How to encourage curiosity in your kid, even though you can't stand the question "But, why?"

Parenting, at the crux of it, is a process of learning to live comfortably in cognitive dissonance.

I mean, it’s about unconditional love and devotion and joy and all of that as well. But, it’s also about settling into cognitive dissonance and making yourself at home.

In fact, literally as I type these words I’m enjoying a precious moment with my five-year-old whose head is pretty well in between my eyes and my monitor as he asks what I’m doing, what I’m typing and can I please use more ‘W’s because that’s his favourite letter and how do I think they made his hat. It’s a nice moment, but dear God, when will it end?

William is a curious child, a trait I enjoy as much as it frustrates me. But I found that once I had accepted the question, “But, why?” as a never ending part of my life, I found that curiosity is quite a delightful thing in a child.

So, I’m trying to encourage it.

Here’s how;

Hide and Seek.

Hide and Seek is a great game to play with kids, even the really little ones. It encourages them to look at a space differently, to think about what is under something, beside something. What could be behind that closed door? These questions are the first steps to developing an enquiring mind.

There are other benefits to Hide and Seek though. Firstly, kids love it and you’ll get to hear the delicious sound of their sneaky giggles (there’s nothing cuter, amiright?) Secondly, if you take your phone with you while you hide, there’s every chance of a quite five minutes or so to yourself to scroll Instagram while the kids are looking for you.

Word to the wise; UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you allow yourself to fall into the trap of being the seeker.

Hide and Seek encourages them to look at a space differently, to think about what is under something, beside something. Image: iStock.

Resist giving your child the solution to the problem.

There are exceptions to this rule, I'm the first to admit. But for the most part it's really important to let kids find their own solutions to problems, from the structural integrity of a blanket fort to figuring out the best way to tackle their Minecraft build. When you give a child the solution, you take away their opportunity think creatively. When you let a child think for themselves about what would work and what wouldn't, you are actually letting them engage in a process of trial and error; to think, would this work or would that work?

There are also benefits for parents to this approach. While you're still involved in what your children are doing, you're involved from the sidelines. Hopefully with a coffee in your hand.

Look for toys that cultivate curiosity.

There are some fantastic toys in the market that use a range of features to encourage curiosity in a child. I’ve always been a fan of Fisher-Price toys because of their quality and the way they’ve managed to keep my kids stimulated and entertained. Their new interactive Laugh and Learn Greetings Globe encourages kids to press buttons, flip pages, spin the globe for fun phrases and sing-along songs to learn about new places around the world.

It also helps teach them greetings in other languages, colours, animals, modes of transportation, music and continents. There are over 100 sounds, song, tunes and phrases, so kids will get a real kick out of getting playing with it and discovering something new every time.

"It also helps teach them greetings in other languages, colours, animals, modes of transportation, music and continents." Images: supplied.

Show your kids that learning is fun.

Just like good manners and respect, the best way to teach kids to explore and learn new things is to model that behaviour. Read books, go on adventures, tell your kids about the new and interesting stuff you find out.

And then, ask your kids questions. Ask them about their day, what they think of things, what tickles their fancy.

And then after that, (and I'm super sorry to do this to you, but I'm with you here) encourage your child to ask questions themselves. Groan internally, slap on your smile and answer the questions as best you can.

Quick tip: there's an exception here. If you child can read and they ask you something that they could find out the answer for themselves, then see point two. Resist solving a problem for your child.

How do you foster curiosity? 

Did you know Mamamia has a parenting podcast? Listen to the latest episode of This Glorious Mess here: