Life Kit: Parenting

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Kids & Family

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Raising awesome kids takes help. NPR has science and experts to get you through the toughest parenting moments. Subscribe to get episodes from Life Kit on parenting.

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'Terrestrials,' a new kid's...

01.21.2023

From our friends at Radiolab: Terrestrials. Terrestrials is a show for people of all ages that explores the strangeness that exists right here on Earth.

Life Kit: Parenting episodes:

01.21.2023 'Terrestrials,' a new kid's show from Radiolab, uncovers the strangeness on Earth From our friends at Radiolab: Terrestrials. Terrestrials is a show for people of all ages that explores the strangeness that exists right here on Earth.
10.17.2022 The 5-minute daily playtime ritual that can get your kids to listen better Called 'special time,' the strategy is widely recommended by children's health professionals to help reduce behavioral issues in young children. Here's a guide on how to do it with your kids at home.
09.26.2022 Why you should connect with your kid, not correct them Psychologist Becky Kennedy, author of the new book "Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be," urges parents to spend more time raising thoughtful humans instead of fixing their behavior.
07.26.2022 How to financially prepare for having a baby Having a baby is one of the biggest - and most expensive - life changes a person can experience. Here's what you need to know about financially planning for a baby, according to Farnoosh Torabi, Editor at Large CNET Money. ...
07.21.2022 How to talk to kids about abortion Talking about abortion can be complicated, even with adults. How do you talk about the medical procedure and the politics around it with kids? NPR's Ailsa Chang gets tips from Dr. Elise Berlan and parenting expert Reena Patel.
06.27.2022 How to raise a good citizen Talking to kids about civics is kind of like talking to kids about sex - avoiding the conversation can have some really negative consequences. Here's how to talk to kids about civic participation, from discussing our hard history to taking ...
05.28.2022 What to say to kids when the news is scary The news can be devastating, and tragic events can be incomprehensible for adults — so how do we talk about them with kids? Child development experts offer advice on what parents, teachers and other caregivers can say to help kids ...
05.10.2022 How to give mothering the value it deserves Raising kids is among the most essential work humans do, and yet it's rarely valued as labor. Angela Garbes, author of Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change, guides us through a shift in mindset to help give mothering the value ...
03.24.2022 How working parents can win back some time Calling all working parents and caregivers! We see you, and we know you don't have much time. Career coach Daisy Dowling shares time management tips to help working parents find sanity and joy.
01.08.2022 A pediatrician's advice on omicron, daycare and travel for kids under 5 Amid the omicron surge, there is understandable anxiety among parents, particularly those with kids under 5. In this episode, infectious disease doctor Ibukun Kalu answers listeners' questions on the latest COVID variant, daycare and travel for unvaccinated children.
11.11.2021 5 Tips For Transferring Colleges Most students who want to transfer colleges, don't. The process can be complicated and confusing and differ from state to state and institution to institution. Despite these hurdles, transferring is a common route to college. So how do you make ...
11.08.2021 How To Build A Sleep Routine For You And Your Children Creating healthy sleeping habits starts from having a consistent routine. This can include anything you and your family need from a specific bed time to an optimal bedroom setup.
10.19.2021 Finding Agency With A Birth Plan Having a birth plan can prepare you for pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. Here's what to keep in mind as you start to put yours together.
09.30.2021 It's FAFSA Time! Here's How To Apply For College Financial Aid The Free Application for Federal Student Aid opens to potential college students to fill out on Oct. 1. Here's how to fill out the form to get money for college.
09.28.2021 How You Can Help Someone At Risk Of Suicide Do you know someone who is struggling and may be at risk for suicide? Here's how you can help.
09.27.2021 How Reading Aloud Can Help You Bond With Your Kids Reading is important both in school and at home. But how can you raise a reader? In this episode, we'll look at how reading aloud as a family can help with that and more.
09.20.2021 In 'We're Not Broken,' Author Eric Garcia Takes On Myths About Autism Author Eric Garcia talks about myths surrounding autism, how to talk about it and how to help your autistic loved one live their most fulfilling life.
08.30.2021 How To Keep Your Kids Safe From The Delta Variant Public health experts — all parents themselves — share their tips for keeping kids safe at school as the Delta variant surges across the U.S.
08.19.2021 5 Tips For Becoming A Stepparent Stepfamilies are common in the U.S., but experts say we don't talk enough about how challenging it is to become a blended family. Here are some tips for those becoming stepparents.
08.16.2021 Do's And Don'ts For Parents Whose Kids Have Gained Weight In The Pandemic Doctors and specialists who work with kids share their tips for how to get kids back on track if they have gained excess weight gain during the pandemic.
08.09.2021 A Business-Minded Way To Make Tough Family Decisions Make tough decisions easier for your school-aged kids and family with proven data — and strategies — from the business world.
08.05.2021 The Process Of Becoming A Mother Has A Name: Matrescence That postpartum feeling of being on an emotional rollercoaster, not recognizing your body in the mirror, thinking that you've lost yourself — it's all part of the process.
08.03.2021 Money Talks: How To Teach Kids About Finance Money can feel like a taboo topic in a lot of households, but talking about it regularly can take the awkwardness out of it, says financial expert Jen Hemphill.
07.26.2021 How To Talk About Divorce With Your Children Even the most amicable split is world-changing for young children. Here are a few key tips for grown-ups trying to help their kids navigate this big transition.
