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Here’s an activity that will help your child appreciate the importance of sticking to his or her principles—scientific principles, that is. Choose a scientific principle—say, gravity—and help your child demonstrate how it works (by dropping a nonbreakable object). You can help your child research the principle using encyclopedias, science books, and so on. Then, imagine that the scientific principle simply ceased to exist, and ask your child to describe how the world would be different. For example, your child might point out that, without gravity, people wouldn’t be able to walk on the ground and favorite toys would fly out of their packages. Then ask what people might do to cope in this strange new world. For example, in a gravity-free world, we could tie strings to our possessions to hold onto them. Your child might even have some ideas for great inventions for navigating in a world without gravity, friction, or nighttime.
