児童 (じどう) refers to children, typically of elementary school age or younger, with a nuance of innocence. Both 児 (ジ) and 童 (ドウ) use their common On'yomi. Misreadings like しどう (shidō) incorrectly use 'shi' instead of 'ji' for 児. It differs from 子供 (こども) by often being used in more formal contexts.

児童 (じどう) は、主に小学生以下の子供を指します。児（ジ）も童（ドウ）も一般的な音読みです。「しどう」は児の読み間違い、「じとう」は童を濁らせた誤読です。子供を指すフォーマルな言葉です。