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Dreaming of adventure in the new year? LEGO just dropped over 100 new sets that will have your bitty builders glamping on the beach, using wind energy to power an eco-adventurous treehouse, or twirling in an enchanted ballroom.
The expanded collection from LEGO includes a lineup from Sonic the Hedgehog, LEGO Friends, Marvel LEGO and more. Prices start at $10, and there are sets to fit everyone’s interest and budget. Check out our favorites from the new sets below, then head to LEGO.com to score your own.
One day you’re reading board books to your baby (while he or she simultaneously tries to chew on them). The next thing you know, that little one has grown into a big kid who’s ready to read independently. Scholastic’s early reader line, Acorn, is perfect for children ages 4-7. Here’s why kids (and their parents!) love them:
The Format Is Fun!
Each book contains three to five short stories about endearing characters. Kids can read the stories in a row or in any order they’d like. FYI: Giving kids this simple choice in how they read creates a sense of accomplishment. In addition, each page contains vibrant full-color illustrations—making them inviting and accessible (not intimidating!)—and text is easy to read and its humorous tone is a crowd-pleaser for silly kiddos. Some of the books have color-coded speech bubbles, just like graphic novels. This feature helps introduce dialogue, making reading aloud even more entertaining.
They Build Confidence
It can be a challenge to find early chapter books that kids actually enjoy. Acorn make them feel confident in their reading abilities and encourage them to keep going! Activities at the end of each book maximize the reading experience with “how-to-draw” instructions and writing prompts (hello, future authors and illustrators!). These extension activities give kids additional ways to engage with the characters, while offering parents insight into their reading comprehension.
There’s a Series for Every Reader
There are 12 series in the Acorn line, with more in the works. From friendship to magic, the wide array of genres makes it simple to find a just-right read for your kiddo. There’s even a “horror-lite” series on the list for kids who like spooky stories, called Mister Shivers! The Dragon series by Dav Pilkey (author of Captain Underpants and Dog Man) is a fan favorite. BFFs Unicorn and Yeti are great for those who love magical creatures. Princess Truly is an empowering series about a young girl. And Hello, Hedgehog is an adorable friendship series focused on achieving big childhood milestones and helping pals overcome fears.
No Levels, No Problem.
Kids are used to seeing levels on their books. Not on these! Although books align with leveling guidelines, Acorn doesn’t put levels on the covers to keep kids from feeling pigeon-holed. They meet kids right where they are on their reading journey.
They’re Educator Approved.
Acorn executive editor Katie Carella was a teacher herself! She saw how difficult it was to find high-quality, interesting early readers for her students, which inspired her to create this line. Teachers across the country are big fans—making sure their classroom bookshelves are stocked with Acorn essentials! “The format made it feel similar to the higher-level books they see their older siblings reading, such as Captain Underpants and Dog Man, so they were excited to read it by themselves,” says a first-grade teacher, Sharon.
The cyber-schooling year is almost over. With summer on the horizon, you’re looking for fun-filled ways to treat your kiddos to some much-needed entertainment. Regal recently announced the cinema’s 2021 Summer Movie Express!
If your fam is ready to view film faves on the big screen again, the 2021 Regal Summer Movie Express is the best bet for a budget-friendly experience. Each of the family movies is only $1 per person Tuesdays and Wednesdays at participating Regal Cinemas theaters all summer long.
The highly anticipated Paramount+ streaming service launches today—with 7,000+ episodes of your kiddo’s fave shows and so much more!
What can you expect from Paramount+? Among the over 7,000 kid-friendly faves, your child will find Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, PAW Patrol, SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Rugrats: All Grown Up and Henry Danger.
Not only will the streaming service treat your littles to some of the most beloved series, but your family can also view recent Paramount theatrical hits such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Dora and the Lost City of Gold and The Addams Family. Along with series and movies your family already knows and loves, Paramount+ will also bring fan favorite characters back in a whole new way. Look for the first-ever CGI SpongeBob motion picture, Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years and a new flick, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.
Get nostalgic with a ’90s throwback done in an all new way for an all new generation. Paramount+ will bring your kiddos a brand-new Rugrats CG animation series! If you’re looking for something to watch when the kids go to sleep, take a trip back in time to the first ever Real World series with The Real World Homecoming: New York. This all-new reality show picks up where there seven strangers left off—almost 30 years later.
You have two tier choices to stream Paramount+. The premium tier ($9.99) includes live sports, CBS’ live linear feed, and commercial-free entertainment. Starting June 2021 you can subscribe to a $4.99 ad-supported tier that will include plenty of sports, news, entertainment—but will not feature local live CBS station programming. In the meantime, subscribers can choose a $5.99 ad-supported tier that will include live CBS programming. The $5.99 option is only available until June.
