Children can be naturally inquisitive and eager to get explanations for whatever feels odd to them. The power of curiosity spurs them to continue asking questions especially when they sense a gap between what they know and what they want to know.

Young children are always curious about many things in their environment. They tend to ask questions like; where does the sun disappear at night? Why are some people poor while others are rich? What is the purpose of life? What happens after death? And a whole lots of questions bordering majorly on nature, technology, fairness and injustice.

This is a developmental and formative stage for children which if they are not guided properly can be turbulent for parents as many of them tend to envisage the type of person they want their children to turn out to be. And anything contradictory ushers in a sense of disappointment.

Curiosity is the state of being curious: inquisitive, wondering about things. It means having a strong desire to learn or know something. Curiosity is like an engine that drives many human activities and innovations.

The following are reasons why you should encourage inquisitiveness among children:

• Curiosity makes children more observant and receptive to information passed.
• It spurs children’s interests and makes them want to venture out and solve problems
• It puts children’s brains in a state to learn and understand and retain.
• It makes young people excited to gain knowledge and be exposed to new things.
• It makes children more creative and helps them to think outside the box and unravel something new, even in ordinary things.

However, unregulated curiosity can cause big damage to young ones. It can lead to wrong life decisions, waste of resources and time and demoralization.

How parents can spark the right kind of curiosity in children.

For you as a parent to get children to indulge in the curiosity that leads to innovation and learning and eschews the curiosity that leads to wrong decisions, you need to keep the following points in mind

• Be approachable and open-minded
• Challenge your children with a range of problems to solve. 
• Give them a comprehensive education and enlightenment.
• Encourage them to ask open-ended questions. Also, make attempts to answer their question clearly.
• Stay close to them and be their confidant.
• Model curiosity and encourage them to be thinkers
• Minimize screen time and spend more time with your children.
• Help them to feel confident and make their own choices.

Cultivating an inquisitive mind in children helps to lay the groundwork for higher opportunities to experience the world and make the best out of it. Once the power of curiosity is triggered, learning and development occur.