Adults may have their opinions, but today's children also have their own answers to that question.

So the Family Support Centre in Hay River asked students in Grades 1-3 at Harry Camsell elementary school what they think.

The answers are enlightening, surprising and, at times, amusing.

The children were given sheets of paper with a sentence beginning "It's great to be a kid because..." and they completed the sentence and illustrated their answers with drawings.

Flipping through the sheets offers a glimpse into the mind of a child.

Kathlyn McNeillie says it is good to be a kid because "we can do things we can't do when we are big," while Ashley Dobbs Fehr seems to be thinking of hide and seek with her response, "You can hide in small places."

However, Garrett Ahenakew is thinking of getting out of tight spots by observing kids "can weasel out of trouble."

Others are thinking of sheer fun. Kendall Anne Pope notes kids "get to have food fights," while Chad Kruger says it is great to be a kid because "people invented Nintendo."

Some other children believe they have it better than adults. Keegan Napier Dragon notes children "don't have to drink or smoke," while Jackie Strong notes kids "don't have to pay the rent."

Angela Jacobs, a child/youth support worker at the Family Support Centre, came up with the idea of asking the youngsters to celebrate National Child's Day, Nov. 20.

Jacobs says some comments, like the one about rent, shows children pay more attention than adults realize.

She also notes many of the children mentioned the simple things of life, like playing with friends or building a snowman with parents.

"Some of it was surprising," she says.

Many mentioned how much they enjoy going to school.

The answers and drawings will be collected into a book and put in the Camsell school library.

Jacobs hopes the responses will be bound by Christmas and presented to the school. Before that, it is also hoped an event will be held at the town's public library to give everyone an opportunity to see the answers. As of last week, 75 responses had been collected, and there may still be more coming from the school.