LivingThe wonderful innocence of children

The wonderful innocence of children

Surely, during the growth of your children, you have lived situations with them in which you let yourself be amazed by their innocence .

Childhood innocence is the ability to see in an everyday act or gesture, a wonder, a starting point from which to imagine, get excited, be surprised …

In this article we talk about what innocence implies in this wonderful stage of life , why it is important to preserve part of this innocence and how we can accompany our children to grow and be more aware of life without ceasing to marvel at it.

“Childhood is a wonderful time. There is no past, there is no future; only a present that is looked at with innocence and illusion ”.

-Carla Montero-

The wonderful innocence of children – what is it?

But what really is childlike innocence? For many, it is a natural state of life for every child. An ability to get excited and to be surprised by life.

Because, if we think about it, in the heads of the little ones, things always tend to be lived as real; And if they feel that way, do you really think it matters if they are, in their head? And it is that illusions can feel like something very authentic , although sometimes they are nourished or based on the imagination.

Innocence is not, as you might think, ignorance or naivety. Nor, lack of maturity. In fact, innocence is part of children’s development, and that is why it is normal and healthy for them to be more innocent as children.

Innocence: the ability to be surprised and excited

Thus, innocence actually reflects the great capacity to be surprised , excited and excited. It implies imagination, trust in people …

And in a way, it implies a clean look when it comes to seeing and interpreting what is happening outside. At this stage, children do not yet know evil, and this makes them trust people more, and it costs them almost nothing to get excited about things, as we said.

Innocence from a psychological point of view

Evolutionary psychology, that area of psychology focused on studying the development of people throughout their lives, at a cognitive, linguistic, affective and relational level, understands innocence as a natural part of human development .

Children go through their steps from infancy, a stage of developmental immaturity, where the innocence that we discussed predominates, to a more mature stage in late adolescence and early adulthood.

Thus, from evolutionary psychology it is understood that maturity is linked to a greater capacity to understand the world and the relationships that occur in it. And what role does innocence play here?

It allows them to be brave and capable of progressively incorporating new knowledge into their day-to-day life. Why? Because, as we will see, innocence motivates them to ask , to know, to learn.

Benefits of child innocence

Why is innocence beneficial? Childhood innocence allows children to focus on the novelty but also on what no one notices, on the details, on the discoveries, which leads them to enjoy the first few times more …

For example, when they travel by plane, they know the sea, they listen to music for the first time … In addition, that innocence stimulates their curiosity and their learning. Why? Because it motivates them to ask about everything they observe , what surrounds them, what interests them …

If as parents we are receptive, we can encourage them to keep asking, because that also excites them and leads them to want to know more and more.

Evolution of innocence with maturity

As we said, as children grow, fortunately or unfortunately, little by little they shed that innocence . They are experiencing more complicated experiences, which also makes them know the most complex part of life.

And that makes them start to see things from another perspective; In a certain way, innocence takes on another color, another form. However, maturing would not have to mean abandoning the ability to get excited about things.

For this reason, we encourage you to accompany your child so that he continues to be surprised by the simplest things in life; that is preserving your wonderful innocence. But in what other ways can we preserve it? Why is it important to do it?

Innocence: the importance of preserving it

Children deserve that we preserve their innocent gaze , free of judgment and full of receptivity towards life. But is it beneficial for them to protect them from the bad things in the world?

How to go from being overprotective to the middle ground, allowing them to continue growing, acquiring tools and understanding that life is not always easy, without losing innocence?

To begin with, we can choose to provide spaces for them to continue discovering and cultivating their desire to explore and learn.

How to preserve innocence in children

One way to accompany them in their preservation of innocence, while continuing to enhance their learning, is through reading. The first books you will read will actually be stories.

Stories with many images. But little by little the text will appear in books, which will bring them closer to knowledge and wisdom.

And that initial innocence, sometimes tinged with ignorance, will evolve into a more conscious innocence, or perhaps a lesser degree of innocence. But it is healthy; it is good for them to be more and more aware of the reality of things.

What else can help us preserve innocence in children? Some key ideas that can help us on this path are:

  • Encourage them to keep asking questions (especially if they show interest)
  • Encourage new activities
  • Accompany them in their learning
  • Encourage their autonomy
  • Solve the doubts they have, without lying

The importance of also promoting responsibility

Through this “middle ground” that we said, between the overprotection of the little ones and the excessive rectitude, we find a way of educating based on accompanying the children, stimulating their feeling of responsibility and their awareness of things.

Thus, it is not about wanting to turn our son into an eternal Peter Pan, installed in an endless childhood. It is about fostering their enthusiasm for things while accompanying them in their growth and maturity .

Accompany them through trial and error

Perhaps the key is to rehearse through trial and error. As they do, they discover the world through exploration , trying, knowing, learning, moving forward, making mistakes …

Little by little, they themselves will immerse themselves in a stage where there are no longer so many networks to support them.

And they must learn to hold on to them, even if innocence is a little behind, as well as to live being aware that things are not always as expected.

Therefore, they must develop skills such as tolerance for frustration. And what we say, we insist, is not definitively abandoning innocence; It is growing up knowing that it changes its shape .

Photos | Cover (pexels), Image 1 (pexels), Image 2 (pexels), Image 3 (pexels)

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