For many of us childhood is a time of learning and adventure. Children have an innate sense of curiosity. They are keen to learn and try new things and experiences. These are the things we need to preserve into adulthood. Too many of us as adults lose our curiosity and settle for the mundane. It is those of us who preserve the desire to learn that become creative, have adventures and find new opportunities.

Children are prone to telling the truth, particularly at times when we really wish they wouldn’t. At times someadults could do with a little more straight talking, we often side step difficult issues, tell fibs or bend the truth to make ourselves or others feel better, not only are we deceiving the person we are talking to but ourselves as well.

The main feature of childhood is play. Only twenty years ago children often played outside, riding their bikes, playing football or tag, or just chatting. Nowadays we are more likely to restrict our children to their own home and garden, as we feel an increased need to ensure that our children are safe because of a more developed sense of threat. It is rare to see unaccompanied children in shopping centres or in cinemas. Television viewing and computer games now take up more time in childhood, this is partly due to new technology but also a change in working habits and attitudes towards children among adults. The imaginative play and co-operative play mainly happens at school or ‘play-dates’ or in homes where with siblings rather than at spontaneous gatherings. This is an opportunity lost as children now find it more difficult to share, socialise with their peers and relate to one another, especially as academic excellence is now striven for and play becomes devalued in favour of more cerebral pursuits.