Over the past month of staying at home, my 4-year-old, Lilah, has asked me a lot of questions. We have explored dozens of animals, from the mucus of a tree frog’s foot pads to the mysterious tusk of the narwhal. Lilah has wondered why a volcano "interrupts," how rocks have sparkles, and why she can’t eat the boozy cookies I made the other night. Yes, I have even been graphically asked about how babies are made. 

Lilah has always been a curious child and this time at home has simply intensified her wonder. I try to meet every question with my own curiosity. Answering when I can, but also browsing through my available resources to find answers. Despite being avid library users and an Anythinker myself, my family rarely used the library’s wealth of online content until now. My game plan with Lilah during this time at home was to explore things in exciting ways. I came up with topics and we dove right in, using a variety of supplies and culminating in a variety of messes. 

To introduce Lilah to amazing women of history, I have been borrowing materials from Hoopla. To bring these women to life we completed activities like dressing up as RBG, creating a self-portrait and eating astronaut ice cream while watching Astronaut Chris Hadfield’s Space Kitchen. We maxed out our April borrowing limit with the following:

• Astronaut and Physicist Sally Ride by Margaret J. Goldstein
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Jonah Winter
• Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos by Monica Brown

Finding out facts about animals became a mission in our stay-at-home life. Starting with some favorites, we made slime to represent tree frog mucus and used sand to learn about the nesting habits of the male Japanese pufferfish. Hide-and-seek games became more about camouflage, and I was somehow always the predator in every situation. When it came time for us to choose a new animal in which to envelop ourselves, Kanopy Kids provided us with:

• Kratt’s Creatures
• Zoboomafoo
• Animals

Next time your curious child comes to you with a question that you can’t answer, try not to just say "I don’t know." Instead, try "Let’s find out together." Your kid will gain some knowledge and you will be so much better at trivia. If you need something to occupy your child as you attempt to be at home working during a crisis, check out Hoopla's read-a-long stories and books on film or head to Kanopy Kids for some quality children's programming. So, what questions have been brought to you by your kids? Bonus points if you navigated them while using the bathroom, mowing the lawn, or setting off a smoke alarm for the third time this month.