To study children's spirituality at the beginning of the twenty-first century provides a prime opportunity for exploring the personal, social and global interconnections in the understanding and practice of spirituality. Countless definitions of spirituality have been suggested, yet it has also been said that spirituality escapes definition altogether. I suggest an open-ended description which can be applied to childhood where the fabric of human life first emerges, is nurtured into further growth and shaped towards its adult expression. Based on this experience and research, I will first reflect on the spiritual potential of childhood, its awakening and development, before discussing what I mean by the fullness of life in a time of almost cataclysmic change. These ideas are explored within a wider context than spirituality in either early childhood or young adolescence, yet they relate closely to the development of the spiritual potential of children and young people. (Contains 20 notes.)