Children are natural explorers. Even when they look like they’re just messing around, their minds are at work trying to understand how different materials work and interact with one another. Curiosity is essential for their learning and development and this post shares guidance from EYFS teachers on how to raise an inquisitive child.
Nurture Their Curiosity
The most important thing is that you nurture their curiosity. Children are born curious. From the moment that they can, they will try to grab, touch and taste what they see. This is their way of trying to make sense of the wider world. As they become a little older, they will become more explorative and start experimenting. They will knock things over and pour contents out just to see what happens. While it may make a mess and at times be annoying, it is a vital part of their learning and development.
Never Lie
Once your child’s able to talk they will begin to ask questions, some of which you will not know the answers to – like why the sky’s blue. While you may not know the answer, you should avoid lying and making your own assumptions. Parents don’t always have the answers and that’s okay. Lying will only confuse them later down the line when they learn the truth. They may even start to doubt you which can affect your relationship with them. It also deprives them of the opportunity to actually go and find the right answer for themselves. You could turn this into a joint effort where you research together and share what you’ve learned.
Look for Inspiration
If you want to help your child be more inquisitive, look for inspiration and ways to switch their thinking cap on. That might be to take them out on a field trip to the zoo, farm, or museum where they can marvel at the beauty in the world around them.
Ask Your Child Questions
It’s also a good idea to start posing questions to your child if they’re not asking them already. It will give them different perspectives and encourage them to think the same and start questioning what they see. You may even decide to turn this into a task by sending them off with questions to answer. This will help guide their curiosity and build their research skills.
Space Exploration
Space is a fascinating topic for children to explore. Whilst we’re a part of it and have made numerous discoveries, there is so much that we still don’t know. It’s also a great way to put things into perspective – we’re like a speck of dust in comparison to the rest of the world.
Outdoor Learning
There are dozens of things that you can explore with your child from the comfort of your own home. How food can change from a solid to liquid, to how plants grow. The outdoors presents unlimited possibilities for what your child can learn and discover. It also has tremendous physical and mental health benefits. Just spending time to take it all in will help them to feel happier, calmer and improve their overall mental health.
These are just a few of the ways in which you can help your child with their curiosity. There are far more areas of learning that you can explore. The great thing about the brain is that as we learn and use our memory, it becomes stronger so all of these activities will help your child immensely.
I hope that you enjoyed reading. For more posts like this, stay tuned and feel free to take a look at my blog.
Thank you for reading.
