"As a dad of 10 and 12-year-old daughters, I appreciate resources for kids and families that celebrate human imagination, curiosity, and hands-on exploration. I had a fruitful recent conversation about resources for kids with a fellow dad, Kevin Maguire, who writes the great newsletter The New Fatherhood. If you're a dad looking for great reads and a sense of community, check out Kevin's newsletter. (Also read Recalculating, by Ignacio Pereyra). Kevin wrote the section below about simplifying screens and shared the tip about muted.io."
"Scratch, developed at the MIT Media Lab, is a superb program for learning to code. It's fun and free for kids - and adults. My daughters like assembling Scratch's visual blocks on screen to create interactive stories, games and animations. It's designed for kids 8 to 16. ScratchJr is a great alternative for kids 5 to 7. Seek is one of our favorite family apps. Point the app at any plant, flower, animal, or bug you see on a walk to learn more about it."
Parents and caregivers can prioritize human imagination and hands-on exploration for children instead of relying solely on AI-generated media. Visual coding platforms like Scratch and ScratchJr teach programming through drag-and-drop blocks, enabling interactive stories, games, and animations for ages roughly 5–16. Nature-identification apps such as Seek allow families to identify plants, flowers, animals, and insects during walks, deepening observation and curiosity. Simple tools and settings can reduce distracting screens and encourage real-world creativity. Age-appropriate, free resources support collaborative family learning, practical skills, and playful discovery without replacing authentic, tangible experiences with synthetic content.
Read at Fast Company
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]