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Questions That Get Kids Curious About Nature
Try this easy activity with a funny name!
© Mick Thompson
Brianna Amingwa is a birder, environmental educator, and mom of two bird-loving boys. In this episode, Brianna shares one of her favorite, tried-and-true techniques for sparking curiosity with kids outside. This easy activity has a funny name: INIWIRMO. It’s an acronym for I Notice. I Wonder. It Reminds Me Of. INIWIRMO works by inviting kids and adults to turn each phrase into a statement about something they observe in nature.
BirdNote®
Questions That Get Kids Curious About Nature
Written by Brianna Amingwa
This is BirdNote.
I’m Brianna Amingwa, a birder, environmental educator, and mom of two.
Today, I want to share one of my favorite, tried-and-true techniques for sparking curiosity with kids outside. This easy activity has a funny name: INIWIRMO. It’s an acronym for I Notice. I Wonder. It Reminds Me Of. INIWIRMO!
Developed at The Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, California, INIWIRMO works by inviting kids and adults to turn each phrase into a statement about something that they observe in nature.
For example, as I walk to my car to buckle up my kids in their carseats, I hear an American Goldfinch overhead, singing “potato chip! Potato chip!”
[American Goldfinch “potato chip” call]
I notice how it flies in a bouncing pattern, rising high and dipping low like a rollercoaster as it calls.
I wonder if this bright yellow bird might be calling its mate to suggest they stop by my patio birdbath.
It reminds me of summertime and seeing my kids run full speed through the grass, smiling and shouting, just as joyful and free.
[American Goldfinch “potato chip” call]
Next time you’re outside with a kid and you spot a bird, try asking these 3 questions:
What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
What does it remind you of?
Learn more about INIWIRMO — and other ways to connect kids with nature — at our website, BirdNote.org. I’m Brianna Amingwa.
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. American Goldfinch ML251971631 recorded by Jay McGowan.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2026 BirdNote October 2026
Narrator: Brianna Amingwa
ID# AmingwaB-02-2026-10-01 AmingwaB-02
Reference:
https://beetlesproject.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/I-Notice-I-Wonder-It-Reminds-Me-Of-1.png
Brianna Amingwa
Writer NarratorSights & Sounds
