How Things Change

The '80s, and every decade before. (via Pleated-Jeans)

Is Gen Z Dumb?

It's common that people who are older and have more experience look at young people as clueless. It's always been that way, because 60 years of learning about the world will beat twenty years of learning on average. For an objective measurement, national IQ scores are starting to fall. But it's not the kids' fault- it's their environment, meaning technology, education, and the broader culture that results. Yeah, that means it's our fault.

You can find hundreds of ways we have let young people down. People who were raised by the TV end up knowing little about parenting their own kids. Fractured media choices lead to the option of ignoring what's going on the real world. Helicopter parents shield children from life's hard lessons. Participation trophies lead to an inflated sense of self. Fractured families lead to a loss of generational knowledge. And more than anything else, income equality leads to people who have to work too hard to even feed their children, much less spend time with them. Of course, we would never want to go back to the days of beating kids into compliance. I believe that instilling a lifetime love of learning into very young children is crucial, and that takes a lot of effort. But it pays off.  

Owls

(via reddit) 

Bethan's Rock

Bethan's Rock is a small grey stone on display at Poole Museum in Poole, England. It was donated to the museum in 2019 by a five-year-old girl named Bethan, and it has since attracted significant attention on social media and become the museum's most famous object. - Wikipedia

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— Wil Eelsing (@wileelsing.bsky.social) July 1, 2026 at 4:11 AM

Here's the whole story. 

Welcome Home, Daddy!

A compilation of tiny tots and their joy at seeing Daddy come home. Happy Father's Day. 

A Brother's Tears

This little boy is singing a lullaby to his newborn sister Alice, but then he's overcome with emotion at the beautiful moment. (via Digg)

Why Are Babies So Useless?

Almost all animal babies emerge from their mother or from an egg able to do the things that its species is expected to do. Mammals feed their young for a time, but even kittens and puppies can walk around on their own at about two weeks of age. Then there are humans, who are spectacularly helpless for a very long time. They can't walk, talk, eat, or control elimination for a couple of years, and even then they need guidance and protection. Why do we have such an extended infancy? 

In one version of the story, Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and was cursed to bear big-brained babies in pain. That's not far from the science version, because humans have enormous brains for their body size, and we had to offload a lot of that brain growing to after birth. Not all of it, of course, as anyone who has given birth will yell you. Human mothers wouldn't survive much more baby brain size. That equates to humans being born relatively premature compared to other animals. Getting a child to maturity is quite a chore, but it also has its upsides, as this video from The Thought Vortex explains.  

Children's Dream Jobs Over a Century

What do kids say when you ask them what they want to be when they grow up? When I saw the premise of this video, I immediately thought "Astronaut! President!" This reflects the historical era I grew up in, and I well remember being set straight that girls cannot be either. But this graphic video covers 1920 through 2026. It begins with "cowboy" being the most popular answer, and reflects what children are exposed to over time. Watch how fast "pilot" ascends to the top early on. World War II promotes "soldier." "Astronaut" debuts in 1958 and quickly becomes the go-to profession, although "spy" is pretty popular during the Cold War. "Pro Athlete" takes the top as the Apollo program ends. "Programmer" debuts in 1985. "Dinosaur Expert" hits the list in 1992, a year before Jurassic Park, but the same year that PBS's miniseries The Dinosaurs! aired. "YouTuber" joined in 2007, only two years after the platform launched, and became the real aspiration for children.  
    
Pay attention to what's simmering under the top. "Nurse" and "teacher" were consistently on the list until the 1970s, because little girls assumed those were the only professions open to them. I'm surprised "movie star" stayed so low. Be aware that the very question assumes that an adult will be defined by their job, which is a very American thing. (via Born in Space) 

  

Peekaboo!

The urge to make a baby laugh, and the joy we get from it, is no accident. It's a adaptation that makes us rear children in a way that helps them develop the skills they need. At only a few months old, babies laugh when you play peekaboo because they are learning about object permanence. Their laugh is reinforced when you keep doing this pleasurable activity, so they learn to laugh at what they enjoy. But their brains are also forming important concepts. They will continue to laugh at peekaboo for years, but the game later grows into more complicated forms of play that also expand their brains' understanding of the world. This TED-Ed lesson doesn't really go into that pleasurable feedback loop, but spending a weekend with my grandchildren drove it home for me.  

