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7 Simple Springtime Outdoor Activities

Spring is finally here! After such a long and cold winter, it's thrilling to feel the wind in your hair and the warm sun on your face. Here are simple ways to enjoy the outdoors and celebrate spring!

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The Lessons We Learn from Pets

Our pets teach us valuable lessons, such as patience, kindness and empathy. What lessons have your pets taught your family?

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How to Make Spring-y Flowers

It's finally spring! Celebrate the season with your child by making "spring-y" flowers with construction paper. Gift them to teachers or friends or use them to decorate your table!

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Nature Observation Bingo

Why do birds sing, ants march and butterflies fly? Encourage your child to wonder just like Elinor on "Elinor Wonders Why" by creating a nature observation bingo game!

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9 Ways to Help Soothe and Comfort Your Child

Providing reassurance, limiting exposure to media and sticking to routines are just a few ways grown-ups can help kids manage through tough times and stressful situations! 

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Write and Play Found Poetry

Have you ever heard of found poetry? It's the literary equivalent of a collage and a great way to help your kids express themselves.

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Growing as a Writer

Want to help your child nurture their writing skills at home? From making a grocery list to writing a thank-you note, modeling all the ways you write in your everyday life is a great way to start.

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Create a Literary Obstacle Course

Help your kid build upon their alphabetizing, rhyming, and spelling skills. This literacy obstacle course will get your kids moving and help them strengthen their brain muscles.

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How to Help Kids Feel Loved and Lovable

Children thrive when their caregivers offer them consistent love and support. Our love offers a safe landing place as they stretch, struggle, and grow. Here are four ideas for helping children feel loved and lovable.

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6 Secrets to Unlocking Your Child’s Talent

Greatness is not born, it’s grown. How kids practice, how they deal with failure, how they get praised, and how they are criticized, all play a part in the likelihood of achieving greatness.

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Growing as a Reader

Some of the most powerful ways to encourage young readers are also some of the simplest! The resources in this collection are designed to help kids grow into curious readers and lifelong learners.

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The Superhero Solution

Researchers found that four- to six-year-olds were better at focusing and persevering at important tasks when they pretended to be superheroes.

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Beyond Birthday Presents

If you're ready to consider a "no gifts please" party but need some inspiration, consider one of these tried and true ideas. 

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Make A Fairy House

Get creative with your fairy loving child by creating a fairy house using an empty glass jar, paint and a few decorative items from nature.

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Growing Early Friendships

Are your toddlers fascinated by the kids around them, only to later scream and cry when they have to share one of their trains? 

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Books for Building Friendships

Can a bully become a buddy? In "Enemy Pie" a play date and some delicious recipes inspires new ways to turn enemies into friends.

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Helping Kids Express Their Emotions

Emotions can be a big experience, and children may not yet know how to handle them. Here are a few steps to follow to help your children express their emotions.

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How to Support Your Outgoing Child

Do you have a child who longs to chat with everyone she sees at the grocery store? Here are five ways to support her outgoing personality.

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Helping Kids Express Themselves Through Music

Music can be a powerful helper when it comes to understanding and expressing our feelings. Here is how your family can interact with music to help identify, express, and regulate feelings.

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Importance of Art in Child Development

Some may think of art education as a luxury, but simple creative activities are some of the building blocks of child development. Check out this top PBS KIDS for Parents article to find out more about the developmental benefits of art.

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Get Smart with the Arts

Did you know that arts activities can help prepare kids for success in school? Acting out stories using homemade props or drawing are easy ways to add arts to playtime.

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Candy-Coated Confetti Popcorn

This salty and sweet popcorn recipe is perfect for a quick snack. Your child will have fun spooning the melted candy and shaking the sprinkles!

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8 Books About Families

Here are a few heartwarming books about families of all shapes, sizes and customs to brighten these long winter nights.

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Books to Inspire Your Young Scientist

Just like your young scientist, the characters in this collection of books for children ages 2-8 are always asking questions, conducting experiments, and building new inventions.

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12 Picture Books About Weather

These books introduce weather in positive ways and will have kids looking forward to playing in the snow, chasing leaves in the wind, jumping in rain puddles, and picnicking in the sunshine.

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DIY Telescope

Make this awesome telescope with and for your kids using just a few materials!

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What Makes the Sea Rise

Try this experiment with your child to investigate how melting glaciers can cause the sea level to rise and change the Earth's landscape.

