Sonja Walker’s minute-by-minute planning means that her parties pass muster with all the troops. Navigating the Birthday Party Minefield Birthday parties can be a minefield for unsuspecting parents. Who should be invited and who shouldn’t be invited? How many kids is too many? How long should it last?...

It was a close-run thing, but his son’s fifth-birthday party ended up being a treasured event, writes Daniel Prokop. The Pressure of the First Real Party When my wife, Beth, and I celebrated five years of being parents, we received the official thumbs up from our son,...

Children are not waiting to become artists, writes Alise Hardy. They are artists now. At Carclew’s South Australia bold new exhibition This Is What Art Looks Like (May 5 - 30th), young artists aren’t just learning—they’re creating work that’s thoughtful, powerful, and deeply connected to identity,...

As well as being a mood-boosting treat this Easter, chocolate can also be good for us, and researchers are working to make it even better for gut health, report Wenan Cai,Dr Kristy DiGiacomo,Said Ajlouni and Senaka Ranadheera While many of us enjoy chocolate throughout the year,...

Emma Bateman highlights the differences in parenting styles between mums and dads. At the playground, my arms are folded tightly around my waist and I’m scowling. Not at my two-year-old son, who is smiling crazily, but at my husband, John, who is dangling William precariously about...

It takes some time before Amelia Sommer adjusts to, and appreciates, the role that her mother is prepared to play in her children’s lives. Once, when my 10-month-old daughter would not stop crying, and I was trying to placate her as well as cope with her...

Martha Wegner discovers that when it comes to gardening, two’s competent but three’s a clown. It was the kind of day we dream about when we think of autumn: perfectly cool, the kind of cool that requires a long-sleeved shirt and maybe a hat to keep...

The Children’s Book Council Australia (CBCA) is thrilled to announce the 2025 Book of the Year Awards Notable list. This curated list of diverse and engaging books celebrates the extraordinary talent and creativity of our Australian authors and illustrators, reflecting the vibrancy of contemporary children’s literature...

Seventy per cent of us experience a spike in stress over the festive season, but some understanding of why we get anxious and the effect on our bodies can help us relax this Christmas Dr Jared Cooney Horvath Here we go again. It’s that time of...