Puzzle-time activities for home

These games build the same thinking skills as the tests (spotting patterns, comparing, picturing things in your head) and need nothing but things you already have.

At the dinner table

• Odd one out. Name four things; three belong together. "Apple, banana, carrot, grape: which one doesn't belong, and why?" Accept any answer your child can explain.
• Same and different. Pick two objects and take turns naming one way they're the same and one way they're different.
• What comes next? Clap or tap a pattern (clap, clap, tap) and let your child continue it, then make one up for you.

With paper

• Fold and snip. Fold a sheet in half, cut a small shape on the fold, and ask your child to guess what it looks like opened. Then open it together.
• Bead strings. Thread pasta or beads in a growing pattern (1, 2, 3…) and ask what the next string needs.

On the go

• Twenty questions with categories. "It's an animal that lives in the water…"
• Number trains. "I have 3 red cars and you have 1. How many more do you need to have the same as me?"

Keep it playful and short, and stop while your child still wants more.