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"Look What I Found!" Making Time for Everyday Discoveries

By Laura Reischel, Associate Vice President of Arts Learning, Chicago Children's Museum

Last fall, while walking to the grocery store with my mother and four-year-old nephew, Daniel, I was reminded of the importance of slowing down and following the lead of young children. “Look what I found!” exclaimed Daniel, as he thrust a bright orange leaf into my mother’s hand. As she examined his find, he asked question after question: “Where did it come from? Why are the leaves on the ground? Can I take some home?”

As we all stopped to answer Daniel’s questions, we realized that this was the first time he had seen fall leaves on the ground. Living in California, he rarely experienced the splendid transformation of leaves as they shower down in brilliant colors. A simple walk along a Chicago street became an opportunity to share with Daniel the mysteries of fall. His discovery was certainly not on our “schedule” and wouldn’t have been as valuable if we hadn’t taken the time to respond to his invitation to slow down and look.

Sometimes we forget how focused children can be when they are following their own interests. As happened with Daniel, children’s curiosity can cause them to stop in their tracks, even when adults have a different agenda. Sometimes the issue isn’t children’s attention spans but adults’ willingness to change direction.

Bev Boss, a respected early childhood educator, has stated that the most important thing an adult can give a young child is unhurried and unstructured time to explore. Engaging with children as they observe the world provides opportunities to teach new concepts, enhance children’s language, recognize relationships, and make connections to the world around them. In connecting to their surroundings, children develop compassion for other creatures and the environment. .

How can we—as parents, educators and caregivers with full schedules—allow for unhurried time that cultivates curiosity? How can we engage children in deep investigations that will help them make sense of the world?

• Use everyday experiences, such as trips to the grocery store, walks to the car, and visits to the doctor’s office, as opportunities for discovery.
• Naturally-occurring phenomena, like shadows on the side walk, rainbows, stars reflected on water, and flowers pushing up through the soil, can spark children’s questions—with or without adult encouragement.
• Resist the urge to give quick answers that end the discovery. When children ask questions, talk about ways to find answers. Play the important role of co-investigator by examining intriguing ideas, not just the facts.
• Use questions to assess what your child already knows. All of us learn by attaching new knowledge to existing information. Help your child connect new experiences to prior understandings.
• Investigate using all the senses. What do you see? Feel? Smell? Hear? Taste? Children engage more deeply with their surroundings if they are able to explore them through various means.
• Start collections of found objects. Sorting, categorizing, and labeling are effective ways for children to make sense of the world’s bounty. Find interesting ways to store treasures. Flowers and leaves can be pressed into books, while stones can be kept in clear jars labeled with the date and location of their discovery. This kind of documentation supports continued investigation.
• Use drawing, writing and photography as tools to reflect more closely on discoveries. Providing journals, drawing paper, pencils, markers, or a camera gives children the tools to record and take note of details and connections they may not have immediately noticed.
• Don’t try and “cram it all in.” Whether you’re on vacation or running around doing errands, build in extra time for the unexpected. Sometimes, it’s more important to stop and watch a building being torn down, than to get dinner on the table by 6pm.

The discovery process is not an end in itself but a means of allowing children to follow their interests and expand their understandings. By slowing down and allowing time for serendipitous adventures, adults can help children connect to the world. Share in their experiences by becoming a fully-engaged fellow explorer and remember—enthusiasm is contagious. Enjoy the journey!

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