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DIY Handmade Soaps

Let's make soap! These colorful, handmade bars of soap make great gifts for kids of all ages. 

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Raising Generous, Money-Smart Kids

Learning how to spend, save, and give away money is a life-skill that takes years to develop. Here are 10 guidelines to help your child on the road to financial literacy.

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Practicing Perseverance

Developing perseverance helps kids see that their abilities grow with effort and practice. As kids develop perseverance, grown-up can help them understand that frustration, and even failure, are part of the learning process.

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Is it Tattling or Telling

There are some simple ways to help your child understand the difference between tattling and alerting a grownup when an important rule is being broken.

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Tips for Raising Trustworthy Kids

Rather than become upset when your young child lies — because children will! — try to see these moments as opportunities to help them develop a habit of honesty.

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Helping Kids Develop a Healthy Relationship With Emotions

There are many fun ways to show our children that emotions are okay, welcomed, and a healthy part of life. Here are five things you can do now to help your child develop a healthy and playful relationship with their emotions.

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3 Words That Reframe, “How Was Your Day?”

Even though there will be uncertainties and ups and downs as we navigate this school year, let your child know we can still find and celebrate daily successes in unexpected places.

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Make A Guitar Out of Cardboard

Encourage your child to express themselves through music and art by making a guitar out of simple materials around your house.

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Growing Early Friendships

Are your toddlers fascinated by the kids around them, only to later scream and cry when they have to “share” one of their trains? 

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Help Your Child Cope With Teasing

Teasing is something many children will experience at some point. Use this Arthur activity to help your child talk about how it feels, then work together to create coping strategies.

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Help Your Preschooler Get Ready to Read

Is your little one getting ready to start reading? Help your child develop pre-reading skills that will give them a strong foundation for later reading success.

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My Bedtime Game

Every family has its own bedtime routine to transition from day to night. Play the "My Bedtime" game from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood to spark a conversation about things that help kids at bedtime!

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Make A Cardboard Mini Library

Just like ants, which store and share resources in nature, your child can build a mini library to store and share books with their family and friends.

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Put on a Puppet Show

Puppet shows allow children to experiment with storytelling and imagination. Explore the basic elements of storytelling while you craft Peg-themed puppets and a theater for your show.

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Experiment With Water Drops

Help your child learn how water can form different shapes with this fun and simple hands-on science experiment!

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Build Your Own Volcano

In this classic science fair experiment, help your child understand how a volcano forms in the Earth's surface.

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Exploring Space at Home

For little astronauts, here are activities, games, and plenty of ideas for a little space exploration from your own home!

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Salt Painting Our Solar System

Getting to know the solar system is key to learning about our universe! Help your child learn about outer space with this Ready Jet Go art project.

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Make an Ice Sculpture

Molly’s mom makes ice sculptures. “Chill out” and make one with your family! Observe how temperature affects water as you create a frozen ice sculpture.

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Making Time For Play

Play time is always important for children – and grown-ups! Movement, laughter and creativity help reduce stress and strengthen bonds within the entire family. 

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Helping Children with Sharing

Most kids naturally struggle with sharing because it’s difficult for them to think about what others want. Encourage kids to take turns by assuring them that their friends will return their toys when they're done.

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How to Connect with Long-Distance Loved Ones

As much as it is nice for families to live close by, that’s not always possible. With creativity and commitment, there are lots of ways to help your kids connect with far away loved ones. Here are 10 ideas to try!

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Explore How Making Mistakes Changes an Art Project

In this activity, try stopping between each step to give your child a chance to decide if their creation looks like what they are trying to create. Mistakes happen and it’s OK to make adjustments and change course along the way.

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Paint with Nature

Art + Nature = Fun. For this activity from PBS KIDS, you’ll use outdoor objects like leaves, pinecones and rocks as your paintbrush.

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Make Leaf and Bark Rubbings

Encourage your child to explore the trees with their senses by doing leaf and bark rubbings. Then, play a matching game!

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Bubble Bath Math Game

Estimation is a skill we use to make careful guesses. Explore counting and making estimates in this online activity from Peg + Cat !

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Story Book Builder

Does your little one enjoy making up stories? In this activity, emerging readers build their own story book while strengthening empathy and literacy skills!

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Exploring Space: 10 Books for Little Astronauts

What happens to the sun at night? What are shooting stars? And is there life beyond Earth? These ten books can help answer your kids' space science questions... and perhaps inspire new ones!

