WONDER: How to Make Childhood Remarkable

The Wonder a Rainbow brings.

The Wonder a Rainbow brings.

How Do I Bring Wonder To My Child’s Life?

A child’s mind is filled with wonder if we only capitalize on it as parents. We do this by going inside ourselves to ask questions about our environment and the people that fill our world.

Why do we feel different ways at different times? Why do we smile in the sunshine & feel refreshed by the snow? What makes us burst with laughter & delight at a rainbow?

How can we move away from the hurried lives we live in to drink up the wonder we want our kids to revel in with us? Wonder makes us happy. Why can’t that be our goal?

Six Tips on Bringing Wonder into our Kids Lives

1. Build Curiosity
At any activity, ask your kids questions that stir their imagination. At a soccer game, ask your daughter how far she thinks she can kick that ball? Ask her, if she was wonder woman, how would the game be different?

2. Search for Discovery
Hanging out in the back yard or out for a bike ride, stop and search the grass for an interesting insect. Watch it move and think how it spends it’s day. Slow things down and watch for tiny spectacles.

3. Include the question, “Why Do People Feel That Way?” in everyday conversation.
While your kids are talking about their friends, ask them why they thought one of the kids cared about a teacher’s reprimand? How would they feel if it happened to them? Why do people feel the way they do? Why do some people shrug off a mistake and others take it to heart, worrying for days?

4. Challenge your child to experiment and try just a little harder at something and then wonder with them why they didn’t in the first place.
This must be done without judgment or criticism. It’s not a challenge to be a better person, just an interest in what’s important to them. What are their priorities that make more effort worthwhile? This is about wonder, not achievement.

5. Ask your child what they might like to do that they’ve never done before.
Stretch their imagination to see themselves differently. Consider what they’d need to do this special something that they just thought of. Would they like to do it alone or with others?

6. Ask your child who their favorite people are and why.
What do they look for in a good friend or just a buddy to have fun with? Can a grown-up be a favorite person? What qualities would they have? Or, who is a famous person that they admire?  What do they think that person is like in their private life? Who do they admire in their present life? Why?

Wonder keeps us healthy and growing and separates us from worry and tension. It keeps the world exciting and alive and builds spirit and a sense of the future. It can be personal or shared with the important people we care about.

What do you wonder about?