幼 - CHILDREN Have the Power of Thread

Readings & Meanings:

おさな（い）

ヨウ

childish, very young

Common Usage:

幼い

幼稚園

Examples:

彼は６０歳なのに顔が幼いのでよく３０代に間違えられる。

４歳になったら子供は幼稚園に行く。

Translations:

Although he's sixty, because of his babyface features he's often mistaken for 30.

When children turn 4, they go to kindergarten.

Radical:

Instead of 糸, we have Ito-gashira, 幺. It's still a thread. In this case, 幺 lends a pronunciation "ヨウ" to 幼.

The other element is, of course, 力, power.

How much power does an infant have? As little as a very thin thread.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/o.htm