05.06.2021 Finding The Perfect Name For Your Baby Picking a name for a baby can be overwhelming. With all the possibilities out in the world, it can be hard to even begin to choose. On this episode of Life Kit, host Diana Opong speaks with baby naming experts ...
04.12.2021 Navigating Life After Pregnancy Loss Despite how common pregnancy loss is, families often suffer in silence. In honor of Black Maternal Health Week, Life Kit teamed up with the hosts of the podcast docuseries NATAL to share stories from parents who have experienced loss, and ...
04.10.2021 Raising Boys To Be Feminists Author Sonora Jha shares insights from her memoir, How To Raise A Feminist Son, which includes practical to-do lists about how to handle some of the hardest conversations with sons.
04.01.2021 Raising Kids Who Help With Chores Raising kids who pitch in around your home doesn't require bribes or a chore chart. Kids want to help – and parents can nurture that desire by including them in age-appropriate ways.
03.27.2021 Talking With Kids About Anti-Asian Racism Navigating conversations with kids around race and racism can be tricky. Here's what to think about while talking to kids about the rise in anti-Asian attacks and the shootings in Atlanta earlier this month.
03.25.2021 Helping Teens Cope With Mental Health Struggles Over a year into the pandemic, many teens are missing milestones and struggling with their mental health. Here's how to spot red flags and when to get help.
03.01.2021 Deciding When To Have A Baby Whether you've always wanted to be a parent or not, starting a family is a big decision. The pandemic makes it even tougher. In this episode, experts talk through what to consider.
01.07.2021 What To Tell Kids When The News Is Scary When the headlines are terrifying, how can parents make sure kids get the facts without traumatizing them? Whether it's a school shooting, a global pandemic or an insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, child development experts have some advice. (This episode ...
12.10.2020 Helping Kids (And Parents) Cope During COVID-19 Kids and teens have had their lives upended by COVID-19. Here's what parents can do to help them stay positive and feel supported.
11.16.2020 Transforming Kids' Worries Into Superpowers Kids have anxiety — but it's not always a bad thing. Renee Jain and Dr. Shefali Tsabary have some ideas about how to help children use those feelings to their advantage.
11.02.2020 How To Raise Good Citizens Now is a good time to talk to the kids in your life about how to engage in civics. Here's a primer from our Life Kit parenting team.
10.22.2020 FAFSA 2020: Here's How To Apply For College Financial Aid The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is now open to potential college students to fill out. Here's how to fill out the form to get money for college — and why you should apply now instead of waiting.
09.08.2020 A Simple Equation to Help Kids Love Math Math anxiety is real for kids and adults. But parents can help. The solution goes beyond equations and textbooks.
08.13.2020 How To Make Sure Your Child Learns This School Year This school year, families with children are in a serious bind. Whether you're looking for options for childcare or need resources to keep your kid entertained, this episode will walk through some ideas to think about.
07.21.2020 How To Work With — Not Against — Screen Time Some parents think the best way to manage a child's screen time is to set hard limits. But those rules are particularly difficult to keep during a pandemic, when screens are a lifeline for all of us. So what should ...
06.22.2020 Kids Know How To Occupy Themselves. We Need To Let Them Do It American parents often feel like event planners for their kids. There's a pressure to make sure kids are entertained and content every minute of the day. NPR's Michaeleen Doucleff says kids can be trained to occupy themselves.
06.11.2020 Discussing 'The Talk' It's Been A Minute host Sam Sanders talks with his colleague Kenya Young, executive producer of Morning Edition and mother of three boys about "the talk" — The series of conversations black parents have with their kids, particularly their sons, ...
06.04.2020 How White Parents Can Talk To Their Kids About Race NPR's Michel Martin talks with Jennifer Harvey, author of Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America, about how to talk with white kids about racially charged events — and how to keep the conversation going. If ...
05.28.2020 Be Honest And Concrete: Tips For Talking To Kids About Death Whether it's a family pet or a loved one, every child will experience a death at some point — and their parents will likely struggle to explain it. This episode, we revisit the Mr. Hooper episode of Sesame Street, which ...
05.26.2020 Decision Day Is Almost Here. Here's How To Decide For An Unknown Future While it's hard to know what college will look like this fall, college decision day is almost here. So what can students do to make a sound choice during this uncertain time? Education reporter Elissa Nadworny gives an update on ...
05.12.2020 When Will This Be Over? Sesame Workshop's Tips For Parenting During A Pandemic Many parents are struggling right now — juggling kids at home 24/7 and coping with their own losses. In this episode, Rosemarie Truglio, a developmental psychologist and senior vice president of curriculum and content at Sesame Workshop, offers helpful pandemic ...
05.10.2020 Sesame Street's Grover On Coping During Coronavirus: Just For Kids Hey kids! Sesame Street's Grover is here and he's got some great ideas for making your days brighter during coronavirus. Grover explains how to make virtual play dates more fun, how to daydream and how to be a helper.
05.08.2020 Kid-Friendly TV Show Recommendations Parenting during self-isolation can be challenging, and let's be honest — sometimes screen time helps you just get through the day. Our friends at Pop Culture Happy Hour offer TV recommendations for those with young kids at home.
04.02.2020 Here's How To Pick A College During The Coronavirus Pandemic The coronavirus pandemic is making college decisions more complicated. This episode answers the burning questions: How do I get a hold of final transcripts if my school is closed? How do I decide on a school I can't visit? What ...
03.24.2020 6 Tips For Homeschooling During Coronavirus Tens of millions of parents are homeschooling their kids during the coronavirus. Here's a realistic guide to keeping kids engaged and everyone sane. Hint: this is a good time for passion projects and sleeping in a bit.
03.13.2020 Coronavirus And Parenting: What You Need To Know Now Life Kit answers your questions about parenting and the coronavirus.

