By 18 months, children are voracious and omnivorous in their pursuit of information; they inquire all day long, as many parents will testify. Toddlers work their way through a room like a wrecking team, driven by curiosity, all in the service of finding out about every new object, event or person they encounter.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost children aged 3 or 4 ask a question a minute and even the least inquisitive ask one every two or three minutes.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nGradually, more of life becomes familiar. They know about breakfast, the trip to day care, the grocery store. That familiarity lets them engage in everyday activities and play. As everyday life becomes less worthy of exploration, children\u2019s curiosity turns to new mysteries. There are still many questions to be asked.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Questions are tools of curiosity\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\nA child\u2019s approach to investigation is sometimes referred to as \u201ctaste, twist and rattle\u201d. However, children also want to know about the non-physical world, things they can\u2019t touch and feel. Asking questions helps them find out more about the unseen world.<\/p>\n
They want to know what happens at the end of the sky, what happens when people die, or why we sit down when we eat dinner. In one of my studies, a curious child asked his mother: \u201cWhy are green things sometimes called lettuce and sometimes called spinach?\u201d Most children aged three or four ask a question a minute, and even the least curious ask one every two or three minutes. Some of these questions are about the natural world, but many are about culture and the practices of community and family.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Curiosity is at risk as children grow older<\/span><\/h2>\nMany of the skills we want children to develop must be instilled. We try to teach them how to do algebra, use self-control, and put other people\u2019s needs ahead of their own. We tend to assume that children won\u2019t develop these skills spontaneously, that they need help acquiring them. In this sense, curiosity is unique, because babies and young children already have it in abundance. The problem is that they may lose it as they grow older or in certain contexts \u2013 notably at school.<\/p>\n
So how do we help children hold onto their natural curiosity? Just as important, what can we do to help them become more persistent, penetrating and adept at solving the mysteries of everyday life?<\/p>\n
<\/span>How to support curiosity<\/span><\/h2>\nParents can do at least three things to encourage children\u2019s curiosity. First, provide satisfying answers to their inquiries. Children\u2019s questions are sensitive to the answers they receive. If you give them a satisfying answer, they will ask deeper or more refined questions. If a response is unsatisfying, they will continue asking the same question, but, over time, they might stop asking.<\/p>\n
We know from studies of curiosity that children who ask a lot of questions and receive satisfying answers are the ones who go on asking questions. Families where questions are encouraged are families where a lot of talking and knowledge seeking takes place.<\/p>\n
We also know that the least curious children are the ones most vulnerable to an uninterested response or blank stare from an adult. It means, for example, that the children who come to school with a lower overall level of curiosity are the ones who most need to be encouraged to inquire.<\/p>\n
Second, demonstrate your own curiosity \u2014 ask questions, look things up, investigate. In my research, we have seen that children are profoundly affected by adults who ask a lot of questions themselves, copying their linguistic habits. Children who ask a lot of questions typically have parents who do the same.<\/p>\n
For example, imagine a child who asks: \u201cWhy does ice melt?\u201d A perfectly satisfying answer might be: \u201cI think it melts when the temperature gets high.\u201d But a parent can go further than this in response to curiosity, which brings me to my third suggestion: be ready to follow a set of questions (your own and your child\u2019s) that lead in an unknown direction. Enjoy the experience of speculating, not knowing something, and the expectation that you can find the answer.<\/p>\n
A parent could model and extend the ice melting discussion by saying: \u201cI wonder what will happen if I hold the ice in my hand?\u201d Or you might say: \u201cLet\u2019s use a timer and see how long the ice takes to melt.\u201d Here, the parent is both modelling curiosity and engaging the child in an extended pursuit of knowledge by opening more doors.<\/p>\n