This paper emphasizes the possibilities and effects of using research approach (discovering scientific concepts through play) as one of the innovative ways of teaching pre-school children. Apart from the fundamental characteristics and importance of using research approach, the paper also presents the results of an empirical research aimed at the influence of different ways of implementing focused activities on children's motivation and curiosity as well as developing thinking and reasoning skills. The research was carried out in the field of Basics of Science, specifically contents about magnetism and it was performed using a method of theoretical analysis, experimental research method (experiment with parallel groups) and interviewing technique. The research results show the existence of differences in children's motivation for discovering scientific concepts through play and their curiosity. On the other hand, their thinking and reasoning skills were not measured in this research because it was not possible in their age due to their inability to read and write.