Curiosity-driven thinking is our ability to explore the world and organise our approach to learning. It begins with “why?”

All young children have it — yet sadly, for many, it fades with age.

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When a child enters our lives, adults are given a rare opportunity to remember what it feels like to be inquisitive. Almost all children are born researchers. But this natural desire to observe, ask questions, and make sense of the world needs to be supported, nourished, and actively protected.

Seeing a whole world in a grain of sand

“A scientist is not someone who gives the right answers, but someone who asks the right questions.”Claude Lévi-Strauss

From the very beginning of life, a child discovers what sticky means, what fluffy feels like, what is smooth, warm, cold. They learn about leaves, buttons, seeds — what tastes good, why the television needs a remote control. Step by step, children build their own mini-theories about how the world works.

Developing cognitive thinking means asking questions about the world. It also means experimenting, observing, and searching for evidence. Every child can develop strong cognitive thinking if their questions are welcomed, if their observations are valued, and if experimentation becomes a natural part of daily life.

The most important task is not to teach children how to use reference books or the internet — that will come later. Our task is to help children learn how to think. To nurture their natural abilities. To offer activities that support cognitive development and help them understand how scientists actually make discoveries.

An ordinary walk can become research

Take a simple walk, for example. Each outing can be more than just a destination — it can have a purpose. What are we looking for today?

Ideas for a purposeful walk

• Collect new leaves for a herbarium
• Look for insects you have not seen before
• Record sounds worth remembering
• Draw what you notice along the way
• Take photos and store them in “Our Observations” — add captions together

These simple acts turn everyday life into research.

One hundred thousand “whys” walking the earth

Why does the moon not fall? Where does a rainbow come from? Why is water wet? Why is one plus one two? How do mushrooms grow?

Every child is a scientist at birth. A child only stops being one if adults silence their questions and replace curiosity with ready-made answers. Encourage questions. Praise good ones. Especially praise questions that no one can answer right away.

Tony Buzan once described a hypothetical conversation between Einstein and his child:

Everyday life generates hundreds of questions. Sometimes a child asks something at exactly the wrong moment — while you are cooking or working. Try at least to remember the question. Better still, write it down so you can return to it together later.

When a child’s interest becomes strong and sustained, it helps to surround them with information. When my son became fascinated by Ancient Egypt, we watched National Geographic films about mummies and pyramids. We borrowed encyclopedias. We made plaster masks. We listened to stories. Books, crafts, films, museums — all become fuel for a growing brain.

Still, information should never become an attack. It is enough to return gently to favourite topics, involving all the senses. And do not forget to play. Sometimes playing mummy with bandages or toilet paper is exactly what is needed.

Change the questions you ask

Instead of asking after kindergarten, “What did you eat?” or “What did you do?” — try asking: “What did you learn today?”

When physicist Isidor Rabi was a child, his mother asked him whether he had asked a good question at school. Decades later, when he received the Nobel Prize, he credited his mother for nurturing his curiosity and cognitive thinking.

“I do not know” can be a gift.

Tony Buzan believed it was essential for parents to try to answer children’s questions, understanding that there are no foolish ones. A good answer often ends with another question. For example, if a child asks how trees grow, explain water, soil, sunlight — then ask: “How do you think plants use sunlight?”

Sometimes, we truly do not know the answer. My son once asked why all people smell different. I did not know. I asked him what he thought. He replied that his father smells like darkness.

Some questions do not have easy answers. And that is perfectly fine. It is important for children to see adults admit that they do not know everything. This teaches them that not knowing is the beginning of inquiry — and the foundation of science.

Science is a way of life

A scientist’s work is similar to a detective’s. Information is gathered carefully and patiently. This comparison often resonates with children.

Cognitive thinking begins with observation. The better a child learns to observe, the more they will notice. Sometimes this means slowing down — allowing children to watch, study, and immerse themselves. Once, in a botanical garden, a three-year-old sat by a pond watching frogs for over an hour. He was learning more than any organised lesson could offer.

Simple tools help. A magnifying glass. A microscope, even a basic one. During walks, bring lenses. Show children that the ordinary world contains hidden wonders.

Science everywhere

Children need to understand what science is — and that it exists everywhere. At home, in the kitchen, on television, in the yard. Paper airplanes are geometry and aerodynamics. Candles are physics. Drawing leads naturally to Leonardo da Vinci. Many scientific documentaries are suitable from around age four. Kitchen experiments, nature films, illustrated books — all help children see science not as something distant, but as part of daily life.

From hypothesis to discovery

The research method is a path to knowledge through independent inquiry. Children can learn this process step by step — beginning with questions: What do you think? What could be happening here?

Children can gather information by thinking, asking others, reading, watching, observing, experimenting, or using technology. If a child cannot write yet, that is no obstacle. Adults help. Symbols replace words. Stickers replace notes. What matters is thinking.

In your yard, birds can become a research subject. Which birds live here? What do they eat? Do they have babies? Children like Gerald Durrell spent entire days exploring nature freely, supported by adults who never pressured learning — only enabled it.

The curious child’s toolkit

To prepare children for a complex future, they do not need expensive kits. Everyday tools are enough.

• Magnifying glass
• Ruler
• Microscope
• Scales
• Flashlight
• Thermometer
• Binoculars
• Encyclopedias & how-things-work books

Curiosity grows best in simple environments filled with attention, time, and trust.