Wonder: Adults vs. Kids

Children experience wonder much more easily than adults.  This is the claim of Ruth Wilson in her Exchange (May/June 2010) article, "Aesthetics and a Sense of Wonder."  She observes....

"Watch young children as it begins to snow or as they play in a pile of leaves.  You’ll witness an abundance of exuberance and joy.  You’ll see children wholly engaged in the now, and you’ll find them responding with their whole bodies.  They’ll laugh, dance, run, listen, and perhaps even taste.  Adults, on the other hand, are more likely to respond with thoughts about what comes next and will spend little time immersing themselves in the moment and in the sensory experiences of what is happening around them.  Adults see the snow and think of shoveling the driveway or become anxious about driving on icy roads.  They see the leaves and think of all the raking they’ll have to do.

"Children’s way of relating to the world corresponds to their unique way of knowing the world — that is, a way based more on wonder than analytical thought.  Children know the world — especially the natural environment — in a deep and direct manner, not as a background for events. .... Unfortunately, this way of knowing the world tends to dissipate over time.  During the early stages of cognitive development — when learning is dependent on concrete perceptual experiences — perception conducts thought.  With adults, however, perception obeys thought.  With this shift, the sense of wonder usually diminishes rather quickly.

"Adults would do well to recognize and honor children’s way of knowing and strive to keep the children’s and their own sense of wonder alive.  Wonder, as Rachel Carson says, can serve as a life-long source of joy and enrichment.  Wonder can also stimulate the imagination and serve as motivation for further learning.  It may even be possible that it is only through wonder that we can come to know the world as it really is."

Young children learn through play. All early childhood professionals know this. But today there is great pressure to push academic instruction down to the preschool years, thus diminishing children's time for play. Promoting the Value of Play CD Book incorporates articles from Exchange and the HighScope Educational Research Foundation on understanding and advocating the value of play and on making play happen in early childhood programs.

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