What is the world like in the eyes of children?

It's bizarre and fantastical. The blue sky, white clouds, red flowers and green willows, every scene is like a postcard of colorful competition.

It's wild and unrestrained. The wind will sing, the stones will blossom, and animals and plants will smile and whisper to them.

It is a great country. They gazed up at the distant starry river, the giant buildings and the towering trees, accepting the smiles and reminders of adults bending down or lowering their heads. It is a carefree island.

They communicate with nature, play with the environment, and pray and bless every living being in the universe.

This world, this city, seems to belong to children, yet it doesn't seem so "friendly" to them.

Do you still remember how they struggled to climb onto the tall and smooth chairs in the park? Do you still remember how helpless they were in the crowded sea of people in public places? Do you still remember how bored and bewildered they looked in a place with a strong adult atmosphere? Do you still remember the timidity in their eyes when facing the congested traffic? ... Among the concrete and steel of the city, it seems that there is a lack of some joy and color.

So, what can we do for children? "Child-friendly Cities" is a global initiative proposed by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and UNICEF at the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (1996), and many countries around the world have responded enthusiastically. Regrettably, as of 2019, among the 870 cities worldwide certified as child-friendly cities, there was not a single Chinese city. Although the National Development and Reform Commission, in collaboration with 22 other departments, issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities", aiming to make child-friendliness a common concept, action, responsibility and cause of the entire society, when we talk about this term with preschool teachers, many people still show a bit of unfamiliarity with the concept of "child-friendly cities".

In fact, change is often hidden in the little things. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. What we need to do is actually very simple - lower our heads, squat down, maintain the same level of height as children, shed the heavy "adult burden", view the community, the city and the world from the perspective of children, explore more resources that promote their healthy and happy growth, develop more places that can make them cheer and jump for joy, and let children have their own communities Truly become the little master of this city.

This issue's "Hot Topics Discussion" column has invited many early childhood education experts to join hands with you to accelerate the pace of building child-friendly cities together.