as a child; when one was a child
Refers to one's childhood period; often used in reminiscences or to describe past habits.
When I was a child, I often played in this park.
Looking at photos from when I was a child makes me nostalgic.
幼い頃 is a more literary way to say the same thing as 小さい頃, emphasizing how young and innocent one was.
幼少期 is a formal, written noun for early childhood, whereas 小さい頃 is the everyday spoken equivalent.
Standard kanji spelling; the most common written form.
Common variant using hiragana for ころ; slightly less formal but widely used.
Compound of 小さい (chiisai, 'small, little') and 頃 (koro, 'time, period'). The phrase literally means 'the time when one was small'.