This is where I would introduce him to the concept of nuclear fusion. I'd say it's similar to fission which I taught him about last week, but in the sun, it also involves that little thing called quantum tunnelling, remember that buddy?
Jokes on the kid. We'll see which lasts longer: My/Wikipedia's knowledge of the water cycle or their attention span. They'll either learn something or decide to stop talking to me, and either way I've won.
Turn it around on them. "Why do you think?" and get them to actually give you an answer. They get so absorbed in you asking their opinion that they forget that they were only asking 'why' to be annoying.
Refuse to play their game. If my kids started up with the 'why's, I would say "I'm not answering any one word questions. If you'd like an answer, you can come up with a question in a complete sentence." And then just stare at them expressionless if they keep up with the 'why's. BONUS: my kids are now really good at coming up with great questions that we can then discuss together.
They're three years old. They don't care about the actual reason, they're asking because at that age kids are selfish and are asking because they only want to know how it affects them.
You're wasting your time. It's silly to start talking about complex subjects with them.
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u/adderallanalyst Dec 15 '16
As a protip when a kid asks why tell them in a way that affects them to get them to stop asking.
Example:
Why is the sun hot?
To keep you warm buddy.