The purpose of this study was to explore how third grade students experience challenging tasks. The study utilized a phenomenological approach to allow the researcher to understand lived experiences of the participants. Grade three was chosen because it is a pivotal year in education in which students move from learning skills to using skills for learning. It is at this level that students are expected to begin working independently with higher-level thinking skills such as making inferences and creating arguments based on gathered information. The study was designed to understand student encounters with learning experiences through the central research question: What is it like for third grade students to experience an ambiguous task that requires critical and creative thinking? To delve deeper into this, question the following sub-questions were explored to develop an understanding of the participants' experiences: 1. What does it mean to think critically, creatively, and deeply? 2. What is involved in the process of thinking and working through an ambiguous task? The findings in this study showed that explicit teachings in the areas of Growth Mindset, Grit, and 21st Century Skills are molding student thought processes and behavior at the elementary level to be able to engage in higher level thinking ambiguous tasks. The process to access these skill sets means exposing students to scaffolded activities that allow students opportunities to think critically and creatively. These findings transgress into the research that continuously identifies purposeful implementation of growth mindset, grit, mindfulness, self-regulation, etc. This study, at the micro-level, explored the experiences of students thinking through ambiguous, complex tasks valuing the expressed reflections. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]