January 29, 2020
The world, with its many people, places, ideas, cultures, animals, plants and things, is a feast for our curious eyes. If we adults are always searching for answers to our questions about the situations we live in, imagine how stimulated children are, who are still learning about and trying to understand the world they live in!
One of the most effective ways to learn about something that sparks our interest is to ask people who have more knowledge about it. Those who spend more time with children have to deal with unexpected questions that are difficult to answer. At this point, many doubts may arise about what to say and how to do it.
Answer what you know and admit what you don't know
Choosing sincerity, offering some answers but also admitting what you don't know, teaches children that no one has ready answers for everything, but that we can use this as an opportunity to seek new knowledge.
Furthermore, not all of the questions children ask require long, in-depth answers. Often, a simple “yes” or “no,” without too many details or explanations, will satisfy the child’s needs at that moment.
They ask questions not only to explore an interest, but also to better understand what they feel and, sometimes, they need to repeat some questions over and over again.
There is also a very interesting function that emerges when children discover that questions have an effect on adults: the power to feel in control. Keeping a conversation going through a sequence of questions, interrupting a dialogue they are not part of, or even finding a way to draw attention to themselves (“Mommy, can I give you a kiss?”, “Look, Auntie, I ate everything, didn’t I?”) are some examples of this.
Answer or return the question to the child?
Questions carry fantasies, fears, intentions, theories, and it is very important that adults try to understand how they are awakened in children and what ideas they are constructing. To do this, often, instead of offering an immediate answer, we can ask the children the same question: “And what do you think about this?” or “Why does this arouse your curiosity?” Based on what they present to us, we can also decide the best way to respond and how far to go with our answer, trying to satisfy the curiosity of the moment and allow the children to continue thinking and investigating.
Stimulate curiosity
It is also up to adults to encourage children's curiosity through a variety of experiences with the world: moving around public spaces, allowing them to meet different people; ensuring that children have plenty of time in their routine for games, which sometimes become good research (such as observing the movement of animals and plants); encouraging them to follow the growth of a plant; handling sand and pebbles; walking barefoot on the grass; and so many other situations.
With babies, it is important to offer pieces of different fruits so that they can try their flavors or even offer the same food in different ways, such as an apple cut into small pieces, grated and cooked.
With older children, a trip to the library or consultation on internet pages can allow the observation of images or even the reading of information (something that can be done by the adult himself) on the most different topics, from curiosities about an animal to the appreciation of children living in different cultures, to name a few possibilities.
Diverse contexts allow children to observe, explore, question and talk about everything around them.
Explore and question at different ages
Up to 2 years
Babies explore the environment by observing people and animals, playing and putting objects in their mouths, pointing, noticing different tastes in food, feeling temperature changes with their feet or during bath time, experimenting with body movements and positions, among others.
Up to 4 years
At this stage, children begin to ask many questions about what they observe and experience. They develop ideas about how things work, what people and animals are like, and how they live. They gain greater autonomy in relation to their own bodies and movements: they jump, run, climb, etc.
Up to 6 years
Based on what they have observed and experienced so far, children gain a better understanding of the world around them and begin to ask more elaborate questions. They question relationships between people, the origin of things and other more complex subjects, such as death, the functioning of nature and society or birth. Through pretend play, they explore objects and invent different ways of using them, as well as experimenting with characters and roles. They become more aware of the way numbers and words are written and used in everyday life.
Let's look at some situations in which children explore, question and adults contribute to this?
