Fun Finds to Help Kids Express Themselves in 2022
The last couple of years have been tough on everyone, especially kids. Kids have been resilient and should be empowered to express themselves, get talking, and have fun. Here are some finds to help social-emotional skills, encourage engagement, promote togetherness, and to bring joy.
Psst… Check out Parental Burnout: Expert Shares Signs and Tips Parents Need to Know
Bright Littles Convo Cards
These are a terrific tool to spark meaningful conversation with kids. Parents will love that Convo Cards provide them an engaging and fun way to approach tough topics with their kids and kids will love that they can use them at home, on-the-go, or anywhere they go. There are 100 question cards and 25 activity cards for kids ages 4 and up across five topics: diversity, health, safety, nature, and self. Each card is designed to start an ongoing conversation that will encourage confidence, kindness, compassion, and more. $28
The Us Journal
The Us Journal is a special notebook to form a lasting connection between parent and child, features colorful designs, blank and lined exercise pages, and prompts for both parent and child to express themselves. Parents will love opening this book to find creative writing prompts and drawing invitations, designed for kids to discover more about themselves—their likes, their fears, their hopes, and their dreams—while parents join in with written responses of their own. With a sturdy hardcover binding, this journal is one that children will treasure forever. Kids will love sharing jokes, trading secrets, and creating some one-on-one moments of screen-free joy as a family with this meaningful journal. $16.95
The Week Junior
This is the only magazine delivering news and current affairs directly to kids each and every week. Parents will love that each issue features headlines from across the globe and that they are always told in a way that’s engaging and age-appropriate. Kids will love special sections like “The Big Debate,” where kids get to weigh in on issues like “Should parents be friends with their kids?,” and fun features like “Ask a Zookeeper” and “Around the World.” Kids love when each new issue arrives on the doorstep, addressed just to them to read and enjoy.
This award-winning magazine makes reading and learning fun for kids, inspires curiosity and creativity, and because it’s a subscription, it’s at your doorstep all year-around. And in a challenging year, The Week Junior has become an essential resource for parents and teachers, too, as they navigate difficult conversations with kids about what’s going on in the world. $49.95/25 issues
Pawz, The Calming Pup
Kids will love interacting with Pawz, The Calming Pup. Pawz guides them through three different breathing patterns to help them relax and refocus. Simply follow the auto-adjusting light, inhaling as Pawz brightens and exhaling when it dims. Pawz is also the perfect travel companion whether kids need it in the car or during a long day at school. When it’s bedtime, Pawz also includes a night-light mode with a timer and color choices of white, green, blue, yellow, and purple, to help children rest easy.
Parents will love that Pawz supports social-emotional learning and self-regulation and Pawz helps engage breath activity, encouraging children to be fully present and bring awareness to their thoughts and feelings. The auto-adjusting lights guide children through deep breathing patterns so kids can take a breath and enjoy three different breath patterns: square breath, 4 x 4 breath, and laddered breath. $19.99
KidNuz
KidNuz is one of our favorite podcasts for kids, providing them an age-appropriate daily news brief filled with fun facts and new discoveries. Parents will love KidNuz’s mission is to “engage the next generation with news that will inform without fear and educate without opinion.” It is the brainchild of four veteran broadcast journalists who believe that kids deserve a newscast all their own and this family-friendly newscast delivers current events in a kid-friendly package, sparks curiosity, and gets them asking critical questions. Together with parents and teachers, KidNuz engages kids on issues that are relevant to them.
This story first appeared on NewYorkFamily.com.
Sign up for Long Island Press’ email newsletters here. Sign up for home delivery of Long Island Press here. Sign up for discounts by becoming a Long Island Press community partner here.
