Museum objects can be the springboard for exercising critical thinking. There are four main thought processes associated with critical thinking: (1) fluent thinking, the ability to produce many ideas; (2) flexible thinking, the ability to view something in different ways; (3) original thinking, the ability to produce unique ideas; and (4) elaborative thinking, the ability to embellish. Educators working to develop problem-solving abilities must encourage students to search for and evaluate alternatives using these thought processes. Museums make excellent environments in which to allow for productive mental play. For example, museum objects can be examined and contemplated for the number of things they can tell us (fluency), other possible ways that this expression could be communicated (flexibility), the way in which someone might have chosen to communicate the same thing (originality), or the many details that the object includes which can tell us more than might have been perceived at first glance (elaborative). Also included are a discussion of the types of objectives covered by each of the six levels of the cognitive domain and an art critic learning activity. (RM)