Children tend to be very curious, especially at a younger age. Although most parents appreciate this, a lot of them also fear their children’s curiosity since it can be a reason for jeopardizing their safety. But if they weren’t curious, how else would they discover the world around them?
The main driving force behind children’s learning and development is their “absorbing spirit”, which is reflected in their natural interest in current events and things, children’s desire to discover the world around them, and their inclination for the most diverse activities…
In addition to curiosity, the best incentive for activity and development motive is experiencing satisfaction due to success after overcoming an obstacle, overcoming the discrepancy between what the child strives for and what it is capable of at a certain moment.
In the following article, you’ll find more information about the importance of cultivating curiosity in children, and how it can affect their overall development.
Children need imagination
Research shows that curiosity, which is especially expressed during childhood, helps the development of the cognitive mechanism of the brain. Too many televisions, screens, battery-powered toys, or other gadgets can interrupt this extremely important development.
The consequences are a slowed-down process of imaginative approach to problem-solving, and the very lack of creative thinking, which children are exceptionally good at! In order to develop the cognitive mechanism, a small child should be allowed (just like older children) to freely move things around him, to just adapt the game to his extraordinary imagination.
Visit this site for a list of useful toys that support imagination and curiosity, but also don’t be afraid to use kids subscription boxes, rags, plastic containers, Legos, dolls, teddy bears, carts, excavators, cars, even a pet, as these are very interesting toys for children.
Things that numb the brain are virtual worlds, toys that only work in one way, and gadgets that require constant finger control. The interaction between the child and the natural world develops the senses and the primary connection between the child and nature. Children should be involved in as many sensory explorations as possible.
Hence, they need sand, dirt, trees, water, pets and real-life experiences to be healthy, happy, and strong! Small things, such as getting dirty, getting wet, and making a mess in the room, are exactly what little ones need in order to master the complicated patterns and nuances of life. When they help you clean up the mess they make, they’re also learning useful life skills.
How is curiosity developed?
One of the most distinctive features of a child is its curiosity, and its tendency to wonder. This trait relies on the motive to learn. A small child’s natural curiosity in relation to the world around it is one of the most important motives for his learning and development.
This motive is expressed in its interest in current events and things and the desire to discover the world around it, in the inclination for various activities and the aspiration to improve its skills and abilities, as well as in the need for different forms of expression, especially through play.
What motivates the child to learn, which is the deep driver of learning, is cognitive need. However, needs do not move people to activity directly, but they do so through interest. If the need for knowledge is suppressed in any way, then there will be no interest in learning anything.
While the child is playing, you encourage it with questions to talk about the shapes, colors, sizes, and weights of things, and to describe and analyze them.
A parent should strive to find the answer to every child’s question
While growing up, our children go through different phases. When a child begins to bombard the adults around it with questions about things it sees, causes, phenomena, and methods, it means that it has left the period when it relied mainly on its own experience and that it has become interested in the experiences of others, that it has set out to conquer the big world.
Many children’s questions are actually hypotheses that the child creates about the surrounding reality, about the functioning of things, and about the essence of phenomena and processes. And it checks them through the answers of adults. Types of questions that begin with “what”, “who”, “where”, “how”, “why”, etc., testify to the development of the child’s cognitive interests. As much as tiring this phase can be, a parent should be aware of its importance, and dedicate time to answer.
As a parent and someone who directly influences the mental development of your child, never allow yourself to stifle the child’s interest and need for knowledge. A child should never be denied an answer.
The adult must show goodwill and interest in everything the child asks him. On the other hand, a child must not be ashamed of its ignorance or clumsiness, therefore it should never be laughed at or underestimated.
Talking to a child takes a lot of time, but remember that this time should be spent in the best possible way. After all, it’s just a phase, and it will come to an end, as well.
Failure as motivation
It is also characteristic that children are reluctant to admit their failure, but try to hide it, justify it, underestimate the importance of the task, turn their attention to other things, console themselves by remembering earlier successes, or even undo what happened.
Children try to avoid failure (for example, stop an action when it becomes obvious that it will not end in success, change the rules of its execution by putting themselves in a more favorable position, etc.).
With maturity, such actions lead to a way of reacting that is not only a way out of an unpleasant situation but an improvement over previous ways of behaving – to a renewed and intensified effort in the next attempt, by which the conflict can be overcome.
