Embodied cognition, as an important theory in the field of cognitive science, provides a new research perspective for explaining the development mechanisms and development processes of higher-order thinking from the physical level. It is of great significance for optimizing teaching concepts and practical applications aimed at the development of higher-order thinking. Therefore, this paper summarized that the main factors influencing the development of higher-order thinking mainly include three aspects: problem context, conceptual structure, and embodied learning environment, by analyzing the connotations of higher-order thinking, the embodied cognition theory and its impact on higher-order thinking. Based on this, the paper constructed a development mechanism of higher-order thinking from the perspective of embodied cognition, which was formed through the interaction layer of subject embodiment acting on the development layer of higher-order thinking. Further, extending from the cross-modal information processing activities in this mechanism, the development process of higher-order thinking was determined as “perceptual experience→ conceptual metaphor→ reflective argumentation→ conceptual transfer”. Finally, based on the development mechanism of higher-order thinking from the perspective of embodied cognition, this paper proposed teaching suggestions for promoting the development of higher-order thinking, in order to provide references for reasonably optimizing educational and teaching methods and effectively cultivating learners’ higher-order thinking.