Grow Up Strong -- Encourage Interest, Initiative, and Inquiry
Children are naturally curious. Curiosity leads them to learn about their world and test its limits, to find out what's fun and what hurts, and to test their skills while developing new ones.
Encourage this sense of curiosity and inquisitiveness in your children by challenging them to explore the world around them and go beyond their comfort zone -- and even yours!
- Provide kids with regular opportunities to question, explore, and discover their surroundings.
- Get a book of science experiments from the library and test them at home.
- Try a new sport together.
- Engage in conversations with children about how they might make something better or more interesting, or how they would go about solving the mysteries of how things work.
- Encourage children to ask questions, think creatively, and offer their own solutions and observations.
Doing these things will help your kids stay engaged and excited about life and about learning for years to come. Plus, it will help your child become a better problem solver, a free thinker, and a more self-reliant adult.
And these qualities help children avoid negative peer pressure and risky behaviors. Fostering creativity also is likely to instill a lifelong love of learning in your child, which will contribute to his or her long-term academic and professional success.
RealAge Projection: If children develop an appreciation for learning when they're young, they're likely to maintain a hunger for knowledge as they get older. If they do, when they turn 40, they'll be more like 37.
