Students then explore:

What would transfer successfully?

What would need to change?

What problems or benefits could emerge?

There is no single correct answer — students are encouraged to think deeply, compare contexts, and justify their reasoning.

Perfect For

• Stage 2 & Stage 3
• Critical thinking lessons
• Inquiry learning
• Discussion starters
• Whole-class reasoning 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 Thinking Series and reflects skills developed in Volume 2 – Transfer & Reasoning.

Students are encouraged to:

✔ Examine ideas carefully

✔ Explore new possibilities

✔ Transfer thinking across contexts

to build stronger, more flexible reasoning skills.

Low Prep. High Thinking.

Encourage students to:

✔ Make connections

✔ Transfer ideas

✔ Think beyond the obvious

with one simple but powerful thinking routine.

Ready to take this thinking further?

Apply this routine in rich, real-world contexts with our Thinking Scenarios.

Students move from practising thinking to using thinking in meaningful challenges.

Try:

• The Perfect Playground

• The AI Replacement Problem

• Traffic Jam Escape

Perfect for deep discussion, problem-solving, and engagement.

READY FOR MORE THINKING?

This resource is just one part of the growing MindStretch Mini Thinking Task Card series.

If your students enjoyed exploring Would this work somewhere else?, they'll love having access to a wider collection of powerful thinking routines designed to build reasoning, creativity, perspective-taking, and problem-solving skills.

The MindStretch Mini Task Card Bundle includes multiple critical thinking routines that can be used across subjects, year levels, and learning areas.

Students will:

✓ Challenge assumptions

✓ Compare perspectives

✓ Transfer ideas across contexts

✓ Explore multiple solutions

✓ Evaluate evidence and reasoning

✓ Develop deeper critical thinking skills

Perfect for:

• Lesson starters

• Early finishers

• Discussion prompts

• Inquiry learning

• Critical thinking centres

• Whole-class thinking routines

Build a classroom culture of curiosity, reasoning, and deeper thinking with the complete MindStretch Mini Task Card Bundle.

More routines. More discussions. More thinking.

One Routine Starts the Thinking. The Bundle Builds the Habit.