James Bond 003 (years old)

This guy makes movies with his three-year-old son. Here, the child is Bond, James Bond. (via reddit) 

Children Need to Take Risks

When I first moved to my current home, my neighbors were up in arms because my ten-year-old was out in the creek turning rocks over to find crawfish. Didn't I know that's not safe? Honestly, I wouldn't have expected anything less from her. Many people who grew up as free-range children lament the regimented lifestyles of today's youngsters, because it can result in anxious young adults ill-equipped to navigate the world. But we won't be going back to those days. Back then, there was safety in numbers, and now you can't even find other children except at school and play dates. Kids still need time, freedom, and risk to develop competence and confidence. So what can we do? 

One thing we can do is replicate some of the elements of free play and exploration with designed spaces that are less sterile and obvious and more open to imagination. Children want to try things they've never done before, and it helps if they get to figure it out themselves. This TED-Ed lesson looks at some of the factors that go into slightly risky play that helps children develop their own agency. The downside is that these kinds of playgrounds will inevitably cost money to use.  

The Wheels on the Bus

The first time former president Obama met New York mayor Zohran Mamdani was at the Learning Through Play Pre-K childcare center in the Bronx on Saturday. They had fun with the kids, and the kids had a great time. I would imagine that these preschoolers were told that these are important men, but they only know they were friendly and fun and got down on their level. 

"The Apple Man" and Other Songs by a 3-year-old Lyricist

Little kids love stories. When they learn they can make up their own stories, magic can happen. It doesn't matter whether they make any sense, because it's the imagination that matters. The joy a child takes in their own creativity is touching. Composer and music theory professor Stephen Spencer has a three-year-old daughter who loves to make up and tell stories. He takes her lyrics and makes songs out of them.  



They don't rhyme, but Spencer takes that as a challenge. It's no barrier to a hit song, as long as the song makes you feel good. After going viral, he's released many of the songs on Spotify. You can also find them at TikTok and YouTube.  (via Memo of the Air) 

Childhood

(via Bored Panda)

Baby Laughter

This is a real thing! (via She Who Seeks)

Kindergarten Weather Report

Carden Corts got a kindergarten assignment to make a weather forecast video. His dad, Charlie Corts, who works in video production, helped a little. It's adorable, but wait until the subject shifts to spring break for things to really heat up! Kindergarten teachers don't grade on a curve, do they? Even without the awesome video effects, six-year-old Carden does a great job doing the weather. That kid is going places. Like reddit, where his uncle posted this video. 

The Sales Pitch

If you can't fulfill a need for your customers, the next tactic is altruism and guilt. That's when you let them know that proceeds of your sale benefit the local school charity, or in this case, the Gopher Guides. When that fails, you have to bring out the big guns. This little girl has put some real thought into her spiel. Avoiding future awkwardness must be worth at least five dollars. This is the latest comic from Chris Hallbeck at Maximumble.

School Work

I supposed any word ending in "f" would do, but this kid went the extra mile. (via Bored Panda)

The Louisville Leopards

The Louisville Leopards are an extracurricular percussion ensemble for kids between seven and 18 years old. Here they are, performing "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne in 2012. Ozzy and his family were so impressed, they donated $10,000 to the program.(via Fark) 

Dinosaur, a Film by Nathan and His Dad

Four-year-old Nathan Mezquida tells a story he made up about dinosaurs. His dad, Allen Mezquida, animated his drawings to tell it.

Nathan spends hours drawing every day, mostly dinosaurs. He also loves watching BBC documentaries about dinosaurs. Next thing I knew, we were working on this short film together. Nathan was very clear about the story he wanted to tell and how he wanted it to look. He said he wanted it to be very real, "never cartoony." I did my best to stay true to his vision.

(via Laughing Squid)