Coming to grips with abstract concepts begins with sensory learning. Children learn about size, shape, and color, by seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting, which eventually leads to the understanding of these and other abstract concepts.

Children are inquisitive and imaginative, but lacking in experience. For example, when we ask a child to continue a story, or make up their own story, they won't know how. So how can we develop their abilities? First, we need to improve their abstract thinking skills.

Abstract thinking is a core component of intelligence and a dominant part of human cognition. It plays a critical role in activities that require the imagination to be used. So how can we help our children learn and grow? Below, we've come up with five games to help your child quickly improve their abstract thinking skills and do just that.

• 1. Numbers That Represent Locations
• 2. Shapes That Resemble Real Things
• 3. Word Association
• 4. Making Sentences
• 5. Telling Stories

1. Numbers That Represent Locations

Go out exploring with your child! As you walk down the street, point out the numbers on buildings and signs. Older children who can handle a pencil can record these numbers in a notebook, too.

2. Shapes That Resemble Real Things

Start by drawing a circle on a piece of paper. Work together with your child to turn the circle into other things they know from real life, like a basketball, the sun, or a balloon.

3. Word Association

In this word game, you want to guide your child to make associations between things. For example, what do they think about when they hear the word 'doctor?' The hospital, a thermometer, and nurses are all great answers. For a word like 'kitchen,' answers like dinner or oven are right on target.

4. Making Sentences

Pick a vocabulary word, and take turns making sentences with your child. For example: train. You can say: A conductor drives a train. Your child can say: I like trains.

You can increase the difficulty of this game over time by introducing harder vocabulary words, or by using two words at once.

5. Telling Stories

Find a picture - anything will do, but for this example, let's use a picture of a sleeping cat. You and your child can make up a silly story about the cat - why is it sleeping? What will it do after it wakes up? As their skill and confidence grows, you can take this question-and-answer format to the next level and engage in some actual storytelling. "The cat played with her new toy all day, felt sleepy, and laid down for a nap."