16 cool Easter gifts for teens that will make their Easter special too
While our youngest kids may be content with a stuffed rabbit and a basket full of plastic eggs, I’m excited to spoil my three teens with some cool Easter gifts for teens that up the ante just a bit. After all, they’ve had a few years of trying to manage...
Fourteen talks to have before your child turns fourteen, with author Michelle Icard | Spawned Episode 229
As parents, we have a general idea of the conversations we need to have with our kids before they to the throes of teendom – like the sex talk, and the drugs and alcohol talk – for example. But there are actually a whole lot more conversations that we...
Kate DiCamillo on why kids need superheroes right now | Spawned 228
It’s a bit of a statement say we fan-grilled a bit over this week’s guest on the Spawned Parenting Podcast, two-time Newbery award-winning author Kate DiCamillo. Surely you know her incredible children’s books like The Tale of Despereaux, Because of...
How to encourage your kids’ interests and passions: 5 expert tips
We keep looking for the silver lining in the past Year That Was Like No Other, and as we talk to other parents, one thing comes up over and over: “my kid discovered they really love _____.” Whether it’s manga or chemistry, dystopian fiction or...
What Do You Meme? Custom Cards make family game night waaaaay more personal (and hilarious)
Here’s what I suggest for the weekend: Entice your teens out from their bedrooms for a hilarious family game night using your set of What Do You Meme? game cards. Only surprise them when they open the box, to find that you’ve booby trapped the deck with...
Here are the 2021 Caldecott, Newbery and all the ALA book award winners. Time to update your reading list!
Readers, get excited! The 2021 ALA youth media awards have been announced, and it’s time to update our reading lists! In case you’re not fully in the book-nerd world like me, that means our 2021 Caldecott, Newbery, Coretta Scott King awards and more have...
A free lesson plan about Amanda Gorman’s inauguration poem will make for some great dinner table conversation tonight.
My kids and I were glued to the TV last Wednesday, watching history take place on Inauguration Day. We were sobered by the national guard presence, excited about the achievements of our new VP Kamala Harris, and just so totally and completely relieved to see President...
The best children’s books of 2020: All the award winners to read with your kids in 2021.
I don’t think our annual roundup of the best children’s books of 2020 could come at a better time. As we’re heading into a winter of quarantining in 2021, my goal is to turn off the TV more and open up more books. This is my sixth year compiling all...
The top 10 Spawned parenting podcast episodes of 2020
Every year, we love to share our most popular Spawned podcast episodes. It’s always fun to see which topics and guests resonated the most with you, our awesome listeners. And if you’re new to our podcast, well, here’s the perfect opportunity to get...Hi! We’re Kristen + Liz!
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