“What comes next?”: Parent–child questions during puzzle play and children’s math skills in China and the United States.

= 51) were observed during puzzle play, and children completed math assessments. Across question form, function, style, and content, we observed differences in parent questioning between the two samples: Parents in the American sample tended to ask scaffolding questions to engage children in collaborative problem solving, while parents in the Chinese sample more often adopted a structured pedagogical style, using guidance questions to steer children toward efficient task completion. Children's question-asking behaviors were comparable across the two samples, suggesting shared expression of epistemic curiosity. We observed both differences and similarities between the two samples in the associations between questioning and math skills: Parent scaffolding questions were positively associated with children's math performance in the Chinese sample, but not in the American sample, while children's own math-related questioning was positively related to math skills in both samples. These findings contribute to a growing understanding of how adult-child interactions support early learning and highlight the need to consider both cultural context and child agency in fostering early math development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).