Helping Your Child See the Bigger Picture

One Saturday, I took my son to a small art exhibition in a quiet part of town. He didn’t look impressed — “Why are we here? These paintings are… weird.”

Instead of explaining, I asked, “What do you think the artist was feeling when they painted this?” He shrugged at first. But after we read the artist’s story — about leaving their home country, missing family, and finding hope through color — his expression changed.

“I didn’t think about it like that,” he said softly. That was the moment I realised: broadening a child’s perspective doesn’t happen in one big life lesson. It happens in a hundred small moments where you invite them to see more than what’s in front of them.

Why a Broader View Matters

Children naturally see the world from their own standpoint — it’s how we all start out. But if they grow up without being nudged to explore other viewpoints, they risk:

• Making snap judgments without empathy

• Struggling to adapt when faced with unfamiliar ideas or people

• Missing opportunities to learn from others

When a child learns to pause and ask, “What else could be true here?”, they gain a skill that will serve them for life — in friendships, school, work, and relationships.

Small but Powerful Ways to Open Their Mind

1. Use Everyday Encounters as Discussion Starters

A news story, a disagreement at school, a character in a movie — these are springboards. Instead of telling them what you think, try:

“What’s their side of the story?”

“Why might they feel that way?”

2. Invite Them Into Different Worlds

You don’t need expensive travel to broaden a child’s world — just variety.

• Try food from a new culture together and learn its origins.

• Visit a religious or cultural event you’re not familiar with.

• Watch documentaries about people living lives unlike theirs.

3. Model Curiosity, Not Certainty

If they see you say, “I don’t know — let’s find out together,” they learn that it’s okay not to have all the answers. If they see you respectfully disagree with someone, they learn that differences don’t have to divide.

4. Read Stories That Make Them Feel

Fiction is one of the safest ways for a child to live another life. Choose books where characters wrestle with challenges unlike their own — then talk about how it felt to step into that character’s shoes.

Planting Seeds for the Future

Your child may not thank you now for those “strange” outings, those long talks, or those times you asked them to consider another view. But over time, those seeds grow. They’ll be the teen who asks, “What do you think?” before giving their opinion. They’ll be the adult who makes fairer decisions, builds bridges, and sees the bigger picture.

In a world that can feel increasingly divided, raising a child who can see beyond themselves isn’t just a gift to them — it’s a gift to everyone they’ll meet.