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Self-Care for Parents

When you take time for self-care during times of stress, you’re better able to care for your child. Keep these tips in mind when you’re feeling overwhelmed.

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Dig Into Dinosaurs

Harness your child's interest in dinosaurs and travel back in time to when dinos ruled the Earth with this collection of prehistoric page-turners for kids ages 0-9. 

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Dig Into Dinosaurs

Travel back in time through our imaginations together to when dinosaurs ruled the Earth! If your child loves everything dinosaurs, now is a great time to introduce them to paleontology with these activities.

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Boredom Isn’t a Bad Thing For Kids

Kids’ brains need stimulation, but they need downtime, too. Read on for ways to use screen-free zones, brain breaks and pretend play to raise creative and independent kids!

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Play a Storytelling Game

Roll homemade dice and use your imagination to tell a unique story! This fun game can inspire countless wacky tales and be played over and over again.

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11 Picture Books to Celebrate Diversity

This list of books featuring diverse characters and highlighting the importance of diversity in communities is a great way to start conversations about diversity with your young children.

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13 Children’s Books With Strong Black Characters

Reading can be an effective way to teach kids about important issues. To encourage thoughtful conversations about race and diversity with your children, check out this booklist you can read together as a family.

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Children’s Books About Peace

Even the best of friends sometimes have problems they must work out. Try "Dog and Bear: Two's Company" and other bedtime stories to share this lesson with little ones!

Thinkport Picks

MPT is here to help parents and educators keep kids laughing and learning all summer long. Look to our new summer resource collections including MPT Summer On!, weekly theme-based activities, and At-Home Learning: Summer Edition for daily activities connected to our PBS KIDS broadcast. Count on MPT to always provide access to high-quality, educationally-based programming for your family. Anytime and anywhere – on-air, online, and on our free mobile app.

Look to our education website, Thinkport.org, to find safe, adult-led activities for young children, and independent student learning resources for students in grades PreK-12.

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At-Home Learning

At-Home Learning continues with our back-to-school edition to support families and educators with new digital resources and hands-on activities aligned to our PBS KIDS broadcast.

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Daily Activities Calendar

Find fun, daily activities and crafts to do with your children using items in your home and a few basic supplies.

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Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

Hispanic Heritage Month, observed from September 15 through October 15, is a time to celebrate the more than 54 million people of Hispanic descent living in the United States. Watch to learn more about the month!

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Healthy Habits

Covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze and washing your hands are among the most important healthy habits we can teach children!

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Fun Pancake Recipes for Any Occasion

Many holidays throughout the year include food traditions. One food that comes up a few times are pancakes! Here are four fun ways to make your own pancakes!

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Cookbooks for Kids

We’ve made a list of books full of nutritious and fun dishes for kids to create.

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Learn at Home with PBS KIDS

The 2020-2021 school year is going to look different for families across the country. PBS KIDS is here to help no matter what learning situation your family is facing this year.

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Play and Learn Science App

Play with shadows, control the weather and roll and slide objects down a ramp, all in the free PBS KIDS Play & Learn Science App!

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Children’s Books About Peace

Even the best of friends sometimes have problems they must work out. Try "Dog and Bear: Two's Company" and other bedtime stories to share this lesson with little ones!

MEET THE HELPERS

MEET THE HELPERS is a public media initiative designed to introduce children to community helpers and practice emergency preparedness.

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Preschool Learning at Home

Preschoolers learn best through exploring, using all of their senses to understand their world. Here are some resources to support your child's early learning.

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Thank You Neighbors Playlist

Learn about the people that make your community special! This PBS KIDS playlist is packed with songs and stories from your favorite TV shows

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Germs Germs Go Away

"Germs, Germs Go Away. Don't come back any day" Use these tips from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood to keep germs away by washing hands and coughing into your elbow.

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PBS KIDS Role Models

These PBS KIDS role models prove that you can be anything. Check out these inspiring videos featuring a doctor, astronomer, paleontologist, engineer, and two musicians.

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Sign Up for the PBS KIDS Newsletter

Every day is full of possibilities and so is your child! Get crafts, activities, parenting tips, recipes, and more that you can use to play and learn with your kids emailed to you every week. Sign up here!

PBS KIDS Lab

Exploring new ways to keep kids learning. Anytime. Anywhere.