children’s questions
how many questions did you ask before you turned five
Children are the world’s great questioners. Long before they can read, they ask ‘why’ about almost everything — and stumble, without trying, onto questions that have kept philosophers and scientists busy for centuries. This room celebrates the questions children actually ask, and shows how close they sit to the biggest questions of all.
the questions every child asks
Simple to say, surprisingly hard to answer. Each of these has a serious counterpart in philosophy or science — which is exactly why they’re worth taking seriously.
Why is the sky blue
Where do we go when we die
Why do I have to go to bed
Where do babies come from
Why is the sea salty
What are dreams
Why can’t I see the wind
How far away is space
Why do people get old
What was there before everything
.png)
Notice how many of these reappear, almost word for word, in the Scientific and Philosophical rooms.
big questions for young thinkers
Questions designed to be chewed over together — at the dinner table, in the car, or in the classroom. They have no single right answer, which is what makes them so good for thinking out loud. The tradition of doing philosophy with children (often called P4C) is built on exactly this kind of question.
.png)
Is it ever okay to tell a lie
What makes someone your friend
If you swapped every part of your bike for a new part, is it still the same bike
Can animals think
What is the kindest thing you can do
Are you the same person you were when you were a baby
Is it fairer if everyone gets the same, or if everyone gets what they need
Could a robot ever be your friend
The bike question is a child-sized version of an ancient puzzle about identity — the Ship of Theseus. Children get there on their own.
.png)
Children’s questions can be gloriously, accidentally funny — logical, literal and completely fearless. Half the joy is that they are often genuinely hard to answer.
funny questions children actually ask
Do fish get thirsty
Why isn’t the sky green
If I eat a watermelon seed, will a watermelon grow in my tummy
Does the Queen wear a crown in the bath
Why don’t grown-ups have to go to bed
Where does the dark go when you turn on the light
Can you taste your own tongue
Why is my poo brown
Can Daddy be a sausage
Do spiders sleep
If I dig down far enough, will I come out the other side of the world
How does the tooth fairy get into the house
Why do my fingers go wrinkly in the bath
Heading 1
difficult-to-answer questions from children
And then there are the ones that stop a grown-up in their tracks. These are the questions parents dread — not because they’re silly, but because they’re so big, so direct, and so genuinely difficult.
Why do people die
Why is there war
Why are some people poor and some people rich
Why doesn’t everyone get to live in a nice house
Where was I before I was born
Does everyone have a Daddy
Will you die one day too
Why do people do bad things
Is Father Christmas real
Why doesn’t God stop bad things happening
Why do I have to be kind to someone who isn’t kind to me
These deserve honest, gentle answers. They’re often the questions that first turn a child into a philosopher.
