Young children are naturally curious. They want to know why the moon follows the car, how birds know where to fly, why some things float and others sink, and what would happen if they mixed every color of paint together.
Sometimes their questions delight us, and sometimes the constant stream of “why?” can be exhausting. Yet curiosity is one of the most valuable qualities we can nurture in our children. It encourages them to explore, ask questions, try new things, and seek out information on their own.
The good news is that parents don’t have to create curiosity. Children already come into the world wanting to understand how things work. Our job is mostly to protect that natural desire to learn.
Don’t Be Too Quick to Give the Answer
When a child asks a question, our instinct is often to answer immediately.
“Why do leaves change color?”
“How do airplanes stay in the sky?”
“Why does ice float?”
Sometimes we know the answer, and sometimes we don’t. Either way, we can resist becoming the encyclopedia. We can respond with, “What do you think?” or, “That’s interesting. How could we find out?”
If we don’t know the answer, we can say so. “I don’t know. Let’s see if we can figure it out.” This teaches children that not knowing isn’t embarrassing. It is simply the beginning of learning.
Children also benefit from becoming comfortable with a little uncertainty. They don’t always need an immediate answer. Wondering, guessing, and thinking can be just as important as finding the correct answer.
Let Your Child See You Being Curious
Children learn from what we model. If we want them to be interested in learning, it helps for them to see that we are interested in learning too.
We can wonder aloud. “I wonder why those birds are all flying in that direction.” We can show genuine interest when our children teach us something. “I didn’t know giraffes could grow that tall. That’s fascinating.”
When children hear us respond this way, they learn that learning doesn’t end when school ends.
Judaism has always placed tremendous value on questions. Jewish learning is filled with asking, discussing, challenging, and looking at an idea from different directions. We don’t want children to believe that a good student is only someone who knows the right answer. A good learner also knows how to ask a good question.
Follow Their Interests
Parents sometimes have a very specific picture of what learning should look like. We may want children reading certain books or learning information we think is important.
But curiosity often begins somewhere else.
One child may become fascinated by dinosaurs, another by baking, insects, maps, baseball statistics, or how elevators work. A teenager may suddenly become interested in photography, fashion design, history, or economics.
We don’t have to decide whether the interest is “educational enough.” The fact that they want to know more is valuable.
If your child checks out five library books about sharks, let him. If your daughter wants to know why bread rises, help her experiment in the kitchen. If your teenager becomes interested in something you know very little about, ask her what she is discovering.
The subject matters less than the habit being developed: Something interests me, so I want to learn more about it.
Make Room for Exploration
Curiosity also needs a little space. When every minute of a child’s day is scheduled or entertained by an adult, there isn’t much opportunity to wonder what to do next.
Boredom isn’t always a problem we have to fix. A child who isn’t immediately entertained may eventually build something, draw, read, invent a game, explore outside, or start asking questions.
We can also create simple opportunities for discovery. Young children can experiment with which toys float in the bathtub. You can plant a seed and watch what happens. Take the same walk twice and ask what looks different. Give children building materials and let them figure out several ways to use them.
The goal isn’t to create the perfect educational activity. It is to give children practice wondering, experimenting, and discovering.
The next time your child asks a question you can’t answer, you don’t have to feel stumped. You can say, “I don’t know. How could we find out?” With that simple response, we show our children that not knowing isn’t the end of learning. Very often, it’s where learning begins.
Submit your questions
"*" indicates required fields
