Skip to content
Spark & Whetstonethe grown-up commons

← Learn

Answering a Why

Five short lessons for the grown-up on the other end of “why?”: answer the why that was asked, say “I don’t know — let’s find out”, say what is known and what is guessed, ask for a guess first, and keep the question.

For grown-ups, from what WhyPals teaches children at Spark & Anvil.

  1. Lesson 1Answer the why that was asked
  2. Lesson 2“I don’t know — let’s find out”
  3. Lesson 3Say what is known and what is guessed
  4. Lesson 4Ask “What do you think?” first
  5. Lesson 5Keep the question
At the table · Two or more, any ages

The kitchen jar

You'll need: A jar, the printed label and slips, a pencil.

  1. Print the label and the slips, and stick the label on a jar.
  2. When someone wonders something, write the question and the date on a slip.
  3. Under it, write their guess before anyone looks anything up.
  4. Once a week, take out a slip together: find out, or put it back to keep wondering.

Open The kitchen jar: run it, or print the seat sheets →

Print the guidebook (all lessons + the table activity) →