Have kids use their observational skills to draw conclusions from photographs. Present kids with a variety of photos, ranging from landscapes to photos of people, animals and street scenes. Next, have them write down things they notice about the photo. For example, in a street scene, they may note what time of the day it looks like, or what season it appears to be. Hold a class discussion afterward, and have the students share their varying observations. This presents the different ways that multiple people perceive one photo and encourages students to examine things from different perspectives to find more.
Kids learn to draw conclusions based on facts with this group guessing game. Have students stand in a circle. Give one student a ball and have her describe someone, either a famous person, a character or even someone in the room. She should use descriptors like the color of the individual's hair and the person's personality traits. The other students then have to guess who she is talking about, based on the description. They work together to deduce the conclusion. The student who guesses the correct answer is passed the ball, and it is his turn to describe someone.
Reading lends itself very well to reasoning-related activities. Read a short story or paragraph to the students, then have them answer a list of questions pertaining to the material. The questions should inquire about things that were not explicitly stated in the piece, but that were made clear by other aspects. For example, if the main character was said to be wearing a raincoat, ask the children what the weather was like in the story. Discuss the answers as a group afterward, stating why each answer is true so the children get a handle on the process of drawing conclusions.
Students will enjoy the opportunity to look closer at a movie in order to draw conclusions. Bring a movie in and play the first five to 10 minutes for the students. Pause it at this point and have kids write down their observations. These observations include aspects of the main character's personality, what they think the main plot of the film will be, how they suspect any issues may be solved and a potential ending. All of this is based on things that they have noticed so far, pertaining to the movie's set up and development. Have them hand their answers over to you, so that you can go back and see who guessed correctly at the end of the movie. Have the winners state how they came to these conclusions based on what they saw.