You and Your Child’s Curiosity
When you are the parent, teacher, friend, playmate, chef, cleaner, safe space, healer, nurturer and the list goes on...thinking of new ways to nurture a child’s curiosity can sometimes feel overwhelming. As a parent, I know this feeling!
Being part of the Curious Agenda team has enabled me to delve into the world of curiosity and its benefits. Whilst this research is vast and far reaching, the one thing I am trying to adopt with my children is just the process of slowing down.
We are all born curious. We have an innate desire to learn how the world works. An infant and toddler will explore their new world through touch, taste, smell, climbing, poking something, watching, listening and more. As a parent we try to encourage this exploration in safe surroundings. We applaud it, take time for it, notice the small steps and celebrate how young children discover. As our children grow and life situations and routines change, taking the time to notice the ‘small things’ can sometimes take a back seat.
I know the feeling of overwhelm, when it comes to a weekend and the washing pile is sky high, there’s Saturday morning clubs to get to and the children start saying ‘I’m bored, what are we doing today?’ For me, in this moment the idea of slowing down seems impossible!
This is when it’s time to press pause.
I’ve started to challenge myself to step off the travelator of to-do lists and through the Narnia-esq wardrobe that leads to the curious world in my mind! This imagery can shift my mindset to become more inquisitive, patient and…curious. If I can tap into this state of mind at those times of household overwhelm when my children ask for my attention and time, then we can all nurture our own curiosity and hopefully learn something together!
Creating a space for curiosity doesn’t have to mean buying something new or visiting a children’s attraction or going somewhere you’ve never been before. When you adopt the simple method of just slowing down, you may give yourselves space and time to notice the small things that are already all around you or just outside your front door!
At Curious Agenda we’ve come up with three ways to focus on these ‘small things’ and hopefully help you to think outside the box when it comes to deciding 'what to do today'. We hope these ideas are something you can try with your children and feel inspired to start conversations that delve into their curious minds!
#1 Create your own treasure hunt
Whilst going on a treasure hunt is not a new idea, we challenge you to be the creators of that treasure hunt! Create a treasure hunt together for a friend, sibling or parent. This could just be around your house, your garden or along the walk to the park you’ve done a thousand times. By creating the clues together to hand over to someone else you will both get more curious about your surroundings and how you can make your clues as exciting as possible for the recipient! Draw a map together, leave interesting clues for the hunter to discover along the way and plan a curious prize they can discover at the end.
#2 Let your children become the teacher
Not sure about you, but when I ask my children what they’ve been up to at school or nursery I never get a very in-depth answer! Children live in the here and now – mine do for sure, and at pick-up time when I ask them what they learnt that morning, they generally don’t remember!
When you’re next taking that time to pause and slow down, why not ask your children to teach you something they've learnt recently. This can be a great way to get a glimpse of the questions, learning and development they are currently processing in their curious minds.
By letting them become the teacher, you have to take time to listen to them and this process can often highlight something you can research further and learn about together. It’s also a great opportunity for some fun role play acting too!
#3 Dream drawing
Would you like a glimpse into your children’s curious minds? I’ve asked my children many times ‘what are you thinking?’ and the most common response I get is ‘nothing!’ Whilst I respect their thoughts are their own, I also love to try to understand how they are currently processing their world and what’s going on for them when I’m not there.
A fun way to do this is to sit together and draw the last dream you can remember. It doesn’t have to make sense, as many dreams don’t. It can be very freeing to just draw without having to represent something in real life. There’s no right or wrong. This creative process will surely lead to some interesting and curious conversations!
At A Curious Town Dreams festival, Dream expert Sarah Janes led a brilliant workshop on Dream Mapping, rather than Dream Drawing, where children were guided on a journey into their imagination to create a fantasy map of their dreams. Would that spark your child’s curiosity?
We hope these ideas give you food for thought when it comes to you and your child’s curiosity. Our busy lives can often take over each day, but I hope you’ll try to join me in the challenge of ‘pressing pause’ with your children. Whilst you take this time to continue to nurture their in-built sense of curiosity, you may just also ignite yours!