Raising a curious child: questions and experiments at home

Why curiosity is worth protecting

Every young child asks why. Why is the sky blue? Why does the moon follow us? Where does the water go when the tap is closed? Somewhere in the school years, many children stop asking, often because questions were brushed aside, because answers came as lectures or because the exam cared only for the right answer. A curious child learns more, enjoys learning and keeps going when work gets hard.

You do not need to be a scientist to raise a curious child. You need a few habits: welcome the question, share the wondering and then find out together.

How to answer a why question

Our "questions kids ask" page has fifty short, correct answers to common why questions, for the days when you want a clear answer fast.

1. Say "good question" and mean it. Show you are interested.
2. Ask, "What do you think?" Children often have an idea, and their guess tells you what they know.
3. If you know a short, correct answer, give it in simple words, with an example.
4. If you do not know, say so, and say "let us find out". Look in a book, ask someone or try a small test.
5. Come back to it later: "Do you remember why we said the moon looks bigger near the horizon?"

Turn questions into experiments

A good experiment answers a question with something you can see. Ask: what do you think will happen? what shall we change? what shall we keep the same? how will we know? The ideas below use only household items and show that science is about testing, not only memorising.

• Which kind of paper towel soaks the most water? Measure with a cup and compare.
• Does a heavier object fall faster? Drop a ball and a sheet of paper, then a crumpled sheet of paper.
• Which salt or sugar dissolves faster in cold and hot water?
• Do plants grow towards light? Try the plant maze in our free project guides.
• Which material makes the best insulator for keeping water warm: cloth, paper or foil?
• Can you make a pinhole camera and see an upside-down picture of a window?

Keep a question notebook

Give your child a small notebook for questions. Write the date and the question. When you find the answer, write it down in a sentence or draw it. At the end of the month, read back and enjoy how many things you have found out. This also gives your child a ready list for a school project, because the best project ideas begin as a question.

Nature is the best laboratory

Go outside. Watch ants carrying food, clouds moving, shadows lengthening, a puddle drying, a seed sprouting on a wet cloth. Collect leaves and sort them by shape. Look at the stars with a simple star chart. Plant a bean in a small pot and measure it every day. Observation is the first skill of a scientist, and it costs nothing.

Do not rescue too soon

When a child is stuck on a puzzle or an experiment, resist the urge to take over. Say "what could you try next?" Let them struggle a little, and celebrate when they work it out. When an experiment fails, celebrate that too: "wow, that did not work, why do you think that happened?" Failure is how scientists learn.

Safety and limits

Keep experiments safe. Use only small amounts of kitchen items, no flames, no mains electricity and no mixing of cleaning products. Read our article on keeping a home science project safe, and stay nearby. It is fine to say "that one is not safe for now; let us ask your teacher". Respect the answer "I do not know" from a teacher as well, since it often leads to a good search.

Keep it going through the school years

As children grow, the questions change, from "why is grass green?" to "how does a phone work?" and "what is inflation?" Keep asking too. Share interesting news, take your child to a library, a museum or an exhibition, and encourage them to join a science club, or to start one. The point is not to produce a scientist but to raise a person who wonders, tests ideas and stays open to learning for life.