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In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, Highlights and the Ad Council teamed up on a puzzle that will help kids answer the question, “How ya doing?”

This month is a great time for families to talk about mental health and emotional well-being. As you search for words amidst the letters, take a moment to reflect on the feelings they evoke and talk with kids about how they express their feelings through words, pictures, and music.

If you have a younger kid, you might enjoy these articles on social and emotional health from Highlights.

If you have an older child, find out how the Ad Council is connecting kids to their emotional health through music.

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How Do You Celebrate Ramadan?

cliff.bowdish@highlights.com — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 19:43:18 +0000

How Do You Celebrate Ramadan? cliff.bowdish@… Mon, 03/04/2024 - 19:43

In our "How Do We Celebrate" series, we share the unique and special traditions of all families, particularly with regards to spirituality and religion, but also other traditions that connect to meaning. We want to practice the "mirrors and windows" approach: We hope a family that observes Ramadan will "see" themselves in our "mirror" and we also hope a family that wants to learn more about it will be able to do so through our "window."

In the Quran, Allah (God) says, ‘Oh believers, fasting during Ramadan is sent down for you as it was sent down for those before you, so perhaps you will become mindful (of Him).’ Every time I read this verse, I am reminded about the imperative nature of instilling God-consciousness in our family’s life, and there is no better time than Ramadan to work on this spiritual exercise. Through fasting, prayer and reflection, we come closer to God in every facet of our lives.

Tell us more about the history of Ramadan.

Ramadan is the ninth and holiest month in the Islamic lunar calendar. It is also one of the five ‘pillars’ of faith in Islam. Throughout this month, Muslims fast each day from before the light of dawn until the time of sunset. During these hours, Muslims abstain from all food and drink (including water!) and redirect their attention to focus on spiritual growth. Ramadan is a time to improve our relationship with God and to remove any negative habits we may have formed throughout the year. Ramadan is also the month in which the Quran, the holy book of Muslims, was revealed. Muslims all around the world spend more time in this month reading, understanding and listening to the beautiful words of the Quran.

What are your memories of Ramadan as a child?

Growing up, Ramadan was always a bustling time comprised of both spiritual and social events. This holy month also invigorates a sense of community, and it is a month where people enjoy sharing food and praying together. As a young adult, I grew up fasting while balancing school and extracurricular activities throughout the day. My evenings consisted of daily iftars (meal at the time of completing one’s fast) and night prayers at our local mosque. I fondly looked forward to our family hosting our annual iftar and would help my mother prepare delicious appetizers as well as desserts from all cuisines for hundreds of our local community members.

By abstaining from things that we usually tend to take for granted, we are moved to reflect on the plight of those less fortunate than us and increase in our gratitude towards God for the immense blessings in our lives.

What is the most meaningful Ramadan tradition that your family observes?

For me, one of the most cherished Ramadan traditions that our family loves to partake in is to create and share Ramadan baskets with our community. My children buzz with excitement as they pick out a variety of juicy dates and tasty chocolates, while I choose colorful prayer beads and mini prayer rugs. We assemble our Ramadan Mubarak (Blessed Ramadan) boxes and then head out together to distribute them to our neighbors, friends and family members at the start of the blessed month.

Tell us about Ramadan in your home.

Each day in Ramadan begins with suhoor (the pre-dawn meal). In our home, this meal usually consists of nutritious foods such as dates, eggs, fruit and water. While we are fasting during the day, we spend our time praying, reading the Quran and avoiding sins. While I prepare iftar, my husband helps the children with a variety of Ramadan-related crafts and reads them their favorite Ramadan storybooks. The delicious aroma from the kitchen with the twinkling lights and lanterns decorating the home create a warm and peaceful atmosphere for our family. We spend our evenings reflecting, praying and preparing for the next day ahead.

What would you like other families to know about Ramadan?

Ramadan is practiced by over 1 billion Muslims across the world and goes far beyond abstaining from food and drink during daylight hours. The essence of fasting is to instill a sense of God-consciousness in our everyday lives. By abstaining from things that we usually tend to take for granted, we are moved to reflect on the plight of those less fortunate than us and increase in our gratitude towards God for the immense blessings in our lives. Despite the physical challenge, Muslims around the world look forward to this month all year long to spiritually challenge our minds, strengthen our faith through the Quran and give back to our community through charity.

