Curiosity & questions · 2026-10-25

Shh, I Heard My Friend Say...

When kids share outlandish facts from friends, resist correcting them instantly. It's a golden chance to nurture curiosity and friendly scepticism.

When children gather for their mid-morning snack—perhaps a typical Swiss Znüni of apples and bread—they often exchange astonishing "secrets." Your child might have run home, eyes wide, to announce: "My friend says if you swallow an apple seed, a tree will grow in your tummy!"

Faced with such innocent hearsay, a grown-up's first instinct is often to correct it immediately: "Don't be silly, that's not true." But this is actually a golden opportunity to introduce a valuable cognitive tool: friendly scepticism.

The Magic of "My Friend Said"

In early development, children are naturally inclined to believe what adults and peers tell them. Research by developmental psychologist Paul Harris highlights that children learn about the vast world through others, a concept known as "epistemic trust." As children enter preschool or kindergarten, peers become an increasingly important source of information.

When children share these "facts," they are not lying; they are trying to make sense of the world, or simply sharing something they found fascinating. If an adult abruptly shuts them down or laughs at the claim, the child might feel embarrassed and become less likely to share their discoveries in the future. Instead, we can gently catch these ideas and turn them into starting points for exploration.

Raising Friendly Little Sceptics

Friendly scepticism is not about teaching children to mistrust their friends or become cynical. Rather, it is about encouraging them to remain curious about the information they receive. When a child shares an outlandish "fact," try replacing "That's wrong" with, "Wow, that sounds interesting! I wonder if it's really true?"

Developmental psychologist Alison Gopnik has shown that young children are highly capable of thinking like little scientists. When adults provide the scaffolding to help them test hypotheses, they are remarkably good at evaluating evidence. We might ask, "How could we find out if a tree can grow in a tummy? Trees need sunshine and soil—do we have those inside us?"

The Joy of Finding Out Together

The process of checking facts is a wonderful way to spend time together. You could pull an encyclopaedia from the shelf, plan a trip to the library, or ask an AI learning companion like Sparkie for one more "why." The goal is not just to hand them the correct answer, but to model the journey of verification.

We can also demonstrate this when we are unsure about something ourselves. Think out loud in front of your child: "I heard it's going to snow on the mountains tomorrow, but I should check the weather report to make sure." This everyday modeling quietly teaches children a vital lesson: the world is full of fascinating information, and we have the tools to figure out what is real.

Things to try at home this week

Try saying "I wonder": The next time your child brings home a strange rumor, resist the urge to correct them instantly. Instead, say, "That's so interesting. I wonder if it's true? How could we find out?"
Play a silly "True or False" game: At the dinner table, take turns saying a "fact" about nature. Make some true ("Some frogs are smaller than a coin") and some playfully false ("Cows make chocolate milk if they eat cocoa"). Guess together and talk about why.
Show your own fact-checking out loud: Let your child see how you verify things in daily life. For instance, "The box says this toy needs three batteries. Let's open it and count to see if that's right."