Practicing the art of questioning with Maurice, Petite Clothilde and Pierre-Qui-Roule!

The questions we ask young children to stimulate their thinking matter. Consider the following examples and the cognitive answers those two questions may bring: 

Do you like being outside? What is your favorite thing to do when you are outside?

A simple question like “Do you like being outside?” may get a quick “Yes!” before the child quickly returns to their play.

A more thoughtful, complex question, such as “What is your favorite thing to do when you’re outside?”–especially if raised at the right moment–might open the door to a whole new level of thinking. Indeed, the second question encourages children to think more deeply about their experiences. Requiring a higher level of thinking, the question also helps the child engage with the world around them in a broader and more meaningful way.

However, asking questions to stimulate young children’s thinking is an art that requires practice. Depending on the child’s developmental stage, thoughtful questions can not only encourage them to think but also prompt them to share their thoughts more openly with us. This is an additional benefit to keep in mind, as highlighted frequently on this blog: the more we understand their thinking, the better we can guide them toward their next step in development.

Practicing on Instagram: Our daily questions to stimulate the wooden Fellows’ thinking

Since the beginning of 2025, we have been posting a picture a day on Instagram to model different questions one may ask young children to stimulate their thinking, using our wooden Fellows as examples. We simply aim to inspire our audience to engage in discussions with the young children around them. The level of complexity varies from day to day, and we regroup every 10 days to reflect.

Today, we are using three of our previous Instagram posts here, so you, too, can explore the different levels of thinking questions can trigger in young children. This exploration is inspired by Big Questions for Young Minds, a book from Strasser and Mufson Bresson, based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. The authors outline a progression of questioning that moves from more straightforward to more complex levels of thought. At the most basic level, questions help children remember facts, names of objects, or words. As the complexity increases, questions encourage children to understand and describe a context. Further along, questions ask children to apply and explain reasoning. The next level prompts children to analyze ideas, comparing and contrasting thoughts. Then, questions can further invite children to evaluate a situation or express an opinion. Finally, at the highest level of thinking, questions can encourage children to create or design something on their own.

So, what would those questions look like with our wooden Fellows? How would we invite them to share their thinking?

Example 1: Stimulating Petite Clothilde’s thinking in Charleston, SC

In our first example, Petite Clothilde takes us in Charleston, SC. A question like “What do you think this little girl is doing?” encourages Petite Clothilde to express her opinion. The little gild may be dancing, showing off her new dress, only Petite Clothilde’s thoughts could tell : )

However, many other questions could be asked, each requiring various levels of thinking. At a lower level, one might ask, “What color is the little girl?” or “What is the name of this kind of art?”. These questions prompt Petite Clothilde to remember facts or details. 

Next, one could simply ask, “Tell me about her!” This would encourage Petite Clothilde to describe the statue using her own words, deepening her understanding. One could also ask, “Where else have we seen a statue before?” which would encourage her to connect the statue to previous experiences. As the complexity increases, one might ask, “How does the statue look like a child?” or “What do you think this little girl is doing?”. These questions prompt her to analyze the statue and express her opinion. Finally, at the highest level, one could ask, “What would you make with clay?” This question invites Petite Clothilde to create and design her own version of the statue, encouraging her to think creatively.

Example 2: Asking questions to Pierre Qui Roule in the backyard

Let’s take another example with Pierre-Qui-Roule, who got his attention caught by …  something!

One might be tempted to ask, “Are you looking at the birds?”. But to better understand what’s truly catching Pierre Qui Roule’s attention, more profound questions that move beyond assumptions would be helpful. As with the previous example, the complexity of the questions can increase, guiding him from simpler to more complex thinking.

At a simpler level, one might ask, “What color caught your attention?” This prompts Pierre-Qui-Roule to focus on a specific detail. A next step could be, “Tell me what you are seeing!” which encourages him to describe the scene in his own words. Then, one might ask, “What do you hear as well?” expanding his focus to include sound.

To deepen the engagement further, one could ask, “What differences are you noticing between those trees?”, to prompt him to compare and analyze his environment. Moving to a higher level, “What is catching your attention, and why?” invites Pierre-Qui-Roule to evaluate the situation and express his opinion. Finally, one could ask, “How could you draw what you are seeing?” which encourages him to think creatively and design his own representation of the scene.

Example 3: Engaging with Maurice on a snowy day

Let’s take a last example with Maurice, on a snowy day!

One might start with a simple question like, “What is on the top of the fence?” to help Maurice remember previous experiences with snow. One could ask, “What happened last night?!” to encourage him to consider the context and understand the situation better. A question like, “What do you notice on the fence?” would prompt him to observe and describe the scene. Will Maurice notice the pattern made by the snow and naturally engage into a deeper reflection?

One might then ask, “How would you describe the pattern you noticed?”. A extension to analyzing the pattern, would be to encourage Maurice to create his own patterns, through higher-level questions.  “What patterns would you like to create?” and “Which materials would you like to use?” would encourage Maurice to design and create something new based on his observations.

Next steps ?

We hope these examples give you a deeper understanding of how different questions can stimulate different levels of thinking in young children. Some contexts naturally invite more complex questions, but being mindful of these levels can keep you focused on raising questions that encourage thoughtful reflection.

On Instagram, we’re intentionally modeling questions from various levels to meet people wherever they are in their journey. Feel free to share your own questions and insights.

What questions would you ask to stimulate the thinking of young children’s around us?

Let’s keep the conversation going!