The New Zealand Ministry of Education suggests a rolling marbles activity that can be done with a model or pencil and paper. This activity works on sequencing skills. Its premise concerns a toy that features four red marbles and four blue marbles that sit in a U-shaped track. A student can "pick up" any two consecutive marbles and put them at either the far right or far left end of the U. The student must try to rearrange the color order to red-blue-red-blue with the fewest possible moves. Students can work in groups according to their skill levels.
Logic grid puzzles are puzzles that provide a situation, such as "four people have different favorite flowers. Who likes which flower?" The solver uses a list of clues that are noted on a grid with a dot for true information and an X to denote untrue information. The solver must use deductive reasoning and the process of elimination to solve the problem. These puzzles come in all skill levels. Enchanted Learning features a variety of logic puzzles geared toward elementary-aged children.
Many board games, especially those involving strategy, are an entertaining way for children to exercise cognitive skills, including logic. Gwen Dewar of Parenting Science, points out that board games encourage children to predict alternative outcomes, learn from their experiences, practice advance planning and recognize patterns. Games such as Clue involve deductive reasoning, says Dewar. Chess stresses planning ahead and predicting a variety of possible moves on the part of the opponent.
Children are naturally drawn to mysteries and solving them requires that they use deductive reasoning and the process of elimination. Mystery Net offers a series of online mysteries for young children to solve. Another option is to read mysteries to the class that are geared to the students and discuss them, either in groups or as a class. Have the children attempt a solution, supporting it with facts from the story. Some mystery series that are written for children include the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and the Encyclopedia Brown series.