I love to watch my four year old daughter, Josie, as she experiences new things, or even as she experiences some of the same things over and over and over again.  I love her sense of wonderment, her ability to notice things that pass by adult unnoticed, and the speed with which she learns new things.

Wonderment

I’ve seen the sense of wonderment many times, but I took special note of it recently and snapped a few pictures.  Here is one of us watching the Nighttime Spectacular Parade at Disney.  Kids are able to buy into the fantasy and just accept it.  No analyzing it, no need to question it, just watch in amazement and enjoy it to the fullest.

Here is one of Josie at the Monster Truck show.  The trucks were racing around the track, very loud, and catching big air over the crushed cars.  It’s quite a site for adults, but for kids, it’s that same world of fantasy.  This time, the fantasy is a little easier for the adults to buy into, because it’s kind of a real fantasy.  Seeing giant trucks roll over those puny cars and fly through the air.  (Something I’ve personally imagined as I sit in traffic on the interstate.)

It’s fun to just watch kids as they in turn are watching something.  I wonder what goes through their heads as they see Cinderella roll by in her lighted sparkling carriage, or as they see huge trucks blasting around a course.

Observation

Then there is the power of observation held by children.  They notice things that most adults take for granted.  I can’t count the number of times she’s commented on something that I was completely oblivious too.  The moon is one of my favorites.  It’s happened several times where we’ll walk down to get the mail in the evening, or sometimes while taking the trash to the curb and she’ll point toward the sky and say “THE MOON!”  One of the best times was during the day, when she knew that clearly the moon was supposed to come out at night, yet there is was high in the afternoon sky.   Staring up into the sky is something I love to do in the cool evening air, but even so, I often fail to notice the starry sky during the course of my normal routines.

That’s just one example of many that seem to happen almost daily.  From noticing things on signs as we hurry down the interstate to noticing butterfly flittering about the flowering bushes, kids just see things that adults rarely pay attention to.  Here are a few pictures she snapped all by herself with her camera.  It will give you a little perspective.  (I posted some a few weeks back also, click here to see them.)

Learning

And learning… I cannot put into words how amazing the rapidity of learning comes to a child.  From the moment they are born, they are a sponge made for soaking up knowledge.  Can you imagine learning a new language, learning to talk, or learning to walk as an adult?  To me, it would be a lot of frustration.  To a child it’s a brand new adventure, full of excitement and fun.

One area where I found an immensely interesting comparison is the use of a computer.  Most kids I’ve seen are more than willing to jump on a computer and click around to their hearts content.  They quickly learn how to navigate using the mouse and keyboard, and very rapidly find their favorite activities.  I’ve known many families take an old computer and set it up for the kids.  We did the same, and loaded a Fisher Price Cool School Keyboard and a kid safe web-browser named Kido’z.  The keyboard comes with a bunch of learning activities and the Kido’z web browser had a custom interface that links to free kid appropriate content on the web.

Now, compare that to a grandparent jumping on a computer for the first time.  I’m not sure what the difference is.  Perhaps there is a fear of breaking something or a different predetermined idea of how things should work, but it seems the older you are, the slower you are to master that magical mysterious device known as a computer.

Lessons Learned

I’m sure you can garner your own lessons here, but I’m going to throw some up that I have personally experienced.

1) Sometimes it’s good to give up the analytical mind and just enjoy yourself.  For me, this is especially true when watching movies.  Most movies are much more enjoyable if I can suspend my preconceived notion of how things work in real life, and just enjoy the “movie world” for a couple hours.

2) Make a concerted effort to notice things.  Every once in a while, I’ll just think to myself, “Self, let’s notice some things.”  Then I’ll look around and take in all the wonderful parts of my world.  It’s a fun exercise, and as a side benefit improves your ability to be more observant in daily life.

3) Try something new. I tried an experiment a couple of years ago where I would try something new every day.  It could be something simple or complex, as long as it was new.  The easiest was trying new foods or new restaurants.  I love to eat, so this was easy, and I actually found some new favorite dishes.

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