Man, you can just see that stuff in kids eyes can't you.  And then if given a chance to (non-judgementally) voice those ideas . . . frequent brilliance.

A hobby of mine is photography and a simple but amazing "trick" when photographing kids is to get down to the level of their faces and take the pictures horizontally.  When that is accomplished, they are no longer literally looked down upon, but are (again literally) on equal levels.  Kind of the same thing, when watching their world and their interactions from their level, great empathy can be gained and great appreciation returned.