Anyone who’s spent time with children has probably been snagged in the “why net.” You know what I mean.
“What is that?”
“An octopus.”
“Why does it look so floppy?”
“Because it doesn’t have bones.”
“Why doesn’t it have bones?”
“It doesn’t need them. It lives in the water.”
“Fish live in water. Why do they have bones?”
One question leads to another, ad infinitum, an exercise in humility that forces you to confront the vastness of things you don’t know.
That curiosity’s a great thing, though. Children are born explorers. Their minds absorb information like insatiable sponges, and much of the information they seek is about the world around them.
In school, we divide that information into subjects: Science, Social Studies, Math. But in the real world, they’re all parts of a whole–ways of answering those most vital questions: what things are, how things work, and what things mean.
Here at Children’s Books and Learning, we call the exploration of math, science, and social studies “Discovery Play.” It has a number of benefits for your child, including:
- Improved problem-solving strategies
- Increased logical thinking skills
- Greater mastery of life skills
- Heightened cultural awareness
- Greater understanding of cause and effect/actions and consequences
- Increased understanding of measurement, comparison, balance, and number sense
- Increased store of background knowledge
- Heightened curiosity about the world and everything in it
- Deeper understanding of nature and other cultures
- Greater understanding of history and its affects on today’s world
By nurturing you’re child’s natural curiosity, you can cultivate a lifelong love of learning.
Where We Come In
We can help you be your child’s best teacher 
by posting articles and activities, along with reviews and recommendations for toys, games, and other materials that encourage exploration of science, math, and social studies. You’ll find them on our blog, which is constantly being updated.
You might also enjoy our pages on Active Play, Books & Reading, and Creative Play.
*Note: Some of the links to featured and reviewed items are affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission from purchases made through those links.