For Kids

Cultural Understanding

By: Anam Ali

Anam Ali, MD, is a wife, mother of three, and general pediatrician at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. She was born and raised in Central Florida and is a first-generation Pakistani American. She is a child advocate who focuses on fostering healthy diet and lifestyle choices for her patients and their families. In her free time, Anam enjoys spending time with her family, baking and traveling.

Critical Thinking

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03-04-24

Anam Ali

cliff.bowdish@highlights.com — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 19:09:14 +0000

Anam Ali cliff.bowdish@… Mon, 03/04/2024 - 19:09

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Optical Illusions for Kids

cliff.bowdish@highlights.com — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 17:18:47 +0000

Optical Illusions for Kids cliff.bowdish@… Fri, 03/01/2024 - 17:18

Family Games

By: Highlights Editorial

03-01-24

Creativity

Critical Thinking

Curiosity

Social Emotional

DIY

Optical illusions are fun and educational. Explore the fascinating world of optical illusions for kids, the benefits they offer, and some fun illusions you can try at home. Get ready to be amazed!

What are optical illusions?

Optical illusions are visual phenomena that can trick our brains into seeing something that isn't really there. They use clever manipulations of colors, patterns and shapes to confuse our perception and challenge our understanding of reality. These illusions can be great tools for teaching kids about the workings of our brain and our senses.

How optical illusions work

Our eyes are like detectives, gathering information from around us to send to our brain to untangle. However, our brain doesn't always get it right. Optical illusions are visual magicians, using the gaps in our perception to create interesting images.

Types of optical illusions

There are different types of optical illusions, each with unique characteristics.

Geometric illusions are shapeshifters, turning regular shapes into mind-bending puzzles.

Ambiguous illusions show you pictures that can have multiple images in one (like the vase vs. face illusion).

Motion illusions are one of the most popular types, which makes things look like they’re in motion or movement.

Why optical illusions are great for kids

Optical illusions aren't just fun to look at; they also offer many benefits for kids, including:

Enhancing visual perception skills, leading to better understanding of depth, size and spatial relationships.
Improving cognitive abilities like problem-solving and concentration.
Stimulating creativity and imagination, which helps your kids see things from a new perspective and explore new ideas.

Bringing optical illusions into playtime provides an entertaining visual experience and helps develop important cognitive and creative skills.

Fun optical illusions to try at home

The Highlights Book of Things to Do includes hundreds of fun activities, including these illusions kids can make at home!

You need:

Blank paper
Colored pencils or markers

Word art

You’ve probably written a story before, but have you ever written a drawing? Using only words, see what images you can create.

Colorful squiggles

Draw a squiggly line on a piece of paper.
Draw eight dots along the line.
Fill the page with lines that jump from dot to dot.
Color the design any way you want. You can also use the shading to create depth.

You can download the full excerpt of optical illusions from the Highlights Book of Things to Do here.

Looking for optical illusions your kids can create themselves? Find additional tricky challenges — plus games, puzzles, and more — with Highlights Book of Things To Do.

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How to Cope with Fears About School Safety

cliff.bowdish@highlights.com — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 14:03:52 +0000

How to Cope with Fears About School Safety cliff.bowdish@… Mon, 12/11/2023 - 14:03

Last week in Texas, and this weekend in Ohio, parents received startling emails from their schools informing them of a threat made by someone claiming to be a Russian terrorist organization to plant bombs in U.S. schools, including theirs. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies have deemed these threats to be not credible.

Yet, in parenting group chats and on social media, some parents and grandparents expressed anxiety about sending their kids to school. In a local parenting group in Delaware, Ohio, one parent wrote, “Ugh I'm not sure what to do.. I feel like they should've cancelled classes until they finished the investigation.” A worried grandmother said, “I am worried to death! Idk what to do. My granddaughter is my whole world!! I'm worried about getting in trouble for her attendance if I don't send her. How long should she not go too?”

