Parents always complain about their toddlers, who keep destroying everything at home, to know what is inside, or about their young children who keep wondering and repeating the same questions over and over again. It could be annoying for anybody; the truth is, however, as children question, wonder, and explore, they actually learn.
Encouraging your children’s natural curiosity and passion about learning helps them grow, explore the world they live in, and develop a scientific mind. While your toddlers turn the light of the room on and off over and over again, they learn about cause and effect. Pouring liquids into different-shaped containers, over their clothes and over rugs means that your children are learning about mass and volume. Thus, you need to foster your children’s curiosity and support them to develop appreciation and love of science.
The Cycle of Curiosity
Children’s world is composed of incalculable new things to discover. Since birth, they are curious about this new world they are experiencing for the very first time. They learn new words, meet new people, visit new places, and play new games; more often than not, they use their senses to explore their world. A curious child will continue to explore and discover for the pleasure it provides. Pleasure and joy of exploration forces the child positively to repeat his/her exploration every day. Repetition leads to mastering new concepts that provide the child more confidence, which in turn increases the child’s willingness to be more curious.
Throughout that positive cycle of curiosity, children grow and learn every day. Scientific research has proven that children who often wonder and explore their surrounding world progress better in their studies and relationships, as well as their work as they grow older, and become more intelligent, creative, and satisfied people.
How to Encourage Curiosity?
Encourage your children’s curiosity by teaching them to be flexible thinkers and doers; teach them to view the world from different perspectives. For example, instead of teaching them a certain technique for playing puzzle or LEGO, show them that what is important is having an output through putting the pieces together, but there is no single way to do this right. Show them final outputs of the combined pieces and let them unleash their imagination by making different combinations and watch their own results.
Providing your children with an environment that supports their autonomy and make personal choices encourages curiosity. Try to involve your children in various activities of their interest and give them challenges to push their skills to the limit; alternatively, your children would be prey of boredom and worry. If you need your children to get involved in a certain activity, provide them with the rationale for its benefit and importance to them, rather than pressing them to do it, as they would likely rebel against your control. Attempt to identify your children’s interests, be responsive to what they care about, and help them locate a meaningful connection to their activities to evade boredom and flourish their curiosity.
“Parents must have the courage to say Yes” says Todd Kashdan, Clinical Psychologist and Professor of Psychology at George Mason University. You need to help your child feel competent; otherwise, they would flee rather than explore. Parents need not only focus their children’s attention on what is only mysterious or uncertain in their surrounding world. They should allow more time also for playing, which is free of constraints and the fear of failure and errors, beside praising their actions and providing them with constructive feedback.
Try to select new activities for your child, or make fine adjustments to their beloved ones. For example, if your child loves cooking, do not restrict him/her to a certain recipe; allow them to become more creative with the ingredients. You may also play music they appreciate in the background and invite their friends to join. Your child will never forget that new experience, be open to new experiences, and feel more comfortable to their curious nature.
Children need to feel secure and have a support system to help them act on curiosity and experiment new things. A secure child would tend to feel more comfortable and excited, would explore and ask dozens of questions. Curiosity arises from the safe and the familiar; thus, supporting your child’s exploration lets them be themselves and make them more curious to pursue more activities with greater enthusiasm.
When you share with your children their interests, and listen to them, be responsive to their past experiences, and be part of their future plans; they would feel more comfortable. Moreover, accepting all your children’s positive and negative feelings help them do the same, and in turn enhance their curiosity and strengthen your relationship.
The Do’s and Don’ts
You can go on nature walks and ask about your child’s opinion in animal footprints, different types of plants, or even look for bugs. You can also try one or more experiments in the kitchen. Look around the house and try different experiments that amaze your child and trigger their curiosity. You can watch different items floating and sinking in water, or build a volcano from baking soda and vinegar.
You can also observe the weather everyday together; ask your child to write a journal about it and take pictures of it. Ask your child to review his/her journal and write their own notes about the changes he/she witnesses. You can also check the weather worldwide and compare it to the weather in your own town.
Try to go on fieldtrips together, by visiting the zoo or a science museum; these places are designed to trigger visitor’s curiosity. You may also try to grow a plant together and watch its growth everyday as he/she grows too. Such experiences will be imprinted in your child’s mind forever.
Several parents would notice curiosity fading in their children. This phenomenon could be noted in making fewer new friends, joining fewer social groups, reading fewer books, and losing interest in new experiences. These signs are a serious alert for parents; as the saying goes “curiosity dimmed is a future denied”. The less curious your children are, the harder you can teach them, because you will find difficulty in inspiring and motivating them.
When children are afraid, they will seek the familiar and stay in their comfort zone. Fear kills children’s curiosity; they will be afraid of novelty and will be unwilling to explore new things. Fear could result from family distress, violence, war, or natural disasters, which all crush the enthusiastic exploration of a curious child.
Absence is another major factor that hinders exploration. The absence of a caring adult kills the sense of safety that helps the child discover new things, as well as the pleasure of sharing their discovery and feeling that someone is supporting them. On the other hand, adults’ continuous disapproval also constrains child’s exploration of the world. Children respond to our fears and attitudes; thus, a repeated “Don’t”, or an expression of disgust towards mud on their shoes for example, will diminish their curious nature and joy of getting in touch with nature in your house garden or your next family trip.
Millions Saw the Apple Fall, but Newton Asked Why
Nobody can feel good all the time; the same is true for children. However, you can keep your children open-minded, curious, and profoundly aware of their surrounding world. Training your children to live a meaningful life and become more curious explorers will be the seeds of building their personalities and having their own story of life.
Parenting, on the other hand, does not have a right and wrong manual; yet, it is a difficult task. As you raise your child, read more and remember that you are both liable to trial and error. Having that mindset will help you acquire happiness and wisdom, and above all, understand the true meaning of a good life.
References
“Becoming a Mad Scientist with your Life” Todd Kashdan at TEDxUtrecht
Bernard Baruch, Newton proverb
wikihow.com
teacher.scholastic.com
huffingtonpost.com
scholastic.com
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