Your students aren't disengaged. They're just waiting for something worth thinking about.

Practical tools and a short course for K-2 educators who are done with surface-level learning, and ready to build classrooms where children actually want to think.

It's your curiosity that nurtures a love for learning and curiosity in the children you teach

YOU are the most important resource in the room. Your curiosity fuels theirs!

Get the free e-guide

Download your FREE guide

It's the educator's curiosity that inspires curiosity in the children they teach

Why Blooming Curious?

This is for the educator who knows there's more.

You teach K-2 in a classroom or at home - and you want your lessons to mean something, not just cover something.
You've looked at the children in front of you, and known, in your gut, that what you're delivering isn't asking enough of them
You want children to leave your lessons more curious than when they arrived - not just more informed
You are willing to do the work and change how you teach - you just need a clear starting point
You believe, as I do, that early childhood is too important to waste on busy work

If that's you, everything here was made with you in mind.

What genuinely curious learning looks like in K-2

Using picture books, nature, and hands-on inquiry to create learning experiences that children actually remember - and that still meet every curriculum requirement you have

Lightbulb - developing imagination and creativity

Imagination and creativity sparked by real questions

World and magnifying glass - opportunities for critical thinking and inquiry

Critical thinking built through inquiry, not just instruction

Paper airplane - opportunities for playful learning

Playful hands-on exploration children want to come back to

Book with ABC Icon - nurture a love for reading

A genuine love for reading and story

You don't need a new curriculum. You need a different way of using the one you have.

Your starting point is wherever you are right now.

Whether you want something practical to try this week, or a step-by-step course to change how you teach, there's a clear path here...

Start here - it's FREE

10 Low-prep curiosity starters you can use as soon as tomorrow.

Download the FREE guide

Integrated picture book lesson plans that integrate STEM, and inquiry based learning

Ready-made Lessons

Done for you integrated picture book lessons that weave curiosity, inquiry, and curriculum outcomes together.

See the Lesson Plans

Tools and strategies for educators to turn any unit into a curiosity-driven learning

Plan your own units

Turn any unit into a curiosity-driven one. Templates, prompt cards, planning tools, and a complete sample unit - all in one download.

Get the Curiosity Toolkit

Learn how to move towards curiosity-driven learning and away from compliance- driven learning with Curiosity Without Chaos short course

Go all the way in

The step-by-step course for K-2 educators who want to fully understand - and confidently run - curiosity-led learning. 5 Modules. Self paced.

Find out more here

What are educators are saying

"Edwina's lesson plans are so well thought out and simple to follow. I love that she focuses on hands on learning and uses alternatives to worksheets. I also love how all the curriculum is linked so I don't have to think about it as a homeschool mum. I highly recommend Edwina and her curiosity approach to leaning for children. Her many years in teaching is evident in her lesson plans and I think she is invaluable to home education moving forward and a wealth of knowledge."

— Natalie Rees (Home Educator)
"Edwina delivers very professional units of work that anyone from the most experienced, to the at home parent can deliver to their children with confidence and ease, knowing that their little learner will be engaged and covering the Australian curriculum content. I will definitely be purchasing more of these units and look forward to many more lessons to do with my children at home, and in the classroom."

— Nadia Bosco (Classroom Educator)
"I found Edwina's lesson plan for The Tiger Who Came to Tea to be an invaluable resource to support my classroom teaching. Everything I needed was at my fingertips. I loved the inquiry-based learning underpinning the activities, the clear links to the curriculum and the integration across multiple subject areas. The worksheets were attractive and the suggested activities were highly engaging for my students. I found them easy to prepare and set up utilising resources that I already had on hand. I throughly recommend Edwina's lesson plans for any educator wanted to inject some more zest into their teaching."

— Danielle Roberts (Classroom Educator)

FAQs about inquiry and picture book driven lessons

Got Questions?

Click to browse frequently asked questions about curriculum and why picture books and inquiry do all the heavy lifting.

Check out the FAQs

Edwina Cottino Founder of Blooming Curious

Hi, I'm Edwina

After more than a decade in early childhood education — first in traditional schools, now teaching homeschool kindergarteners in the classical tradition — I have always invested most of my energy in the hook.

Get the opening right, give children something genuinely worth wondering about, and the rest of the lesson takes care of itself.

