Certainly, critical and creative thinking are considered high order thinking skills as children age and attend formal school.
However, what is not realized, is that critical and creative thinking skill begin in the early years, even before kids are sent to school.
Kids who are identified as emergent learners are likewise identified as critical and creative thinker.
Smith (1990) simply referred to critical thinking as the manner in which thinking is done merely as an approach to thinking in the same sense that thinking impulsively or seriously as an approach which can be practiced and learned.