50 Times Kids Demonstrated Incredible Kindness With These Wholesome Acts (New Pics)

Kids are just kids, they say. And many adults deem the little ones distracted, impulsive, and somewhat lacking a sense of reality. This usually unintentional and often unconscious attitude towards children stops us from really getting to know their incredible minds and unique sense of the world. Even the most complex type of emotions like empathy and kindness find their place in even the smallest ones of us.

To find out more about children’s incredible minds, Bored Panda reached out to Susan Engel, an award-winning book author and senior lecturer at the Dept of Psychology and Gaudino Scholar at Williams College, Massachusetts.

According to Susan, all babies are born curious and are equipped with antenna for detecting novelty. The only difference from adults is that newborns are curious about everything. “A two-year-old wants to know about a little about everything, a 12 or 22-year-old wants to know a lot about some things, and the more they know, the more sophisticated their questions are,” she explained.

Meanwhile, as we grow up, our sense of “curiosity tends to get narrower (zero in on specific topics, phenomena, conundrums, etc.), and for some, their curiosity gets simultaneously deeper,” Susan explained.

“Conversations, exploration, and tinkering, all essential activities,” are all the things that nurture children’s inborn thirst for the world around them as they grow to experience it. Susan suggests giving children “lots of time and opportunity to explore, to noodle around with objects, and to talk, however odd and circuitous the conversation may seem.”

Often, adults stop encouraging kids' enquiries as they don’t really know the answer, but it would be best to do the contrary. Susan said that the important things parents could do are really take care of themselves and “nurture their own curiosity,” because “children are incredibly responsive to role models.”

Their ability to learn from role models applies to all the other complex traits, like empathy and kindness. According to scientists, “prosocial behavior,” which is essentially showing helpfulness and kindness to others, emerges as early as the second year of life. Toddlers can bite, snatch, and shout at people, but they can also be gentle and comforting.

Scientists believe that prosocial behaviors first manifest at one year old with basic things like showing and giving. Quite simply, if “these actions receive positive responses from parents, babies’ motivation for prosocial action is enhanced,” explains Dr. Celia Brownell at the University of Pittsburgh.

Moreover, if toddlers see their parents acting kind towards one another, they are much more likely to engage in similar behavior. Actively discussing emotions and needs with their toddlers is likely to also nurture prosocial behavior, and when combined with a child’s inner sense of curiosity, it will surely pave a solid path to kind and open-minded individuals as they grow up.