Older episodes

Life Kit: Parenting

What's Life Kit: Parenting about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Life Kit: Parenting episodes:

'Terrestrials,' a new kid's show from Radiolab, uncovers the strangeness on Earth

The 5-minute daily playtime ritual that can get your kids to listen better

Why you should connect with your kid, not correct them

How to financially prepare for having a baby

How to talk to kids about abortion

How to raise a good citizen

What to say to kids when the news is scary

How to give mothering the value it deserves

How working parents can win back some time

A pediatrician's advice on omicron, daycare and travel for kids under 5

5 Tips For Transferring Colleges

How To Build A Sleep Routine For You And Your Children

Finding Agency With A Birth Plan

It's FAFSA Time! Here's How To Apply For College Financial Aid

How You Can Help Someone At Risk Of Suicide

How Reading Aloud Can Help You Bond With Your Kids

In 'We're Not Broken,' Author Eric Garcia Takes On Myths About Autism

How To Keep Your Kids Safe From The Delta Variant

5 Tips For Becoming A Stepparent

Do's And Don'ts For Parents Whose Kids Have Gained Weight In The Pandemic

A Business-Minded Way To Make Tough Family Decisions

The Process Of Becoming A Mother Has A Name: Matrescence

Money Talks: How To Teach Kids About Finance

How To Talk About Divorce With Your Children

Finding The Perfect Name For Your Baby

Navigating Life After Pregnancy Loss

Raising Boys To Be Feminists

Raising Kids Who Help With Chores

Talking With Kids About Anti-Asian Racism

Helping Teens Cope With Mental Health Struggles

Deciding When To Have A Baby

What To Tell Kids When The News Is Scary

Helping Kids (And Parents) Cope During COVID-19

Transforming Kids' Worries Into Superpowers

How To Raise Good Citizens

FAFSA 2020: Here's How To Apply For College Financial Aid

A Simple Equation to Help Kids Love Math

How To Make Sure Your Child Learns This School Year

How To Work With — Not Against — Screen Time

Kids Know How To Occupy Themselves. We Need To Let Them Do It

Discussing 'The Talk'

How White Parents Can Talk To Their Kids About Race

Be Honest And Concrete: Tips For Talking To Kids About Death

Decision Day Is Almost Here. Here's How To Decide For An Unknown Future

When Will This Be Over? Sesame Workshop's Tips For Parenting During A Pandemic

Sesame Street's Grover On Coping During Coronavirus: Just For Kids

Kid-Friendly TV Show Recommendations

Here's How To Pick A College During The Coronavirus Pandemic

6 Tips For Homeschooling During Coronavirus

Coronavirus And Parenting: What You Need To Know Now