Nurturing Wonder in Young Children

Wonder: a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.

A simple magifying glass in the hands of a curious child can create immense wonderment.

In my line of work I repeatedly get asked the same question over and over again when someone finds out that I'm a preschool teacher - "HOW do you do it?". The bewilderment is common and often I respond with a simple shrug and a smile. Sometimes though, I can explain it with such detail that I think even the biggest skeptics could understand. Is it easy? Not even kind of. Is it stressful? Often. Am I always excited to be at work? Nope. But I do always know it's my career for a reason and often, I get to glimpse wonder on a child's face and it reinvigorates me to my core.

Wonder, as defined by the dictionary at the start of this post is magical. It transforms the person experiencing it and those around them. Children are full of so much wonder every single day, so how do you nurture it? How can you join in on the wonderment? Let's talk about just a few ways that you can nurture wonderment with your kids, but also with yourself - you are still capable of feeling that beautiful, curious wonderment in your daily life.

During the Tales of Summer: Nature Storytelling event, a young child uses one of the free magnifying glasses to explore the garden at Porch Light Literary Center.

1. Just go outside. There is almost nothing as wonderful as nature itself. As I write this, I'm sitting on a patio of a local coffee shop and if I stop to look around me I can see a bee buzzing from flower to flower, a bird gathering nesting materials in the big tree on the corner, and tree branches swaying in rhythm to the wind.

   • Some of my favorite places to go catch a case of wonderment around Iowa City: my backyard, Hickory Hill Park, Terry Trueblood Recreation Area, Muddy Creek bike trail, Waterworks Prairie (BEAUTIFUL trails and a dock in a lake that has bird research areas) and City Park.

2. Get on a bike, scooter, or roller skates. One thing about the Iowa City metro area is that we have phenomenal trail systems. There are many paved, easy to navigate paths that you can cruise on or walk on in all the different parts of this area. I can't tell you how often I get on my bike and have to stop to take in a stunning view, an interesting animal or to take in some place new. That is the second mini part of this though - be willing to stop and smell the roses, or observe the squirrels, or dip your toes in the creek. You can see a list of many local trails on the MPOJC & City website.

3. Take a book or a hobby to a new location. Go read at the lake, paint in a park, draw in the U of I Museum of Natural History, play a card game on a picnic blanket in Hickory Hill park - you catch my drift. If your hobby or books can be made to travel, then get up and go somewhere different. Changing your location can be a massive shift in inspirational energy. Don't have a good book or traveling hobby? Have a picnic lunch or a snack in a new place and just let your body and mind embrace your new location and what it has to offer.

4. Play a game. If you're a parent to a young child, you can adjust this to be what you are seeking too. Sure you can play pretend with dolls and dinosaurs and a play kitchen. You can also go outside, lay on the grass, stare at the sky and challenge each other to find shapes in the clouds. You can go for a walk or a drive and point out every time you see a circle hidden in the landscape. Any game like this helps your brain have a focus that is imaginative and full of wonder. Play builds neurons in your brain, increases resiliency, improves executive functioning skills and activates emotional regulation. Play is important for your children, but also for YOU as an adult. Read more about just one of the studies about the benefits and impacts of play - The Power of Play.

5. Don't give the answers or the fix quickly. This is one of the hardest pieces of advice for an adult to really take in. When our kids or kids we care about are struggling, we want to step in and give them a quick fix or solve the problem because we can. However, we are sometimes taking away their ability to uncover the answer for themselves. Ask questions, model what it looks like to problem solve - "Hmm, this string keeps slipping, do you have any ideas on how to hold it still?" (Great example while making journey sticks - that smile on her face below is not because we stepped in and solved it for her, she's smiling so hard because she's proud of figuring it out! If their solution is, "Maybe you could hold this part for me while I do it" - GREAT, that's problem solving and asking for help which are all admirable processes.
   

   

   A proud kiddo staring at her journey stick creation during the June 2025 Tales of Summer: Nature Storytelling event.

Wonderment is a type of magic that can be felt by everyone around you. If you'd like to join a community event that has a strong sense of wonder-making, join us at our Tales of Summer events all summer long!

Until next time, stay curious!

Ms. Veronica