In my experience, when children are on task they stay on task — because they actually want to be there.

But I have walked into other classrooms and seen something different. Worksheets handed out before a single question has been asked. Children going through motions. That quiet flatness that tells you nothing real is happening.

Those children weren't incapable. They just hadn't been given a reason to care yet.

The gap between what early childhood education could be, and what it too often is - that gap is what Blooming Curious exists to close.

Not by adding more to your plate. By giving you a different lens through which to plan, to question, and to teach.

You are the most important resource in the room. Your curiosity fuels theirs.

Browse the full collection

Integrated Picture Book Lesson Plans

Inquiry Learning Resources

Teaching Tools and Graphic Organisers

Blooming Curious Podcast - for the love of learning in K-2

Tune in to the Blooming Curious podcast

Tune in every week for conversations and strategies that will give you the confidence to integrate curiosity inspired learning into your everyday lessons to foster a lifelong love for learning in the children you teach - no matter which curriculum you use!

Plain talk about what actually works in early childhood classrooms and homes. No jargon!

Check out all the episodes

Listen to the latest Blooming Curious episode

What people think about the podcast

Five Star Content

Top notch, I highly recommend this podcast to homeschool parents and early learning teachers. Just lovely! 👍☺️
Dori2509
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Blooming Brilliant Podcast about Joyful Active Learning

This podcast is brilliant and so inspiring. The passion that, Edwina, oozes puts a smile on my face when I listen.
She not only is inspiring but practical too.
Her suggestions come with real anecdotes that inspire action. She shares her passion with such enthusiasm that this should be mandatory for all teachers AND legislators to listen as part of weekly Professional development.
Link it to your playlist now!!
Chaarli
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Inquiry, Curiosity, and Outdoors for Youngers

Love the concrete strategies Edwina is giving to help inspire curiosity in our young learners. She's also showing us how we empower learners by including them in their own learning. Give it a listen if you are a teacher or parent looking to get youngers outside and curious!
Ryan@SynCap
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Great Educational Podcast

Great thoughts from Edwina. She's easy to listen to and provides very thought provoking content. I've been a teacher for 33 years now in the UK and really value her ideas on inquiry based learning. I shall definitely be downloading her 101 resource as I've been put in reception next year- and dreading it! (But trying to change my mindset).
Deeboase1
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Where Evidence Meets Practice

I really enjoy Edwina's podcast. She has a knack for taking big educational concepts and breaking them down into smaller, bite sized pieces of information. I particularly like that she is able to use evidence to unpack certain myths that are floating around (particularly about EDI vs. inquiry). A wonderful listen!
Preekles
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What people are saying about the Get Curious newsletter

I am so fortunate that a friend recommended Get Curious to me. I love the ideas, suggestions and the way it gets me thinking about how I can do things differently in my classroom.
— Michelle Lloyd
I LOVE your newsletter and everything you are doing to inspire not only our children, but us as teachers to lead a life that is full of inquiry. Your newsletter offers weekly reminders of how to "get curious" every day. I get a lot of emails each day, but I open your newsletter up because I know on the other end I am getting amazing content that is filled with stories, ideas, and resources. I love your style and can feel your joy and fun, which is contagious. Thank you for all you do
— Victoria Hackett of Outdoor Classrooms
I open most of the newsletters. I do like to have a scan though to see what’s coming up on the podcast, what’s new and mostly looking for whatever is relevant to my thinking about my job with preschool children that week.
— Shayne Fitzgerald

Blog Posts to Get You Wondering

How to Keep Children Curious

How do we keep children curious, and is it even important for learning? There is much research around the benefits of curiosity for learning, and its impact on social and emotional development in young children. Have you noticed that school aged chi...

Best Strategies for Engaging Children and Keeping them Curious

How many of us stop to take a moment to consider what it is about our strategies, our practice, our provocations, our environment or even our interactions with children that nurture and drive their engagement and curiosity? In today’s faced past wor...

Preparing Children for Future-Ready Learning with the Curiosity Toolkit

Curiosity drives every human to learn and explore, and make sense of the world around them. One could argue that curiosity is THE trait that future proofs learning. Without it, we are boring, empty shells without any drive for learning or discovery....

Get your free "How to Nurture Natural Curiosity" e-guide 💫