Its said by William Wordsworth in one of his famous ODE TO IMMORTALITY
that "child is the father of man" where he meant that during childhood a child is closer to God and nature ,he is pure ,because he has not been corrupted by the malicious forces of the world and as he grows he is changing and getting lost in the wordly affairs like every other man so a child is a fther of man in terms of being close to God as its not been very long that he came to this material world