At what age do children typically start to ask “why” questions frequently?

Children typically begin to ask "why" questions frequently around the age of 3 years. This developmental milestone is significant because it reflects a growing curiosity and cognitive ability to seek explanations about the world around them.

At this age, children's language skills and reasoning capabilities have advanced enough to formulate questions that reveal their desire to understand cause-and-effect relationships and the reasons behind actions or events. The emergence of these questions is closely linked to their cognitive development, where they start to connect their experiences with broader concepts, thereby enhancing their learning and development.

In contrast, at 1 year, children are usually in the early stages of language acquisition and primarily engage in simple words and phrases, rather than complex questions. By 2 years, while they may be beginning to form simple sentences and expand their vocabulary, their cognitive development is not typically sufficient for the curiosity-driven "why" questioning that becomes evident by age 3. By 4 years, they might continue to ask "why" questions frequently, but the typical onset of this behavior is associated more closely with the 3-year-old stage.