Curiosity, while it's still loud
A 2007 paper analysed thousands of questions from kids aged 1 to 5 and found something that probably matches your day-to-day. By age 5, around 30% of a kid's questions are explanation-seeking. The total averaged roughly 76 information-seeking questions per hour. We unpacked the research on the why phase in a separate post.
Seventy-six per hour. That's the engine these games are built for.
Noticing as a habit
Wonder Walk follows a baby owl through a series of small scenes. Your kid spots something that doesn't quite belong, taps to investigate, and discovers what it is. Notice, investigate, find. The shape mirrors how a 3-year-old already approaches a new room or a new park.
Tiny Train works on a related impulse. Build the train, choose what goes in each carriage, deliver it to an animal waiting at the next stop. The discovery is who's around the bend.
Neither of these games is teaching curiosity. Kids already have it. What they're doing is giving it a satisfying, low-stakes loop to practise indoors. And attention isn't broken when the task fits: a slow discovery game tends to hold a 2-to-6-year-old in a way a fast cartoon doesn't, because they're looking for something instead of being shown something.
What's here
Wonder Walk and Tiny Train. Each one ends with a small prompt for the next walk or train ride: something specific to look out for in real life.