How about weather changes... rain showers for watering crops,thunder to use shelters, drought, wind storms etc

How about the kids making sand castles on the beach?
They can pick up a bucket, then to the sandy shore and create castles or maybe even figures like on Easter Island, could even learn some building skills?

I would love to see them have a puddle of water to play in, (all kids love water) and perhaps the ability to laugh. I'd like to see the kids have things to play with, like a swing made out of a vine.

Hermette

yeah hubby was saying this morning they need a swinging vine over the lagoon -- for the adults and kids

I haven't read through all of the suggestions yet, but...

A "Master" should have a new ability to "teach" their skill once they turn Master. And then they can go beat the drum, and teach the kids. The kids should be able to start learning whatever skill the Master is teaching.
Or maybe they become teachers in their skill only once they have reached Master and a certain age.

Older ones can't pick as many crops, build or research as fast.

A kid born of farming parents who has a little skill should be able to occasionally pick mushrooms or berries.
One born with medical skill should maybe go harvest some herbs once in a while.
A builder child could pick up debris sometimes.
A research child could find something in the sand to help research.

Afterall, kids DO emulate what they see adults doing.

And of course there could also be negative reprecussions to those actions from them.

A child who picked mushrooms or berries could knock over the bin when trying to put them in. Or if weeding the garden pull up some of the crops.

A builder child could get the wood wet so it has to dry first, or lose the nails, or knock over the scaffolding....

A research child could knock over the table or mix a concotion wrong.

A medical child could pick a poisonous plant, or leave the herbs out and spoil them, hurt themselves on the cactus...

Children could learn to spot mushrooms the more they pick.

Nursing mothers could tell stories...

And all those kids climbing around the rocks without getting hurt???

Build in some additional skills that only appear after certain puzzles/tasks have been completed and/or levels achieved, but are needed to complete later puzzles. For example:
- Once you've advanced to Level 2 Spirituality, you can now start training Shaman's, who lead services for honoring the dead, hold naming ceremony's for the 2-year-olds and Rite of Passage ceremony's for the 14-year-olds, lead island holiday celebrations (one of the island events I've had was commemorating their arrival on the island), etc. Then you have to have both a male and female Master Shaman in order to restore the ruins. Now the shamans can also hold ceremonies in the newly restored temple (perhaps calling everybody to the temple by blowing on conch shell) [and it would now be the shamans-in-training doing the task of "honoring the temple", which would give that activity some meaning, as it would be one way to increase their skills]. Then you would have to have a High Priest & High Priestess in order to chisel the icon!
- Once you've built the schoolhouse, "teacher" should become a new skill. Maybe incorporating the ideas above, such as they can't become a trainee teacher until they're a master in another skill; I like that idea. But then, of course, you have to tie that into achieving something else. Maybe, instead of the kids being born with a skill once the schoolhouse is built, they don't get that until you have a teacher and hold classes by masters of the basic skills. And classes would have to last longer than a few seconds! BTW, if the adults can go inside the hut for privacy, can't the kids go inside the school instead of standing around outside?
- Musicians! In the later stages of the game (everything at at least Level 2, and a couple things at Level 3, like construction and spirituality) it would be neat to have musician appear as a new skill, so the villagers can have music.
- Once you've solved all the puzzles, the villagers should be able to go explore more of Isola, or even neighboring islands, which would need more skills: Explorer, Sailor/Boat Builder, etc.

Another thought: more things for kids to do, perhaps specific to age. For example, you have some nice palm trees down in the bottom left: How about having coconuts appear, and the 10-13 year old kids climbing to get them?

How about getting jobs? Or, having one start a store or company. Haver some sort of currency that people earn doing farming, etc.

My very own "GC" has informed me the reason the village GC parties all the time happens to be the fact that there isn't any type of ball playing. Might be an idea. Imagine GC playing football since he already controls the community with dancing. We'd have dancing football players, tearing all the laundry around and running over our elderly.