Curiosity drives kids to learn new things, boosting their educational process. It pushes them to use a creative and critical thinking mindset in search of their answers. With curiosity, a child learns how the world works.
Some kids are naturally curious. They want to know about everything that goes around in the world, which is a good thing! They are actively looking for ways to feed their curious minds. In contrast, some kids haven’t yet developed this instinct. As a parent, it is your role to identify this problem and cultivate curiosity in them.
To initiate the process of cultivating curiosity in your child, we have a list of seven exciting ways to awaken their curiosity that will boost their creative thinking and help you raise a successful kid.
1. Ask Open-ended Questions
Using open-ended questions like why, when, what, where, who and how has many benefits. It encourages children to think beyond the obvious of as many possibilities as possible. It also allows kids to include more information, feelings, attitudes, and understanding of the topic. It provides them with the opportunity to explain or describe something. This develops their vocabulary, speech, and language skills.
2. Independent Thinking
When your child asks you a question, do not answer directly. Ask for their thoughts first. Even you can ask questions. It will boost their thinking skills in the search for an answer.
3. Open-Ended Stories
Reading stories to your child before bedtime is a good habit. You can skip the monotonous routine of reading the same stories to them by making it fun. To add fun, you can narrate stories with open ends. Open ends leave your child to use their imagination to finish the story.
Another way to get their creative juices flowing is by helping them develop their own imaginative stories by coming up with titles, storylines, and the ending.
4. Observe Their Interests
Everyone has different interests, and when we are interested in something, it binds us to learn more about it. As parents, notice what your child’s interests are. Focus on their likes and dislikes and encourage them to do activities related to their interests.
Encourage developing their knowledge about it. This will pique their curiosity and push them to learn more about the topic.
5. Look Out for a Teachable Moment
Notice when your child is confused or in need of your help. Take this as a teaching opportunity and help them solve it by sparking the desire to find answers. When they have to search for answers, it will raise their curiosity.
6. Encourage Them to Ask Questions
Encourage your child to ask more questions because questions will lead to curiosity. When your child asks you about something, explain it to them, and if it further interests them, their curiosity will pique, and they will ask more questions.
When you encourage more questions, you increase their curiosity about the subject. This happens because when your child knows nothing about a topic, they won’t be curious about it, but their interest will peak as soon as they know a little about something.
By allowing your child to be curious, you teach them to be confident. By exploring the answers to their queries, they also see the world and learn the value of experience.
So get outdoors with your child, explore and learn about the world. Give them opportunities to get curious as it opens doors that lead to new and exciting learning adventures.
Guest Blogger: Samidha Raj works as part of the content marketing team at PlanetSpark, a platform that provides online classes to K8 learners on “New Age Skills” such as English Communication, Public Speaking, Grammar, Creative Writing, Debating, etc. She is passionate about empowering the youth by educating parents about the importance of 21st-century skills. In her free time, you can find her watching documentaries or animated movies and organizing game nights (board games are her thing)!
