Model curiosity for young children by making a habit of asking questions about the way the world works and following up with investigations or conversation. If you have trouble thinking of questions to ask, use the phrases "I wonder" and "What if" to inspire new questions, such as "I wonder why the outside of my glass gets wet?" or "What if trees talk by waving their branches?" Even if you don't know the answers to your own questions, keep asking them and engaging with your child when she asks her own questions.
Scientific thinking is based on facts, which are gathered through careful observation of the world. In his book "Winners Without Losers," James P. Raffini states that children naturally tend to gather facts and seek out new stimuli by touching, tasting, chasing and looking. Reinforce this behavior by giving your child however much time he wants to look at an interesting bug or try to track down a new sound. Set boundaries that emphasize appropriate fact-finding, such as touching a beetle instead of eating it, rather than cutting off exploration altogether.
Education.com's "Child Development Tracker" states that preschoolers can use trial and error to refine their problem-solving approaches and compare earlier experiences to the present. One way to support the development of an accurate model of the world is to always answer your child's questions truthfully and accurately at an age-appropriate level. Instead of saying that storks bring babies, for example, simply tell your child that babies grow in ladies' bellies when they become pregnant. When your child is wrong about something, correct her lovingly. It will not hurt her self-esteem but rather help her understand the world more clearly.
According to Wolfs, communicating your results is another important part of scientific investigations. Having your conclusions tested independently by other people exposes you to perspectives and explanations you might not have thought of on your own, as well as alerting you to flaws in your observation or reasoning. Model scientific collaboration by openly and eagerly consulting qualified people or reliable reference works when you do not know the answer to a question. When you have several children together, include all of them in explorations and conversations, letting every child who wants to contribute his findings.