There is growing evidence that children develop science-related interests in early childhood, before they enter school, and that these interests may have long-term implications for science participation and achievement. Although researchers have made headway in describing interest development in the preschool years, little is currently known about the proximal processes influencing early childhood interests and how these relate to other more distal factors, such as parent beliefs and attitudes. To address this gap, I conducted a two-phase, mixed-method study, involving an initial cross