Why, oh why, oh why?
Why does a person go to the barber shop? (…basketball game, library, bookstore, friend’s house, restaurant, mechanic, doctor, card shop, etc.)
Why do we brush our hair? (…wear coats in winter, wear gloves, make our beds, put our toys away, have mailboxes, collect coupons, go to fast food restaurants, sing along with the radio, eat three meals a day, carry umbrellas, close windows in the winter, turn lights off when we leave the house, use potholders, smile, say thank you, make birthday cakes, buy gifts for family members, read the newspaper, watch American Idol, learn to play an instrument, keep extra stuff in the basement, keep photographs for years and years, use dictionaries, forget things, take a nap, sleep at night and stay awake during the day, set alarm clocks, wear seat belts, put a stamp on a letter, step over puddles when it rains, turn off the oven when we are done cooking, hold our breath when we dive in the water, cut the grass)
Why do cars have lights? (…tables have tablecloths, police cars have red lights, beds have sheets, picture frames have glass, stoves have lights, refrigerators have lights, pencils have erasers, markers have lids, tissues come in a box, houses have windows, schools have bells, hallways in a school have water fountains, houses have numbers, stairs have railings, pants have pockets, police officers have whistles, lights have switches, shirts have buttonholes, socks have stripes, shoes have shoelaces, apples have seeds, houses have smoke alarms, houses have shutters, bathtubs have drains, firefighters have helmets)
Why is it easier to ride a bicycle than a unicycle? (…answer questions on a test than discuss the answers in a group, write a short story compared to a poem, speak in another language, play a drum than to play a violin, travel in central Pennsylvania than in Alaska, drive on a smooth road than a dirt road, add than subtract, walk than ski cross country)
Why don’t we walk in the street? (…eat without washing hands, leave the car running in a parking lot, run across the street without looking, tell someone they are fat, chew gum when we sleep, eat out every night)
Why doesn’t everyone win the lottery? (…win American Idol, get the same gifts for their birthday, live in the same type of house, ride bicycles to work and school, recycle, use a dishwasher, go to the beach, wear the same clothing, have the same eye color, have a swimming pool, eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, go to jail, get an A in math, )
Why isn’t gum sold by single pieces? Why are there commercials on tv? Why does it cost money to have internet? Why do people change to a new cell phone when the old one still works? Why do they put inserts in magazines? Why do stores have sales? Why do we have a president? Why do other countries have different kinds of leaders? Why do people watch the news? Why do babies sleep in cribs?
Why don’t we put ice cream in the oven? (…put shoes on the couch, jump on the bed, lay papers on the stove, leave keys in car, drinks by the computer, magnets by the television, gum in our pockets, have school on the weekends, why don’t boys wear dresses, why don’t boats have wheels)
Why do children do homework? (…play soccer, read, watch movies, play video games, visit grandparents, go to school, listen to their parents, repeat things they have heard other people say, sharpen pencils, whine, argue with sisters and brothers, grow-up and move away from home, look up to someone, make good choices, make poor choices, ride in a bus, think, hurry up, like to stay up late)
Why do people work? (…volunteer, go to college, clean their house, dream, play games, talk on the phone, drop things, get angry, shop, give money to charity)
Why do leaves fall off of trees? Why do squirrels collect nuts? Why do bears hibernate? Why do deer run across the road? Why does snow melt? Why does ice form faster on the road than on the grass? Why do most ice cream shops close in the winter? Why are fire drill alarms so loud?
Why do house numbers sometimes skip numbers?
Do you ask yourself “why” questions every day?
Maybe you can think of some of your own “why” questions to add to this list: