Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Toy shaped dinosaur much liked by children. James Kirkland is no exception, a paleontologist from the University of Utah, United States who has loved dinosaurs since childhood.
It started when he got a dinosaur toy from his father. Unexpectedly it led him to become a paleontologist who made him wrestle with real dinosaur fossils for 50 years.
According to the chairman of the United States Academy of Pediatrics Committee, dr. Arthur Lavin, children tend to like dinosaur toys since they were little. However, not all children who love dinosaurs will grow up to be paleontologists.
At the age of 3-4 years, children go through a phase hyperfixation or what is also called playing with imagination. In this phase, children really like things related to fairies, monsters including dinosaurs.
Their newborn baby will not be aware of its presence for the first three months.
“When they are one year old, they don’t have an awareness of him yet,” said Lavin.
Then when they enter the age of 18 months to 3 years, children begin to realize themselves but are still confused about their surroundings.
“That’s what we call the terrible two, because they know what they want but they’re not sure how to get it,” said Lavin.
Entering the age of three, they begin to feel things around them and want to try them.
Here children begin to understand the concept of themselves and build the world in their imagination.
Dinosaur figures fit into the imaginary world because they don’t live in the present. They are classified as fairy creatures and unicorns.
Children with a keen interest in extinct animals will easily recall difficult dinosaur names like James Kirkland’s.
That’s because the child’s brain at the age of 3-4 years is undergoing a period of development. At that age children are developing language skills and learning new words every day. Therefore, it is easier for children to remember the names of dinosaurs than adults.
At the age of 5-6 years, children’s interest in dinosaurs begins to decrease. This is because children at that age begin to develop social skills and like to interact with other children.
“Although parents still want to discuss dinosaurs with their children and go to museums, few are interested in knowing it,” said Eli Lebowitz.
However, there are still children who are still interested in dinosaurs. They did not give up and continued to dig up information about dinosaurs about the causes of extinction, how they reproduced, and their diet as James Kirkland has done until now.
(nly/ayp)
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