The Pip's current phrase of choice is "How do you build...?" We get asked this several times a day.
"Daddy, how do you build a glass?"
"Well, you get the right kind of sand, and you get it really hot, so hot it melts. Then you make it into the shape of a glass, and let it cool down. Then it's a glass."
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"Daddy, how do you build a building like that one?"
"Well, you get a bunch of bricks, and stack them up to make the building you want."
"How do you build a brick?"
"Well, you get a bunch of the right kind of mud, and mix it all together. Then you make it into a rectangle, and get it really hot, so it turns into, um, brick."
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"Daddy, how do you build a tree?"
"You don't, honey. Trees are living things. They just grow."
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Yesterday, after I picked him up at day care, when we got to the car, he asked "Daddy, how do you build a rocketship?"
That's a little complicated-- being literally rocket science-- so to stall for time, I asked "A real rocketship, like to go to space?"
"Well... No, a pretend rocketship. Out of magnet tiles."
"Oh. I don't know. How do you build a pretend rocketship out of magnet tiles?"
"Well, you take three big triangle ones, and you put them together and you put a little triangle one on the bottom, and then you..." And he was so proud of himself for getting to explain to me. Then SteelyKid chimed in, and we had a lively little seminar in the back seat about the best techniques for magnet tile rocket construction...
(The "featured image" up top is one of a set of "posters" I put together as a way of avoiding less pleasant work, using the cute-kid photos from my promotional videos for Eureka (coming two weeks from yesterday...). It seemed an appropriate image to go with this anecdote...)
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Inquisitive kids (daughters and sons) are the best, aren't they? And the hardest (at least for me) to deal with "properly." My response is always to answer and explain (and trying to hit the right level of detail for a four, five, or six year old).
Something I learned a few years ago, and still struggle with, is just what you did with the Pip's Magnatile rocket question: ask the question back and let them answer it. What a great response the Pip had, and how awesome that it turned into a broader discussion!