Kids

Test-Taking Skills: The Life Skill Helps Kids Succeed In School And In The Future

by Kevyn Gohu
February 18, 2025

Test-taking skills serve as a foundation for our kids’ problem-solving skills, going beyond concepts and memorization.

When we went to school, we always had this one classmate who aced all the exams without studying. Frustrating as it was, their trade secret wasn’t because they had a good memory. Rather, it was because they knew how the test worked. Essays, multiple choice, identification, and fill-in-the-blanks are some of the most common test types that would eventually build Test-Taking skills — the foundation for problem-solving.

Test-Taking Skills: Where did the concept come from?

Nobody believed that test-taking skills could be a thing until there was a heated debate on how useful and robust standardized tests were. Sure, they were useful in 1st century China to test many aspiring government employees (Chu, 2019; Himelfarb, 2019). But those were the days when knowledge was far simpler. Today, because topics are more complex, even we’re struggling to teach and perfect those tests ourselves.

But that doesn’t mean tests don’t have a use. They still do as a building block to developing problem-solving skills in kids (Benjamin and Pashler, 2015; Ardoin, Binder, Novelli, and Robertson, 2024). A test, in a kid’s eyes, is a problem. It stops them from having fun and there’s no way around it, which means they can only solve it. Some figure it out, others “brute force” the problem, and others think of clever ways around it.

So what do these tests build up in the end? They build up the stamina and the experience kids can rely on when solving real-life problems.

What About The Kids Who Are So Good At Taking Tests?

Ever wonder how some kids just get so good at taking tests? The first thing we have to point out is they all have certain traits: a willingness to sit down and break down the problem piece by piece, an unwavering focus until the problem is solved, frustration when told to “walk away” from the problem, and the quirk of getting high whenever they see an opportunity to “break” or “bend” the problem in whatever way they can imagine (Niu, Niemi, and Furman, 2022).

These attitudes may make them terrible at memorizing concepts and theories. But when it comes to solving problems or quick thinking, they’re one of the best at it.

Besides attitude, there’s a phenomenon known as the Practice Effect — a term coined by Edwina Abbott in 1909 that describes a person’s ability to figure out tests so long as it had similar mechanics (Woelfle, Pless, Wiencierz, Kappos, Naegelin, & Lorscheider, 2021; Malavanti, 2024). Because these kids enjoy problems so much, they probably engage in puzzles, video games with puzzle mechanics, or even increase the difficulty on purpose to enjoy things. Their constant practice then becomes the foundation for their test-taking skills.

Toys That Help Develop Test-Taking Skills In Kids

We want our kids to succeed in school but don’t want to keep making them take tests. Here are some ways we can help build that:

1. Jigsaw Puzzles

The classic 100-pc to 1000-pc jigsaw puzzle never fails. Considering that we’re not just building a picture but also figuring out which parts fit, it won’t just keep the kids away from the screen but encourage the joy of building things. Eventually, that’ll move up to something like model kits which might need more tools since they have sharp edges and paint.

2. Chess

Chess can be played online or offline but the fun part is when they challenge someone older and more learned than them. Sure, the odds are not in their favor. But teaching them “how to lose” is where they become more determined to learn more ways to approach a problem.

3. Brain teaser puzzles

They may look like little fidget toys but some of these are cognitive puzzles. They usually come with a manual with a given design and shape the player has to abide by and build it, given the pieces. There’s no way to adjust the pieces so, that challenges our kids to develop a sense of resourcefulness which is essential for test-taking skills.

4. Video Games

Some video games can actually encourage test-taking and problem-solving in kids. Video games aren’t just violence; some have mini-games within the main story that challenge the players to figure out the problem. They sometimes get cool rewards at the end too!

Test-Taking Skills: It’s not easily measured

Unfortunately, many often mistake one’s ability to take the test as a form of intelligence when in reality, it only covers a small part of it. Sure, grades are important as they represent how well we know the subject matter. However, standardized tests only fit a particular guideline, hence the term. So if our kids didn’t do too well on a test, be disappointed but don’t make them feel it’s the only thing that matters.

References

Ardoin, S. P., Binder, K. S., Novelli, C., & Robertson, P. L. (2024). School psychology.

Benjamin, A. S., & Pashler, H. (2015). The value of standardized testing: A perspective from cognitive psychology. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2(1), 13-23.

Chang, P. Y. (2024). Struggling with exactitude in a fragmented state: Intelligence testing in early twentieth-century China. History of Science, 00732753241235432.

Chu, S. (2019). Ambiguous Objectivity: The Standardized Test Movement (1920–1937) and the Remaking of Chinese Examination Discourse. Twentieth-Century China, 44(3), 345-361.

Himelfarb, I. (2019). A primer on standardized testing: History, measurement, classical test theory, item response theory, and equating. Journal of Chiropractic Education, 33(2), 151-163.

Malavanti, K. (2024). Long-Term Memory. Cognition.

Niu, S. J., Niemi, H., & Furman, B. (2022). Supporting K-12 Students to Learn Social-Emotional and Self-Management Skills for Their Sustainable Growth with the Solution-Focused Kids’ Skills Method. Sustainability, 14(13), 7947.

Woelfle, T., Pless, S., Wiencierz, A., Kappos, L., Naegelin, Y., & Lorscheider, J. (2021). Practice effects of mobile tests of cognition, dexterity, and mobility on patients with multiple sclerosis: data analysis of a smartphone-based observational study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(11), e30394.