How to prepare for the CogAT in kindergarten

For most children, the kindergarten CogAT is the first test they have ever taken. Nothing on it needs reading, and nothing is timed, but the format is new: sitting with a test booklet or screen, listening to directions and choosing one picture. A little familiarity goes a long way at five. This guide explains what your child will see and how to practice without pressure.

Do districts test kindergartners?

Fewer districts test in kindergarten than in 2nd or 3rd grade. Of the 192 school districts we have researched in depth, 20 list the CogAT for kindergarten, mostly for children who are referred rather than for every child. Texas is different: the state plan says every kindergartner is considered for gifted identification, so many Texas districts assess kindergartners in some way. Check your own district on our district pages. Other tests are used too: see our guide to the gifted test for kindergarten.

What the kindergarten CogAT looks like

According to Riverside, the publisher, Levels 5/6 to 8 are made entirely of pictures, the subtests are untimed, and the teacher reads the Sentence Completion part aloud. Your child marks one answer picture for each question.

Verbal battery

• Picture analogies. Two pictures go together in some way. Your child finds the picture that goes with a third picture in the same way: a bird goes with a nest, so a bee goes with a hive.
• Sentence completion. The teacher reads a question aloud, such as "Which one swims in the ocean?", and your child picks the picture that answers it.
• Picture classification. Three pictures are alike. Your child picks the answer picture that belongs with them.

Quantitative battery

• Number analogies. Like picture analogies, but the link is about amounts: one more, the same number, some taken away.
• Number puzzles. Two trains must carry the same number of things. Your child picks the train car that makes it true.
• Number series. Strings of beads follow a pattern. Your child picks the string that comes next.

Nonverbal battery

• Figure matrices. A 2×2 grid of shapes has one empty box. The change across the top row happens again on the bottom row.
• Figure classification. Three shapes are alike in some way. Your child picks the one that is alike in the same way.
• Paper folding. A piece of paper is folded and usually cut. Your child picks how it looks when opened.

Our kindergarten CogAT page shows an example of each.

A plan for five-year-olds

Short and playful beats long and serious. Stop while your child is still enjoying it.

Weeks 1–2: play the ideas, not the test. Sort toys into groups, count snacks onto two plates until they match, make bead or sticker patterns, fold and snip paper. These build the same skills with no worksheets at all.

Weeks 3–4: meet the picture questions. Do two or three examples of each type together. Point and talk: "What's the same about these three?" The goal is that your child knows what each question is asking.

Weeks 5–6: practice listening and choosing. Read a question aloud once, let your child choose, then talk about why. Practice finishing one row before moving to the next.

If the test is sooner, skip to weeks 3–4. Even a week of short practice helps a child feel at home with the format.

Tips that work at this age

• Say it out loud. "A puppy grows into a dog, so a kitten grows into a…". Talking through the link is the skill.
• Count, then compare. For the trains, count what the first train carries, then what the second one has. The missing amount is the difference.
• Use real paper. Fold a sheet, snip a corner with safety scissors and open it. Kids learn paper folding far faster this way than from pictures.
• Practice listening to the whole question. Sentence completion questions are read aloud. Play "do what I say" games with instructions in two steps so your child waits for the end before pointing.
• Practice pointing to one answer. Some five-year-olds point at two pictures or talk through the answer. Practice choosing one and moving on.

What not to do

• Don't make it feel like a test. Children this age do best when it feels like a game.
• Don't drill the same questions. Memorizing answers does not carry over to new questions.
• Don't push through tears. Stop for the day and try again tomorrow.
• Don't change bedtime before test day. Sleep matters more than one more session. See our test-day checklist.

Free ways to practice

• Our puzzle activities build the same skills with things you already have at home.
• The free sample quiz shows CogAT®-style questions for kindergarten.
• Our printables include a free CogAT-style kindergarten pack to do on paper.
• A free readiness check shows which question types are new or harder for your child. It is a practice estimate, not a CogAT score.

After the test

Read CogAT scores explained to understand the report, including what a good score is in kindergarten, and check your district page for the score it uses.

CogAT® is a registered trademark of Riverside Assessments, LLC. NNAT® is a trademark of Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. OLSAT® is a registered trademark and Naglieri General Ability Tests™ a trademark of Multi-Health Systems Inc. (MHS). These owners are not affiliated with and do not endorse GiftedCub. Test names are used only to describe the formats our original practice material is designed to resemble.