use of 〜ちゃん as a generic term


In a Shimajiro educational book I saw a line similar to this:

> ___ちゃんが知ってる乗り物は何ですか？

(the actual one had less Kanji but you get the point)

The question is why was ちゃん used here as a generic term. I thought ちゃん was
used more for girls and くん for boys, and since I think the audience for
Shimajiro might be more boys, why didn't they choose くん here? Or is ちゃん
actually a more neutral term?




It's common to use ちゃん regardless of their sex when they're are very small...
roughly under 6 years old or so.

<http://oshiete.goo.ne.jp/qa/983087.html>

> 平均的なところでは，  
>  ○ **未就学児は男女問わず「ちゃん」**  
>  ○小学生～高校生は男子が「君」，女子が「さん」  
>  ○大学生以上の学生，社会人（18歳未満でも）は「さん」  
>  ○ただし政治面など硬めのニュースでは男女問わず「氏」




It's common to use ちゃん regardless of their sex when they're are very small...
roughly under 6 years old or so.

<http://oshiete.goo.ne.jp/qa/983087.html>

> 平均的なところでは，  
>  ○ **未就学児は男女問わず「ちゃん」**  
>  ○小学生～高校生は男子が「君」，女子が「さん」  
>  ○大学生以上の学生，社会人（18歳未満でも）は「さん」  
>  ○ただし政治面など硬めのニュースでは男女問わず「氏」

