On our walks, if I stop to watch an ant carry a crumb, my kids stop too. They ask where it’s going. I say, “I don’t know. Let’s follow it.”
That’s curiosity at work. And when it starts to go, it doesn’t vanish in a dramatic way. It fades quietly, in small everyday moments. Most of us don’t notice until it’s been gone for a while.
Here are three signs I see often, in my own home and in the kids I work with. And what tends to help.
1. They stop asking questions, or go straight to the internet
Every question goes to Google or AI within seconds. Saying “I don’t know” and staying with it feels uncomfortable.
What helps: Model it yourself. When your child asks something, try saying, “I don’t know yet either.” Then wonder about it together for a few minutes before anyone looks it up.
Kids learn that not knowing is a starting point, not an emergency.
2. Boredom turns straight into screen time
Picture a quiet Sunday afternoon with nothing planned. Within minutes, someone is reaching for the iPad or the TV.
What helps: Next time your child says “I’m bored,” smile and say, “Great. I wonder what you’ll come up with.” Leave some paper, colors, tape, and cardboard nearby. Then give it ten or fifteen minutes.
You might get a fort, a comic, or a brand-new game. Boredom is where ideas start.
3. They’d rather stay indoors than go out and play
The backyard, the park, the bike in the garage. All of it starts losing to whatever is on a screen.
What helps: Go outside together, even for twenty minutes. Take a walk, ride bikes, kick a ball around. Don’t send them out. Go with them.
The fix isn’t in the child
None of these signs means something is wrong with your child. Every child is born curious. Ask a little kid what you can do with a cup and you’ll get a hat, a drum, a boat for an ant.
The fix is in the soil around them. So the honest question for us as parents is: are we preaching to our kids, or setting the example?