After years of pandemic disruption and high profile shootings in schools, it is no wonder that many are on edge about the safety of the children we love. And, we also know from the letters that Highlights receives from kids that they are watching us and picking up on our feelings.

After years of disrupted learning, we also know how important it is to kids’ mental health, their friendships, and their learning that they attend school regularly. How are you handling your fears these days to help your kids manage theirs? Here are a few answers from other parents:

"My grandson’s school communicates with us so often and clearly, so we always feel in the loop about any safety measures being taken. It helps me trust that everyone is doing their best to keep us safe," says a grandmother in Texas.
"We can't control everything, but we can control how we respond. I know I feel better when I feel strong, so I focus a lot on nutrition and getting enough exercise – it just helps my coping skills," says a dad in Maryland.
“Just like I ask my kids to do, I control the time I spend doomscrolling,” says a mom in Indiana.

How are you managing your feelings about school safety?

For Parents

Hard Conversations

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By: Highlights Editorial

All Ages

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12-11-23

Jill Biden Shares With Highlights How We Can Support Veterans on Veterans Day and Every Day

cliff.bowdish@highlights.com — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 16:29:31 +0000

Jill Biden Shares With Highlights How We Can Support Veterans on Veterans Day and Every Day cliff.bowdish@… Tue, 10/17/2023 - 16:29

Veterans Day is a federal holiday that is observed annually on November 11th. It is a day set aside to honor and express gratitude to all military veterans, both living and deceased, who have served in the United States Armed Forces.

One way to mark Veterans Day with kids is to share more about the challenges that military families face. Highlights interviewed Dr. Jill Biden for its feature “Five Questions with . . .” She told us that she cares deeply about military families.

“The Bidens are a military family,” she told Highlights. “And I love meeting the children of our service members. They’re regular kids who may face unique challenges such as changing schools a lot or having a parent who is injured or serving abroad. To help support military families, we started a program called Joining Forces.”

Highlights asked Dr. Biden what kids can do to help support military families. “If there are new kids at your school who are part of a military family, try to make them feel welcome,” she said. “Maybe you can invite them to eat lunch with you. Something as simple as a smile can go a long way toward helping someone who may be feeling lonely or misunderstood. It starts with simple kindness.”

Here you can read Highlights full interview with Dr. Biden.

Here, find a printable thank you card that your can fill out for a Veteran in your life.

For Kids

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By: Highlights Editorial

All Ages

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10-18-23

Veterans Day Gift Printable

cliff.bowdish@highlights.com — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 16:17:16 +0000

Veterans Day Gift Printable cliff.bowdish@… Tue, 10/17/2023 - 16:17

Printables

By: Highlights Editorial

10-17-23

Creativity

Critical Thinking

Curiosity

Fine Motor Skills

Celebrate Veterans Day with our "Thank a Vet" printable activity for kids! This printable allows kids to express their gratitude through coloring, art, and thoughtful messages that can be shared with veterans in their community. If your family doesn’t personally know a veteran, you might contact a local veterans' organizations, such as the American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), to find a recipient. Simply download the printable, print it out, and kids can get coloring!

If you are looking for more holiday craft ideas, you can find that and more in monthly magazine subscriptions from Highlights.

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Mud Play Your Way

cliff.bowdish@highlights.com — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 15:47:20 +0000

Mud Play Your Way cliff.bowdish@… Tue, 09/26/2023 - 15:47

Outdoor Play

By: Tinkergarten

Created by experts and loved by kids, families and teachers, Tinkergarten gets kids learning through purposeful outdoor play. Tinkergarten is also part of the Highlights for Children family of organizations! Learn more at tinkergarten.com.

09-26-23

0-2

Creativity

Curiosity

DIY

Summer Holidays & Fun

Family Fun

For many adults, making mud is not a clear winner. It's so common (and understandable) to ask, "Making mud? Is it really worth the mess?"

The simple act of making mud is a universally powerful pastime for young people (and not bad for us big kids, either). Yes, kids get messy. But, with few exceptions, kids get completely absorbed in mud play. The great news for parents is you can do this virtually anywhere, too. The recipe is simple, the ingredients easy to source, but the learning mud play offers is rich and well worth the clean up!

