‘Christmas will happen’: young kids understand virus, but are optimistic

Young children say coronavirus is everywhere but will soon be over, with drawings showing social distancing from parents.

Child’s-eye view: ‘Here is my hand covered in germs’.

Coronavirus may have stopped visits to the grandparents but it won’t deter Santa, young children believe, according to a new study which had three- to five-year-olds talking about COVID-19.

Members of the Front Project, an independent organisation advocating­ early childhood edu­ca­tion, interviewed children in NSW and Victoria about their understanding of the virus and how they felt. One four-year-old drew it as a green blob in a circle with lines spreading outwards. “It’s deadly and everywhere. I had to stay inside,” they said.

An analysis of the study will be published later this month in journal Australian Educational Leader and author Danielle Cogley said the children showed a clear understanding of what a virus was and the importance of social distancing, and were also able to express­ what they were missing out on because of lockdowns.

“It’s amazing just how much informatio­n they can gain when we don’t think they’re listening to the television,” Ms Cogley said.

A five-year-old l drew a picture of herself and said she was a “little sad” she couldn’t go to an indoor play centre and that she also wanted to see her grandparents and go to America and New Zealand.

“No one can fix it,” she said. “My brother thinks it won’t ever go away. I think it will go away. At least we still get to play with our toys, and Christmas will happen and I love going to kinder, but not ballet yet. I’m happy I can do stuff.”

Another five-year-old drew people standing apart from each other and said there might be a “little bit of the coronavirus” but it was nearly finished. “When there is no coronavirus then we can get close again. We can’t see much people now,” the child said.

Ms Cogley said during the previous­ and current lockdowns many of the children said they missed social activities such as going to kinder or visiting grandparents, but were still optim­istic.

She said children had told the researchers that coronavirus was going to go away and there was “only a little bit left”.

“It’s amazing how resilient children are and look on the bright side, compared to some of us adults,” Ms Cogley said. Front Project chief executive Jane Hunt said the findings were a reminder of how important it was for ­children to have relationships and connections to other people.

Ms Cogley agreed that the Zoom sessions with children not only allowed them to continue their learning of skills but also to maintain connections.

“Our calls can be just a love fest,” she said. “They spend 10 minutes­ telling each other how much they miss each other.”