Why Do Kids Ask Why
If you have a small child in your life around the age of three years old, you probably get inundated every day with questions like these. The questions start out innocently like, “Why do you put gas in the car?” That’s a simple question that a child could want to know. It would explain why you are at the gas station (spending a week’s paycheck on a tank of gas). And after you have answered one question, you think you’ve put their mind at rest. But, no, the first question seemed to be a teaser. It was a test to see if you would supply the requested information. Or, if you would just blow the child off instead with an answer like, “Why do kids ask why?”
After the first question is asked and answered, the next questions keep coming like the rapid fire of a machine gun. After answering question after question to satisfy the curiosity of a small child, you think your brain is going to explode. Or, the worst could happen. They could ask a question of you- the “all knowing adult”- and you won’t have a feasible answer to give them.
Why do kids ask why? One of the answers is, that children are naturally curious about the world around them. Afterall, there’s much to learn, and much to know. It’s our responsibility to help teach them things they need to know in order to function normally in our society. We don’t normally ask kids a whole lot of questions, like we’re giving them a college quiz, so kids ask us instead.
Kids asking “why questions” gives us a peek into their minds. It shows us what they’re interested in, and what they are thinking about. That gives us adults a chance to teach. It gives us a chance to impart our knowledge upon them when they are most receptive to receiving the information. For example, if your son is playing with his toy trucks or your daughter is concentrating on winning a video game, that’s a bad time to try and communicate with them. If you would say to them, “Hey! Do you know how a Venus Flytrap eats insects?”, you’d probably be ignored, or be given a blank stare at most.
By the time a kid is three years old, he or she has begun to actually communicate with their parents and other adults on the same playing field. The child is learning to use words instead of actions to communicate with you. When they were just babies, all they could do was cry to tell you what they wanted, or, what their problem was. But now that they are able to speak words, kids are able to give and receive information. Their understanding of words is just beginning, and they can’t understand everything you say, but, with time and learning, you two will soon be conversing smoothly.
So, why do kids ask why? Another reason that kids ask so many questions is for communication. Not necessarily to learn the answer to something, but to communicate with an adult. When you return home after a long day at work, your youngster isn’t going to say, “Hi Mom/Dad! How was your day at work? Was that old boss of yours grumpy today? Did you make it to the gym at lunchtime?” Instead, they will probably tell you about their day. Then, after that information is exhausted, and they still want to talk, they’ll probably try to begin a conversation by asking “Why?”
The best way to handle an onslaught of questions from kids is to calmly answer the first few. Then, start an interesting conversation with them instead. Once you two begin to really communicate, they’ll probably stop asking questions… for now.
