Curiosity is what sparks learning. When children wonder about something, they naturally want to explore it, and that curiosity helps them understand the world more deeply. As they ask questions and investigate how things work, they develop inquisitive minds and stronger thinking skills. With the rapid growth of AI, it’s more important than ever for schools to nurture this sense of curiosity—encouraging children to think critically, ask meaningful questions, and explore new ideas.
Curious teachers help create curious learners. When teachers pay attention to what excites children and what captures their interest, it opens the door to creative and effective teaching. At the Iowa Regents’ Center for Early Developmental Education, we’re always exploring how children respond to different phenomena. Our goal is to design hands‑on STEM experiences that honor children’s natural curiosity about the world.
In our work, we create materials that meet four key criteria: producible, immediate, observable, and variable. Children should be able to make something happen on their own, see the result right away, and adjust or vary something to discover a new outcome. Through this process, they build confidence in their ability to figure things out and follow their ideas.
The artifacts you see represent the ongoing work of our curious team. Noticing children’s interest in rotational motion, we set out to design materials that fit our four criteria. To explore new possibilities, our team member Yin dug into how 3D printers work and began creating tops and fan blades with interchangeable parts children can experiment with. What you see on display is our continuing journey in developing these engaging, variable materials.
What ideas do you have? We'd like to learn from you!
