After the twentieth “What’s that?” and the fiftieth “Why?”, we parents and teachers just want the questions to go away. However, asking questions is a key learning strategy. This second curiosity song is a playful sample of asking questions to get answers. The various animals in the jungle model questioning from a sense of curiosity and getting answers. We want children to experience the process, ask questions to learn. The love of learning begins early in life.

I'm Curious (2:39)

There was a horse who saw a zebra
And said, "I'm curious about your stripes."
The zebra said, "They help me when I'm running
For safety. They might just save my life."

Then the horse and zebra saw a giraffe, and said,
"We're curious why you have a long neck."
The giraffe said, "So I can eat leaves way up in the trees,
And I don't even have to stretch."

Then the horse and zebra and giraffe
Saw a hippopotamus, and said,
"We're curious about your thick skin."
The hippo said, "It helps me when I'm floating in the water.
It keeps the outside out and the inside in."

Then the horse and zebra and giraffe and hippopotamus saw an elephant, and said,
"We're curious about your long nose."
The elephant said, "It's a trunk and I use it to breathe and eat and drink and lift,
And sometimes as a water hose."

Then the horse and zebra and giraffe snd hippo and elephant saw a monkey
And said, "We're curious about your tail."
The monkey said, "It helps me climb and swing and play and sometimes hang around.
I can live in the trees all my life and never touch the ground."

Then the horse, zebra, giraffe, hippopotamus, elephant and monkey
Saw a boy and girl, and said,
"We're curious all about you."
The boy and girl saw the animals and said,
"We're curious about you too."

So for the rest of the day they worked and played
And asked and answered the many ways
They all were different and all were the same
And all belonged in this world

The horse and zebra and giraffe and hippopotamus
And elephant and monkey and curious, confident,
Constantly, questioning boy and girl.