Let me be honest: you don’t really make your baby a nerd. You just create the conditions where their natural curiosity can run wild — and then get out of the way. As a parent of three, I’ve had a front-row seat to watching tiny humans fall in love with dinosaurs, space, robots, and books thicker than their arms. Here’s what actually works.
1. Read to Them Before They Understand a Single Word
Start early. Like, embarrassingly early. I was reading Goodnight Moon to a baby who couldn’t even focus on my face yet. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that books become a normal part of their world from day one. Board books, picture books, even your own novel out loud — the rhythm of language and the habit of reading together is what sticks.
By the time my oldest was two, “one more book” was the most-used phrase in our house. Mission accomplished.
2. Let Them Get Obsessed
Kids go through phases. Dinosaurs. Trains. Bugs. Space. Whatever it is, lean into it hard. When my middle kid decided she was obsessed with the solar system at age 3, we didn’t just buy a poster — we got library books, watched rocket launches on YouTube, built a scale model out of fruit, and named every bath toy after a planet.
Obsession is just curiosity with momentum. Don’t redirect it. Feed it.
3. Choose Toys That Make Them Think
You don’t need to spend a fortune, but be intentional about what’s in the toy bin. Some favorites that have survived all three of my kids:
- Magna-Tiles — open-ended building that sneaks in geometry
- LEGO Duplo → LEGO — the gateway drug to engineering
- Simple puzzles — start with chunky wooden ones, level up from there
- Play-Doh and art supplies — creativity is nerd fuel
- A magnifying glass — costs $3, provides infinite backyard entertainment
The common thread? Toys that don’t tell your kid what to do with them. Open-ended play builds the kind of brain that asks “what if?”
4. Be a Nerd in Front of Them
This is the big one. Kids imitate what they see. If they see you reading, they’ll want to read. If they see you excited about a weird science fact, they’ll get excited too. If you geek out about a new board game, they’ll want to play.
You don’t have to perform it. Just don’t hide it. Let your kids see you being genuinely curious about the world. That’s the real cheat code.
5. Ask Questions Instead of Giving Answers
When your toddler asks “why is the sky blue?” it’s tempting to just answer. But try this instead: “That’s a great question — why do you think it’s blue?” Then explore it together. Google it. Watch a video. Try an experiment.
You’re not teaching them the answer. You’re teaching them that figuring things out is fun. That’s the whole nerd mindset in one sentence.
6. Limit Passive Screen Time, Maximize Active Screen Time
I’m not anti-screen. But there’s a massive difference between your kid zoning out to random YouTube autoplay and your kid using an app to build a virtual rocket or watching a David Attenborough documentary with you.
Set the defaults to curious content. Our go-to shows: StoryBots, Wild Kratts, Numberblocks, and Magic School Bus. When they do watch, watch with them and talk about it.
7. Make “I Don’t Know” a Celebration
In our house, “I don’t know” is followed by “let’s find out.” Every single time. Not knowing something isn’t embarrassing — it’s an adventure. This tiny mindset shift is maybe the most important thing on this list.
Nerds aren’t people who know everything. They’re people who love finding out.
The Bottom Line
Raising a nerd isn’t about flashcards or baby Einstein or drilling your infant on the periodic table. It’s about building a home where curiosity is the default setting. Read together. Explore together. Geek out together. The rest takes care of itself.
And trust me — the first time your 4-year-old corrects you on a dinosaur fact, you’ll know it’s working.