How To Spark Curiosity Not Outcomes

When I was teaching, a typical lesson would mostly follow the same format: introduction, demonstration and practice, independent work and a final check against the objective. While I loved hearing the kids' questions and thoughts, we rarely had time to go off on tangents. I think we missed a lot of valuable learning because of this.

Seeing my own kids learn showed me how brilliant these tangents are. With no set outcomes, the opportunities to explore are endless. Sometimes setting off a whole new interest.

This guide explores an alternative approach: exploratory learning. It’s a powerful approach for any subject. It doesn’t require elaborate setups or lengthy sessions. It simply involves introducing a spark - a question, object, fact, anything interesting - and seeing where it leads.

You can still encourage specific knowledge and skills, but exploratory learning does so with less pressure. It means time for play, discovery - and usually more interesting and imaginative outcomes that belong to them.

It took a while for me to feel really comfortable with this way of learning, but seeing over and over how much more enjoyment, curiosity and creativity it brought out, made me appreciate it so much more. And really importantly, it was so connecting. We were learning together, alongside each other, so there's no pressure, no need to nag a bit - none of the stuff that really spoils learning for kids and makes our job harder!

Embrace the adventure

This guide is about how to embrace this exploration together: offering inspiration, support and trusting your child's natural curiosity. We’ll cover what you need to get started, how it works in practice, common challenges and why this approach is so impactful.

Really importantly - it doesn't have to be a big deal. The more you focus on results, the more frustrated you'll become. Have a go, see where it leads and build confidence as you watch the learning that unfolds.

Gathering what you need

📜 Topic: You might choose a topic or area they're already interested in, you find interesting or something you think they'll enjoy. If you find it dull, chances are they will too.

🕐 Timing. This is key. I often coincide this with a relaxed time such as over a snack or when everyone's in a pretty good mood. Planning it in at specific times doesn't work for us generally - if they're pulled away from something they see as more important then they're way less interested – obviously.

✨ The spark. This can be anything. I often use a story as they're such a brilliant way to introduce any ideas including history, maths, science and art. But it could just as easily be an artefact, a problem, a question, a poem, a video, resources from a museum trip you've been on or a really funny or mind-blowing piece of information.

📚 Resources. Having a good selection of different resources to hand - or easily accessible - gives you more of an opportunity to go off on tangents. Things like books (reference books, stories, poems), maps, paper, pencils and art materials as well as access to the internet. I've learnt the hard way that rushing around hunting for things like spare ink cartridges or finding the pencils aren't sharpened etc. can really slow down momentum - especially for younger kids.

Letting Curiosity Lead

✨This is where the magic happens!

🔍 Follow their lead. Once you've brought the spark, see what they're drawn to next. They may have further questions, want to browse the books, play with the artefact, learn more in a video. If they're really into it, you won't need to do much more. But explore with them, be curious yourself, ask questions about it - this is sometimes all that's needed for it to take on a life of its own.

🔍 Support Their Investigations: Look through the books, print things out - maps or colouring pages of people and places can be a great addition to history topics. Videos, puzzles and things they can play around with are great for delving further with maths, and fun word and writing games are great for poetry and story writing. Help them search for things online to answer questions - it's also a great way to learn about finding reliable information.

👣 Embrace Detours: This type of learning often leads you down unexpected paths. Allow them to explore the tangents and follow their curiosity - this is why having a range of resources to hand can be really helpful. Sometimes, these paths can deviate completely from where you started and take you off on quite the journey. (But sometimes it definitely doesn't - there's no pressure!)

🎨 Provide Materials for Expression: Kids learn in different ways. Painting, colouring, doodling, building, acting - embrace all of these different ways of learning and discovery.

🕐 No time limit needed: Let this last as long as it lasts. It can be minutes if they're just not into it, hours if they really are. We've gone a whole afternoon and evening sometimes going off on tangents, other times it's over in 10 minutes.

Dealing with Challenges

😩 "I'm Bored!": If they lose interest or just don't seem into it, then it's best to stop. You can have a few other ideas up your sleeve but sometimes you just know it's not the right time. Forcing it when it isn't working will just switch off their enthusiasm for next time.

💚 Resistance to "Unstructured" Learning: Adjusting to this approach takes time if you're not used to it, especially if you prefer orderly outcomes that can easily be ticked off. But give it a try. Be patient, and remind yourself that the goal at this point is to enable a love of learning, not to achieve specific outcomes.

Now take a look at the outcomes

Every exploration will end differently. However it ends though, the process itself is really important. This way of learning involves discussions, following curiosity, research, critical thinking, creative expression, intrinsic motivation, connecting ideas to other areas, asking questions - these are all so important.

On top of all this you may end up with a beautiful Lego building, a drawing, a stop-motion movie, a role play game or even a story - whatever your child is drawn to. When we don't dictate the outcome, learning takes wonderfully unexpected turns.

In a way, it's learning without traditional teaching. But perhaps it's more accurate to say we're inspiring, exploring and enabling – doing all the things a truly great teacher does.

Give it a try, and see how it goes. I'll add examples of where this has worked particularly well for us as time goes on so you can see how simple it can be and how much you can get out of it.