This activity was featured in Tinkergarten’s free June Activity Calendar. If you would like to receive monthly calendars, sign up here.

Step 1: Prepare yourself for mud play.

No matter how you and your kids feel about mud, you can still get all the goodness. It's just a matter of finding out your way to do mud play. For inspiration, watch this humorous video about how to make mud play work on your terms.

Step 2: Pack a few materials.

If you have a water source in your play area, great. If not, you’ll just need to bring some with you. We like to have around ½ a gallon of water per kid so they can play and experiment for a while without overusing water. We also recommend bringing a pail or container for each child so they can transport and pour water as they see fit.

Step 3: Clear your spot.

If you’re in a high-traffic area, check to make sure that there are no obvious hazards (e.g., broken glass, metal, dog doo, trash) where you’ll be making your mud. As you scan the ground, grab some sticks for stirring and mushing mud. If the ground is dry, rough it up a bit so the soil is easier to work with.

Step 4: Pour a little water. Then, let kids do the rest.

Trickle a small amount of water on the ground, and discover together what happens to the dirt. You can take a stick and even do a little mixing. Then hand a bucket to your kids, inviting them to transport water and explore what happens when they add it to dirt.

Step 5: Explore mud recipes.

Even though mud is made from just two ingredients (dirt + water), there are unlimited mud recipes that can be made by experimenting with different amounts of soil and water. Invite kids to see what happens when they combine different amounts of each ingredient. How do different mud recipes look and feel?

Want to try out some of our favorite mud recipes? Download these recipe cards and discover which ones your child likes the most. Or, create your own! Boost communication skills by asking kids to describe the different muds. Model yourself using words such as soupy, thick, chunky, dry, wet, or sticky. Such a gripping sensory experience is a great opportunity to build language.

Step 6: Support mud play.

For many children, experimenting with mud immediately sparks both joy and curiosity, while others need to take it slow. Every human has a unique sensory system, and mud can push some kids far out of their comfort zone. It can help to consider, “What is my child’s mud mindset?” and tailor your support accordingly.

To gauge your child’s mud mindset today, try these tips:

Encourage your child to rub their hands together before play to prepare their sense of touch for stimulation.
Model a little mud play yourself to give kids a model and some time to decide if they want to try it out.
Provide tools like sticks or leaves to make mud more manageable.
Let kids go as "deep" as they want. Each child has their own threshold for sensory stimulation, and if we trust them to lead their play, they will manage that quite nicely.
Substitute mud with materials like forest putty, shaving cream or even water which offer similar benefits with more control and less mess.

Extend the Play!

If kids appear ready for more, you can simply start to play alongside them. Another great way to extend is to build with mud. Make a mud pie by forming a fistful of mud into a patty, plopping it down somewhere and adding “decorations” like sticks, pebbles or acorns. Or, start to combine mud and sticks to make a structure of some kind. Kids will likely get intrigued by what you are doing and want to try it too.

Want more mud play ideas? Try our Mud Faces for Trees DIY, make Mud Art or cook up a feast in the Mud Kitchen.

Why this is Good for Kids

Playing and experimenting with ooey, gooey mud helps children to strengthen their sense of touch -- and we know that the better kids are able to tune and integrate their senses, the more effectively they can learn. Once kids know how to make and manipulate mud, they have a tool for play and building with virtually unlimited uses. When kids transform the shape, texture, or nature of materials (in this case, turning dirt and water into mud), they also engage in a universal behavior pattern called the transforming schema, which supports brain development. Such a gripping sensory experience is a great opportunity to build language and communication skills. Best of all, when you let kids lose themselves in play and give them room to mess around, you offer them the openness and freedom they'll need to develop true creativity down the line. If all this isn’t compelling enough, research also indicates that playing in the dirt is just plain good for kids' health!

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12 Ways to Play With Rocks

cliff.bowdish@highlights.com — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 15:32:34 +0000

12 Ways to Play With Rocks cliff.bowdish@… Tue, 09/26/2023 - 15:32

Outdoor Play

By: Tinkergarten

09-26-23

0-2

Creativity

Critical Thinking

Curiosity

Science

DIY

Summer Holidays & Fun

Family Fun