The Design Challenge — One Problem, Many Solutions

Set a small, real, hands-on problem and challenge the child to find not one but MANY ways to solve it: “Can you build a bridge that a toy car can cross?” “How many ways can you get this ball into that bucket from across the room?” “Can you make a boat that floats and carries three coins?” The twist that makes it creative thinking: always ask “now can you find a DIFFERENT way?”

  1. Pose a clear, concrete challenge with a tangible goal and some simple materials — blocks and a paper “river,” a ball and a bucket, foil and a tub of water, cups to stack.

  2. Let the child attempt it their way first. Cheer effort and experimentation, not just success.

  3. When one solution works, spark divergence: “You did it! Now — can you find a totally different way?” Keep a tally of the different solutions.

  4. Treat failures as information: “It sank! Interesting — what could we change?” Tinkering and trying again IS the activity.

  5. Compare the solutions together: which was sturdiest, fastest, silliest, most surprising? There’s no single right answer.

Variation: add a constraint to force new thinking (“now without using your hands”; “now with only three blocks”). Make it a building challenge (tallest tower, longest bridge), a moving challenge (get the marble down to the floor slowly), or a fix-it challenge (“the teddy needs to stay dry in the rain”).

Requirements

  • Space: A table or floor; some challenges (rolling, throwing) want a bit more room
  • Surface: Flat surface for building; a tub or tray for water challenges
  • Materials: Simple, open-ended supplies matched to the challenge — blocks, cups, balls, foil, tape, cardboard, water; whatever's on hand
  • Participants: 1 child, or a pair or small group comparing different solutions
  • Supervision: Moderate — closer for water play and around small parts; help frame the problem, not solve it

Rationale & Objective

A design challenge with the rule “find another way” turns a single problem into a divergent-thinking task — generating multiple, varied solutions, the essence of creative problem-solving. This is the spirit of tinkering, which Bevan and colleagues (2015) define as a creative, improvisational, iterative branch of STEM-rich making that builds innovation and problem-solving. It enacts Resnick’s (2017) creative learning spiral — imagine, create, play, share, reflect — and his wide walls principle: a good challenge has many possible paths to a solution, not one. Scott, Leritz and Mumford’s (2004) meta-analysis found creativity training works best with concrete, realistic, practice-based tasks exactly like these. It targets the subdomain marker “suggests multiple solutions to a problem” and HighScope’s indicator that children solve problems encountered in play.

Progress Indicators

  • Early: tries one approach and, if it works, considers the job done; if it fails, may give up or want help; the idea of a second solution is new
  • Developing: finds one solution and, when prompted, attempts a second different way; beginning to treat a failed try as something to adjust rather than a dead end
  • Proficient: generates two or three genuinely different solutions without much prompting, predicts and tests changes (‘a wider base won’t tip’), and persists cheerfully through failed attempts
  • Advanced: produces several varied, inventive solutions, compares their merits, works within added constraints, and iterates deliberately to improve — explaining why one approach beats another

Safety Notes

  • Match the challenge to the child’s physical ability to avoid frustration and unsafe shortcuts, such as climbing to reach a target or throwing hard
  • Supervise water challenges closely — even small amounts of water are a slip hazard and, for younger children present, a drowning risk, so wipe spills promptly
  • Keep building materials free of sharp edges, and if using recycled parts, remove sharp can rims and small swallowable pieces around younger children
  • For throwing or rolling challenges, use soft objects and aim at targets, not people
  • Let the child take safe risks, like a tower that might topple, while you guard against genuine hazards

Hints

  • Playfulness: frame it as a mission or a ‘challenge card,’ count solutions like a high score, and celebrate the weird ones loudest (‘I never thought of THAT!’).
  • Sustain interest: keep a rotating bank of challenges, raise the difficulty as skills grow, and let the child invent challenges for YOU; a ‘challenge of the day’ ritual keeps it fresh.
  • Common mistake: jumping in to solve it, or stopping at the first success — the learning is in the second, third, and fourth way, so bite your tongue and always ask ‘how else?’ Treat sinking boats and falling towers as exciting data, not failure.
  • Limited space / no equipment: a stack of cups or a ball and a basket gives endless challenges; problems like ‘how many ways can you cross the room?’ need nothing but space and imagination.
  • Cross-domain: building and testing grow early science, engineering, and math (comparing, measuring); explaining solutions builds language and reasoning; the hands-on work strengthens fine and gross motor skills; group challenges build cooperation.
  • Progression: solve the problem one way → find a second, different way when prompted → generate several solutions independently → add a constraint that forces new thinking → compare solutions and iterate to improve the best one.

Sources

  • Bevan, B., Gutwill, J. P., Petrich, M. & Wilkinson, K. (2015). “Learning Through STEM-Rich Tinkering: Findings From a Jointly Negotiated Research Project Taken Up in Practice.” Science Education, 99(1), 98–120
  • Resnick, M. (2017). Lifelong Kindergarten: Cultivating Creativity Through Projects, Passion, Peers, and Play. MIT Press
  • Scott, G., Leritz, L. E. & Mumford, M. D. (2004). “The effectiveness of creativity training: A quantitative review.” Creativity Research Journal, 16(4), 361–388
  • UK EYFS — Characteristics of Effective Learning — creating and thinking critically (choosing ways to do things) and active learning
  • HighScope KDI 4 (problem solving) and KDI 2 (planning)
  • Finland National Core Curriculum for ECEC (2022) — transversal competence, Thinking and learning