Read to and in front of your children. Children need to see their parents read books, newspapers, magazines, cereal box labels and more. Not only will this encourage children to read, but it will teach them the many uses that reading has in life: finding out the nutritional value of breakfast cereal, learning what is on television that evening, finding out what movies are playing and more.
Ask questions to teach children to be inquisitive. Why is the dog barking? Why is the squirrel burying an acorn? Teaching children to ask questions and seek answers will cultivate a habit that will continue into adulthood.
Play with your children. Creative play teaches them to use their minds, cultivating lifelong learning. Try acting out a favorite book, playing cops and robbers or having a princess tea party.
Encourage your kids to think about the world around them and create a hypothesis as to why things happen. Whenever possible, have them test their hypothesis. One example is to ask why is the dog is barking? A hypothesis might be that the dog barks whenever someone walks by the yard. A way to test this hypothesis is to have several friends walk past the yard and see what the dog does.