If you stop for even thirty seconds to draw a picture alongside of a child who is coloring, you could become one of their heroes. Tell short stories to children. Make the stories up or pull them from your own childhood. Stories can be used to build a connection, to teach a lesson, or just to leave a child feeling better than when the conversation began. Follow up on the promises that you make to children with action.
Children are usually more hurt than adults by broken promises.
Ironically, many people treat their promises to children as less important than their promises to adults. Most adults do not interact with children who are present because the children are not able to meet their needs the way that an adult can. Five minutes invested in the life of a child will pay dividends that an hour invested in the life of an adult may not. Master the art of Socratic questioning. This means that instead of expressing facts or lecturing that you ask a question to stimulate the child's own reasoning process.