Tapestry of Faith: Amazing Grace: A Program about Exploring Right and Wrong for Grade 6

Alternate Activity 3: Kid Curiosity

Part of Amazing Grace

Activity time: 5 minutes

Description of Activity

Lead a group discussion about curiosity. Is curiosity in children a virtue or not? Start things off with questions like these:

  • Has anybody here ever gotten in trouble because of curiosity?
  • What about birthday presents or Christmas presents-have you ever sneaked a peek ahead of time? Is doing that wrong?
  • Would you want to have a friend who was never curious about anything? Do you want your brothers and sisters to be curious?
  • Do you know any sayings about curiosity? Why do you think people say that "curiosity killed the cat"?
  • Did you ever hear any children's stories about curiosity? Do they seem to say that curiosity is good or not?
  • Do people ever get into serious trouble because of curiosity? (For example, people who experiment with drugs risk both legal and health problems.)

Consider sharing these words from Canadian writer Arnold Edinborough: "Curiosity is the very basis of education and if you tell me that curiosity killed the cat, I say only the cat died nobly."

"Pandora's Box" may be the most famous story about curiosity. Youth may also remember reading others, including the "Curious George" stories by H.A. Rey and Margret Rey (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1969). Ask if they have recently seen movies or read other stories that involve curiosity.