Lateral Thinking Approach

Using lateral thinking method is needed when the problem cannot be resolved using logical or rule. Most of the math questions are based on formulas but there will be cases some problem does not apply conventional way instead it require 'out-of-box' creative imagination to resolve the problem which is not obvious.

One of the example is to cut a cake into 8 equal parts using 3 cuts only.

Using convention thinking, you will need 4 cuts to get 8 equal parts. That is because we tend to see at 2 dimension. But if you see at different angle, we can think divergently, we can cut the cake twice at the top and then across from the side of the cake to get the 8 equal parts with only 3 cuts.

Well, we can train kid to use lateral thinking by giving questions need not to be figure-oriented. Take for example

2 brothers wish to marry a beautiful lady, she decided to have them compete in a horse race. This is an unusual horse race, however, as she specifies that the one with the slower horse will marry her. So, the two brothers proceed very slowly, and a few days later have made very little progress. They come across a wise man. The wise man speaks two words to them, after which the brothers jump on the horses and race as fast as they can. What did the wise man say?

Well, this is not a math question. One might think there is no way the brothers will go for the race. The answer is that the wise man told them "Switch horses!".