Here is an article explaining the concept of children in BIP32 in an easy way to understand, even for 5 years:
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What’s going on under the cover with regard to Bitcoin and Ethereum portfolios?
Imagine you have a super secret box where you store your favorite toy. You want to share it with a friend, but you don’t want someone else to know what’s.
There are special “keys” in digital wallets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum which help control access to the toy (portfolio). But how do they work?
Let’s talk about two types of keys: murderers and hardened children.
Kilists of children
Imagine that your friend wants to take your secret box. You say: “Okay, you can look inside, but only for a minute.” It is like giving them a key to a child.
The child’s key is a copy of the original key that does not have all the toy information (portfolio). Consider this as a simplified version of the toy. This child’s key is good to borrow things from the owner, but not for the storage of real toys.
hard-child children
Imagine now that your friend returns and says: “Hey, I take your secret box, but now I have to keep it!” You say: “Okay, here is a child of hardened security.
The hardened child is like the original key itself! This is a special version that includes all the information on toys (portfolio). But unlike the ordinary key for children, the infantile infantile child cannot be easily copied or shared with others.
Why are they different?
Think about it this way: if someone had a super long password to access your secret box, a child child will simply give them access for a minute. The child’s key would not protect the toy itself (wallet).
But when you create a hardened child, you create a special key that can only be used with the real toy (wallet). In this way, even if someone receives a copy of your hardened child, he will not have access to all your toys (wallets).
In bip32
The proposal to improve Bitcoin 32 (BIP32) is a set of rules to create and manage digital wallets. The BIP32 generates the baby keys according to the parent key (the original key). The idea is that when you create a wallet, you can choose to use a child key or a hardened child key.
When you generate a child security child, it’s like creating a simplified version of your toy (wallet). But if you want to store all your toys (portfolios), you should use a hardened child key.
So, to summarize: the edges of children are like simplified versions of the original key, while the edges of hardened children are like the original key itself. They are designed to protect your digital assets from unauthorized access and sharing.
I hope it helps!