童年是从出生跨越到青春期的年龄时间段[1][2][3]。童年也可能包括青少年，但无论如何都是在成年之前。童年一般由两个阶段组成：前运算阶段（preoperational stage）和具体运算阶段（concrete operational stage）。在发展心理学中，童年被分为四个发展阶段，即婴儿期（学步期），儿童早期（玩耍期），儿童晚期（学龄期），以及青春期（青春期至后青春期）。各种各样的童年因素会影响一个人人生态度的形成。[1]
| 此条目 论述以部分区域为主，未必有 普世通用的观点。 (2010年3月1日) |
北京东南城角儿童
非洲儿童
童年是一个让孩子学习、玩耍的时间段，是一个让孩子在家庭的爱和鼓励、及许多成人关心下变得坚强与自信的时间段。这个年龄的孩子，生活没有恐惧，远离暴力、虐待和剥削。正因如此，童年绝非仅是出生与成为成人期间的间隔。它指的是儿童的生活状态和条件，及这些年的生活品质。[4]
童年的具体时间并不明确，它可以指人类发展中的一段长时间。以发育和生物学而言，它指的是婴儿期与成年期之间的时期。一般而言，童年从出生开始。也有人认为，童年是玩耍和纯真的代名词。许多国家的法律中规定了着法定成人年龄，即一个人的童年正式结束，而在法律上成为成人的年龄。这一年龄各国有所不同，一般在15到20岁之间，其中以18岁最为普遍。
一组儿童在演奏小提琴。
麦克米伦学生词典（Macmillan Dictionary for Students）Macmillan, Pan Ltd. (1981)，第173页。于2010-7-15检索。
联合国儿童基金会（UNICEF），世界儿童发展报告。于2005年检索。
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