hide in, build a nest, or munch on throughout the day. As they completed these tasks, I redirected them back to the group to share their discoveries with peers. Students could refer to their collected items during our writing time, including them in illustrations, labels, or sentences. They could also reference them during conversations with peers.
Taking Advantage of Children’ s Curiosities
Intentional teaching recognizes the agency that each child brings to learning( Grieshaber et al. 2021). It begins with observing children’ s interests and behaviors and continues through a series of thoughtful choices, both adult- and child-guided( Schmidtke 2025a). When children’ s natural curiosities ignite an opportunity for an unscripted, teachable moment, intentional teachers must leverage the chance to make instructional and curricular decisions that support inquiry and increase students’ motivation and discovery.
To do this in your own setting, consider the following:
› Notice and capture children’ s interests in the moment. Pay close attention to what grabs students’ attention as it happens. Keep a small notebook, chart, or digital journal handy to jot down what sparks their curiosity, the questions they ask, and how they interact with materials or one another. Use these real-time observations to guide learning in the moment, adjusting activities to keep student engagement high.
› Connect teachable moments to learning goals. When children show interest in something, look for ways to link that curiosity to learning objectives or daily targets, whether they’ re in content areas( literacy, STEM, the arts) or developmental domains( social and emotional). Stay flexible and be willing to shift or extend an activity, so it honors what excites children while still meeting your goals.
› Support and re-engage children when necessary. For students who need assistance with focus, confidence, or concepts, create smaller, more personalized ways to encourage their participation. This might be a word of encouragement, new materials, or modified tasks. I wore a fabric tool belt while teaching that had plenty of pockets for sticky pads, markers, stickers, paperclips, binder clips, plastic bags, band aids, and crayons. Having these“ extra” tools helped children through uncertainty: The hands-on materials and one-on-one prompts helped to re-engage them in learning.
› Reflect to shape what comes next. Pause during or after activities to think about what worked, what felt challenging, and what questions children still have. Use this time to plan follow-up experiences or to adjust your approach so that you support each child’ s curiosity and growth. Such reflection will give you insight into how you might make changes for the learning journey ahead— and how to celebrate the success of a teachable moment.
42 Young Children
Summer 2026