The next time your children get filthy playing in the riverbed or taking apart the remote control, stop before you scold. Scientists say that this kind of play is actually like hands-on science experimentation for your kids; they’re learning to decipher the world around them through exploration. New research shows that even as kids get older, they use the trial and error of the scientific method on a daily basis to help put their world in order. Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology at the University of California at Berkeley, explains how these findings should change how we educate our children.