Statistics is one of the most widely used topics for everyday life in the school mathematics curriculum. Unfortunately, the statistics taught in schools focuses on calculations and procedures before students have a chance to see it as a useful and powerful tool. Researchers have found that a dominant view of statistics is as an assortment of tools (calculations and graphs), with few seeing it as a means to understand a complex world. In this article, "informal statistical inference" is introduced as an approach to teaching statistics. This idea has now been researched from primary school through university classrooms around the world. Informal statistical inference can help students better appreciate the usefulness of statistics for both everyday life and future careers. This article discusses how informal statistical inference differs from the way statistics is usually taught. A unit from a middle school classroom illustrates how the class learned statistics while making informal inferences. The author provides ideas for turning a regular statistics lesson into one that lets students make inferences.