At what age do children realise that not all things are alive(animism)?

Question

A CHILD OF 5 YEARS MAKES A SNOWMAN WITH PLAYDOUGH AND PUTS A SCARF AROUND HIS NECK AND TELLS HIM THIS WILL KEEP HIM WARM.IS THIS NORMAL

Answer 1

of course its normal... im almost 16 and i still have a teddy.... and my sister gets so upset when she drops her teddy bear or someone suggests to put him in a bag.... its completely normal, especially if the child is deprived of real-life friends or maybe feels ignored by others. I talk to my teddy all the time... but only when I'm really, really lonely. :-)

Answer 2

Well my son is 12 months old.
When he interacts with animals, plants and people he inspects them in totally different ways then he does, a block or stuffed toy. He has a much more gentler way with living things, even bugs. To some degree I think that it's an intuition or sense that we are all born with.
As far as the play dough scarf thing, to me that is about the child imagining that the snow man is real. Not actually believing that it would die or suffer because it had no scarf on.
:)

Answer 3

Yes, it is. Children love to pretend, and even though they know that toys and snowmen aren't alive, they still like to pretend, and maybe a small part of them (their imagination ) believes it is real but their rational side knows that the inanimate thing is not alive.

Answer 4

Of course it is normal, as children we believe in everything and know nothing, in a sense as children we had more freedom.

Answer 5

perfectly normal. and they reach that age at different times, this time is usually when they are (not by their own fault) shoved harshly into reality, and then life sux.

Answer 6

I don't think children think everything is alive - even babies.

Answer 7

you just killed frosty

Answer 8

that doesn't seem strange....