You can encourage your child’s curiosity. Here are some tips and some activities to get you started.

Give your child examples of questions that have no right or wrong answer. Ask, “What’s the best food to eat? What is your favorite book?”

Then talk about the fact that some questions don’t have just one right answer. Tell your child it’s good to use his imagination, ideas and opinions to answer those questions.

If you are asking an open-ended question, be careful how you give praise. Saying, “Great idea” gets your child back into thinking there’s only one answer. Instead, praise your child’s thought process. “I liked the way you used your imagination to answer that.”

Here are some activities to get you started:

· Use marshmallows and toothpicks to create a sculpture. Then think about other foods that could be used to create a sculpture. What foods wouldn’t work?

· Ask questions that compare two things. How are a sweater and a blanket alike? How are they different? How is getting dressed like wrapping a gift? How is it different?

· Think about “what if.” What would happen if cars suddenly disappeared? How else could people get from place to place?

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