5 Ways To Encourage Curiosity In Children

Curiosity is a highly underrated aspect of our personalities, and though it’s usually naturally strong in children, it tends to fade away as we get older. One of the goals of parenting should be to raise inquisitive and curious children who don’t lose these personality features as they reach adulthood. Want to know how to encourage curiosity in your children? Here are five proven ways.

Model Curiosity

Your children are always watching and listening to everyone around them to see how things should be done. Since they are around you more than anyone else, you are their primary role model. Do you express your curiosity about how things work or why things are the way they are? Do you ask a lot of questions and then work hard to find the answers? Curious adults raise curious children.

Introduce Novelty

Your children may want to eat chicken nuggets every night for dinner, but giving in to a routine in order to make things easier is not conducive to curiosity. When you switch up routines or schedules, you encourage questions and inquisitiveness. Encourage your children to think about the changes and whether or not they like them.

Encourage Questions

The endless questions that children ask can be exhausting, but don’t be tempted to shut them down. Children learn through asking questions. If you answer their questions and encourage them to continue asking, you’ll show your children that their curiosity is welcome. You can also encourage them to ask questions of others, especially those they can learn from. For instance, when you take your children to the doctor, encourage them to ask their pediatrician any questions about their health. If your children play sports, encourage them to ask their coach how they can improve.

Don’t Set Too Many Parameters

You may think that your children should wear clothes that match or use the blue crayon to color Cinderella’s dress, but micromanagement is a curiosity-killer. You need to keep your children safe, yes, but you shouldn’t worry too much if they aren’t doing everything by the book or the way you would do it. Letting kids play and create in the way they want is a way to ignite curiosity and creativity.

Show Them How Mistakes Are Positive

Children need to learn that mistakes are great learning opportunities and the easiest way to get better at something. When your children make a mistake, celebrate it instead of making them feel bad about it. Encourage them to think about why the results weren’t what they wanted and how they can do things differently next time. You also should model the same behavior with your own mistakes. If you beat yourself up over something you did wrong, your kids will get the message that mistakes are to be avoided at all costs.

Curious children are more intelligent and better able to handle whatever the world throws at them. Use these five tips to model the right behavior and encourage their curiosity.