小朋友
xiǎopéngyǒu · HSK 1
child
👦👧 小朋友 = small (小) + friend (朋友); literally 'little friend', used for kids
朋 itself decomposes to two 月 (moon) shapes side-by-side, an old graph for paired companions. So 小朋友 stacks 'small' onto 'paired companions' — the standard friendly term an adult uses to address a child.
小 — three small strokes around a central vertical
小 is a pictograph originally showing three tiny dots or specks, suggesting small particles or grains. Over time the dots became stylized strokes flanking a central line. The core meaning 'small' has stayed remarkably stable from oracle bone script to today.