For my own son at a certain point I stumbled upon the strategy of not providing him with real answers (most probably because I myself didn't know the answers) b

For my own son at a certain point I stumbled upon the strategy of not providing him with real answers (most probably because I myself didn't know the answers) but instead sharing in his curiosity with him and saying things like "wow that's interesting, I've never thought about that. Maybe this happens because of X, or Y. Do you think it could be because of Z?" Like Joan quoted above - at some point in their age providing answers takes the fun out of things for them. Or rather closes their curiosity and inclination to further think about the question. I feel now my job is to encourage them to not limit themselves and develop more independence in thinking about things themselves.