After a crash test commissioned by our test-happy kin at Consumer Reports on the Evenflo Maestro Combination Booster Seat showed the product could experience a failure that could lead to severe injury for a child passenger, the company has announced a voluntary recall. [More]
kids
Dept. Of Agriculture Wants To Trick Kids Into Eating Better
By 10.12.10
The U.S. Department of Agriculture really wants kids to eat better, especially during school lunches where parents have a lesser impact on what their children shove down their gullets. To that extent, it is spending $2 million researching how to trick them into picking healthier meal options. [More]
Should Hasbro Be Allowed To Own A Kids' TV Channel?
By 10.6.10
New kid-centric cable channel The Hub hasn’t even debuted yet, but it’s already receiving a lot of criticism from parental and consumer watchdog groups, not because its programming is too violent or racy, but because it’s co-owned by toy and game giant Hasbro. [More]
Start A Co-Op Preschool
By 9.29.10
Preschools can be a giant chunk of change, so some parents are banding together and forming their own unofficial co-op preschools. Tuition is minimal and mainly goes to paying the teacher (that they get to choose), and they save on overhead by rotating the location between different family’s homes. There are definitely some considerations to figure out. People who’ve done it before advise: [More]
Have Silly Bandz Peaked?
By 9.29.10
Now that adults are using them to flirt, it stands to reason that the shaped rubber band sensation Silly Bandz might be on the wane among its original core user group: actual children. [More]
Guitar Center Customer Loses Fight With Elmo
By 9.28.10
Who would punch Elmo in the back of the head? A disgruntled customer at a Guitar Center in Florida, that’s who. The Elmo performer was working a gig at a toy store next door, then wandered over to Guitar Center. That’s when a customer came in, played some drums, behaved aggressively toward other customers and staff, then punched Elmo. [More]
Children Can Now Stay On Parent's Health Care Policies Until Age 26, And 3 Other Health Care Reforms That Just Kicked In
By 9.27.10
Several of the provisions of the health care bill’s provisions went into effect on September 23rd, one of the most popular of them being the fact that kids can now stay on their parent’s health care policies until age 26, but there also three other important ones too! [More]
Mompetitors Make It Hard To Have Mom Friends
By 9.27.10
This is a great video that makes fun of “Mompetitors,” those crazy moms who are as addicted to their kids as they are to one-upping other moms about what superior moms they are. What makes it even better is that it was made by a stay at-home-mom. [More]
Prego's Fake Lesson Plans To "Test" Thickest Sauce
By 9.20.10
Here’s a page from the history books of consumerism history: Back in the early 90’s, Prego gave out 12,000 free posters to classrooms across America containing a “lesson plan” for a “scientific” experiment in which they would test whether Prego or Ragu Old World Style was thicker. The poster came with a free slotted spoon and a coupon for a 30 oz jar of Prego. In the September 95 issue of Harper’s Magazine, David Shenk lampooned this blatant insertion of commercial messages into the classroom under the guise of learning about the scientific method: [More]
Orkin Man Uses Sippy Cup To Sprinkle Poison, Leaves It Behind In House With Little Kids
By 9.20.10
An Orkin exterminator’s decision to use a child’s sippy cup as a pesticide dispenser has gotten him suspended from his job after he left it behind in a house with three young children. [More]
Schools Put Carrot-Only Vending Machines In Cafeteria
By 9.20.10
Students at two high schools — one in Cincinnati, OH, the other in Syracuse, NY — are guinea pigs for a new program that’s trying to change the way young people look at veggies, by marketing and selling carrots like they’re junk food. [More]
5 Horrors Parents Most Worry About Vs 5 Most Likely To Occur
By 9.9.10
According to a new survey, the top 5 calamities parents fret over happening to their kids are, in order from most fretting to least: kidnapping, school snipers, terrorists, dangerous strangers, and drugs. What they really should be concerned over are the top 5 way children actually get hurt and/or killed: car accidents, homicide by someone the kid knows, abuse, suicide, and drowning. [More]
Be Sure To Confirm Age Requirements Before Buying Airline Tickets For Kids
By 8.30.10
A man in California ended up fighting with Expedia over compensation after his kids, ages 12 and 16, were left stranded overnight in a Virginia airport, because the airline wouldn’t let them board the connecting flight without being accompanied by someone 18 or older. The man told Expedia the kids’ ages before buying the tickets but the company’s system didn’t send up any red flags, so he thought the trip would be fine. [More]
Should There Be A Families-Only Section On Planes?
By 8.25.10
Who among us hasn’t been trapped on an airplane with a howling baby or a loudmouth 4-year-old who thinks the plane is his playground? So maybe it won’t come as a surprise to you that a new survey says most travelers would be just fine and/or dandy with having a families-only section on flights. [More]
Pick A Backpack That Won't Break Your Kid's Spine
By 8.24.10
Here are some tips from Consumer Reports for making sure your kid’s backpack won’t turn them into a hunchback: [More]
Should Chocolate Milk Be Served In Schools?
By 8.23.10
Though there are many differing explanations for why it’s happening, there’s no arguing that childhood obesity is on the rise in the U.S. The latest battleground over our kids’ waistlines is the school lunchroom, where nutritionists are attempting to make arguments for and against the continued sale of chocolate milk. [More]
Can A Pirate Ship Game Teach Kids About Money?
By 8.23.10
Parsons design and technology thesis students came up with a pirate ship board game that has the twin goals of teaching personal finance to kids and not sucking. [More]
California Says Some Bouncy Castles Have Too Much Lead In Them
By 8.17.10
California’s Attorney General, Jerry Brown, has filed a lawsuit that claims too many inflatable structures used at kids’ parties come with high levels of lead in the vinyl–“sometimes dozens of times the federal limit,” reports the New York Times. One of the defendants said the lawsuit was a “witch hunt,” and warned that it would have a chilling effect on what the Times calls the “bounce-house industry.” [More]
