Joanne Jacobs
Move it and lose the blues
Exercise and sports -- at least one hour three times a week -- are a natural anti-depressant for teenagers, according to an analysis of...
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Joanne Jacobs
- Jan 7
- 2 min
No more snow days? Not yet
Snow days have not been canceled, despite the rise of remote learning, writes Nathan M. Sorber, a higher education professor at West...
Joanne Jacobs
- Nov 26, 2022
- 1 min
Striver parents want toys to 'cram learning into playtime'
For ambitious parents, toys are supposed to "cram learning into playtime," writes Alex Blasdel in The Guardian. "Is it time for a...
Joanne Jacobs
- Nov 25, 2022
- 2 min
Back in the day, playgrounds were unsafe -- and fun
The first Saturday of each month is National Play Outside Day, writes Don Mathis. He remembers the exciting -- and dangerous --...
Joanne Jacobs
- Nov 25, 2022
- 1 min
Child's play is learning
Playing -- especially child-directed play outside with friends -- is how kids learn, writes Jackie Mader on the Hechinger Report. Playing...
Joanne Jacobs
- Oct 29, 2022
- 2 min
Boy trouble
Boys are struggling in school around the world, not just in the United States, points out Kay Hymowitz in City Journal. Boys have lower...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jul 17, 2022
- 2 min
Raising an American girl
My daughter never had an American Girl doll, because I was too cheap to spend that kind of money, even if each doll had a history back...
Joanne Jacobs
- May 14, 2022
- 1 min
She watched kids play — security was called
Lenore Skenazy was walking by an elementary school in Queens, when she saw kids playing hopscotch, just as she used to do, and paused to...
Joanne Jacobs
- Sep 30, 2018
- 1 min
Screen-time limits linked to cognitive skills
Limiting kids’ recreational screen time to less than two hours a day boosts their brainpower, concludes a new study, reports Hamza Shaban...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jun 10, 2018
- 2 min
Raising self-regulating kids
Children — and their parents and teachers face a “crisis of self-regulation,” argues Katherine Reynolds Lewis in The Good News About Bad...
Joanne Jacobs
- Apr 9, 2018
- 1 min
Too many toys spoil the toddler
Toddlers play more creatively if they’re given a few toys, according to a new study in Infant Behaviour and Development. Too many toys at...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 17, 2018
- 2 min
Naked tykes by the fire pit
Sara Zaske moved to Germany with a four-year-old daughter, then gave birth to a son. In Achtung Baby she praises “the German art of...
Joanne Jacobs
- Nov 24, 2017
- 1 min
Kids can take it
You’d never see this ad on American TV, says Let Grow. #Norway #play
Joanne Jacobs
- Oct 17, 2017
- 2 min
Parents don’t see value of kids’ play
Parents value structured activities over free play, according to a Gallup survey, “despite research associating unstructured, child-led...
Joanne Jacobs
- Sep 24, 2017
- 1 min
#Recess2017
Banning cellphones during lunch time has forced students to interact face to face, says Rebecca Gogel, principal of Corona del Mar Middle...
Joanne Jacobs
- Sep 4, 2017
- 1 min
Don’t raise your kids to be snowflakes
Mamas, don’t raise your kids to be snowflakes, says social psychologist Jonathan Haidt in a Spiked interview. Over-protective parents are...
Joanne Jacobs
- Sep 3, 2017
- 2 min
Too young for a smartphone?
The average child gets his or her first smartphone at age 10, but some parents are pledging to keep their kids smartphone-free till...
Joanne Jacobs
- Aug 12, 2017
- 1 min
Putin vs. fidget spinners
“Fidget spinners are a capitalist plot to turn Russian children into zombies,” Vladimir Putin fears, according to Newsweek. The...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jul 13, 2017
- 2 min
Fun in the sun is not enough
Summer camp isn’t just for swimming and crafts, writes Michael Alison Chandler in the Washington Post. Specialty camps — debate,...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jul 5, 2017
- 2 min
Don’t have fun, kids! It’s dangerous
Summer is the “time to dig in the sand, gulp from the hose, play at the park, and leap with joy … unless you’re a kid,” wrote Lenore...
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