Paula Maher tires of her daughter constantly coming to the party. “Look, Mummy! It’s an envelope, and it has my name on it! Open it, Mummy, open it!” My daughter, Kayla, stands before me, beaming excitedly, holding a pink, glittery envelope covered in fairies. Luckily, she...
Kylie Ladd writes about family responses to chronic illness in grandparents. When Julie Anderson’s mother was diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s disease, one of Julie’s first thoughts was of her own daughter. “Mum had been forgetting things and getting a bit muddled for a while, so the...
by Genevieve McArthur During Book Week, we will see countless photos on social media of happy kids dressed as characters from their favourite books while schools hold daily events celebrating the joy of reading. It’s a fun time for many children, who relish the chance to dress...
For good health, write Vaughan Cruickshank, Brendon Hyndman, Matt Sharman and Tom Hartley. You should try to eat at least two serves of fruit every day. Eating oranges at half-time has been a popular and long-standing tradition at junior sports in countries such as Australia, the...
What’s Australia doing? Asks Ausma Bernot and Joel Scanlan Roblox is a hugely popular online gaming platform that contains its own little universe of games. It is primarily targeted at children. Users can create games themselves, play games built by others, and chat with other players....
Susan Macciocca comes clean about her two-year-old son’s obsession with dirty work. My son Eddy has a thing about rubbish bins. It is not an idle interest; it’s a consuming passion. He loves bins the way a Collingwood supporter loves the black-and-white jumper. He likes full...
A trip to a cemetery with her son leads Clare Wishart to ponder the importance of families and their undying connections. The automated voice told me that my library book was ready for collection. I decided to combine picking it up with some exercise for my...
From selfie injuries to viral stunts, social media can be risky for children. Could a ban help? Asks researchers Samuel Cornell and Amy Peden Australia is one of several countries currently considering a social media ban for children. Nationally, there are calls to raise the age...
Art offers us different, and sometimes challenging, perspectives to consider in our lifelong relationship with the human form, writes Naomi Zouwer Since they were babes in arms I have taken my two children to museums and galleries. Because of this frequent exposure to art, seeing representations...
How can you help if your child is struggling? Stuart Evans and Kane Middleton have some suggestions Apart from literacy and numeracy, throwing and catching are some of the most important skills children learn in primary school. These are considered “fundamental movement skills” because they underpin...