—Erica Loop
Featured photo: Courtesy Paramount+/Paramount Animation
Can you believe it’s been a year since the first Sonic the Hedgehog dropped in theaters? And what a year it’s been.
In honor of the big day, Paramount Pictures just dropped the title for the upcoming sequel: Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Catch the official title announcement below!
While you’ll need to wait over a year to catch the film when it arrives in theaters on Apr. 8, 2022, there’s bound to be more trailers dropped along the way. And if nothing else, the OG music theme from the trailer has gotten us pretty excited!
SEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog is coming to a LEGO shop near you! LEGO Ideas has announced that a concept design submitted by 24 year-old, UK-based LEGO super fan Viv Grannell will soon be brought to life for fans all over the world.
LEGO Ideas is an initiative that helps take new ideas that are then voted on by fans with the hope of them being turned into real-life bricks. Grannell took inspiration from SEGA’s platformer experience Sonic Mania™, and incorporates characters and environments from the game’s Green Hill Zone level.
photo: LEGO
The Sonic Mania Green Hill Zone LEGO Ideas® design first goes into the product development phase in partnership with SEGA® and after finalization, will be available worldwide. The set is the perfect representation of Sonic the Hedgehog and comes as the franchise celebrates its 30th anniversary this June.
Stay tuned for more details, including release dates and pricing.
With the amount of time many of us spent in loungewear this year social distancing from friends and family, it’s not surprising that we also spent much of our free time glued to the television. From streaming movies to kiosk rentals, Redbox just released their top rentals of 2020. While there are a few no-brainers that made the list, you may be surprised that there are actually a handful of family-friendly flicks. Read on for the full list and then hop on over to our story all about the best 100 movies kids need to see before they grow up.
The animation studio behind PAW Patrol is bringing preschoolers a charming new adventure series about working together for the community. Pikwik Pack premieres two back-to-back episodes on Sat. Nov. 7 at 8:30 a.m. ET/PT on Disney Junior and DisneyNOW. Pikwik Pack follows four adorable animal friends as they work together to deliver magical surprises to the kind citizens of their bustling town.
Suki the brave hedgehog, along with Axel the go-getter raccoon, Tibor the reliable hippo and Hazel the silly cat, travel together by land, sea and air to bring packages of joy to their neighbors. Whether it’s a telescope, birthday gift or even a snow-cone – young viewers will learn gentle life lessons about the importance of community, responsibility and working as a team to accomplish a common goal.
“Kids everywhere love the thrill of unwrapping a special surprise, and they’ll get to experience this joy in each episode of Pikwik Pack,” said series creator Frank Falcone. “Parcel delivery is increasingly becoming a central part of families’ daily lives. In the town of Pikwik, kids get to witness firsthand the important role that package delivery plays in bringing communities together.”
Pikwik Pack brings to life in colorful 2D animation a bustling town filled with unique vehicles, bright buildings and friends of all shapes, sizes and colors. Each day, a new surprise arrives at the Pikwik Post that must be delivered! Together with the Pikwik Pack, viewers at home learn about navigating directions, geography and weather to deliver packages safely to their destinations. And though they may face rough rapids, stormy skies or a foggy forest, when they work together, the Pikwik Pack always delivers.
Your kids will be inspired to get creative this summer. During the month of July, best-selling children’s book authors and illustrators will connect directly with hundreds of young people via the Story Pirates Creator Camp. Kids will enjoy personalized interactive activities all month long, including virtual “cabins.”
Participating Random House Children’s Books authors and illustrators include Mary Pope Osborne (The Magic Tree House series), Nic Stone (Dear Martin, Clean Getaway), Danica McKellar (Goodnight, Numbers), Lincoln Peirce (Max & the Midknights, Big Nate), Vanessa Brantley-Newton (Grandma’s Purse, Just Like Me), and Judd Winick (Hilo). During four week-long sessions, kids will also enjoy hours of interactive live-streamed activities hosted by Story Pirates teaching artists. Campers can sign up now at https://www.storypirates.com/camp.
Already, hundreds of campers are enrolled in the inaugural June sessions, where they’re exploring weekly themes like “Heroic Heroes” and “Spy Training.” The screen time is broken up by regular intervals for kids to work independently on their own creative projects. Plus, campers are treated to numerous surprises throughout the week. The only supplies needed are common household items like paper, something to draw with, and tape.
In July, campers will be able to download story sparks and related activities to try at home. For even more summer reading fun, book bundles with a curated selection of books by each week’s featured authors and illustrators will be included as part of camp registration. Campers who want a more personalized experience may choose to join the optional virtual “cabins” on Zoom where they will interact with other campers and Story Pirates’ teaching artists in real time.
Livestreamed programming will be hosted on Mon., Wed. and Fri. from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.ET / 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. PT.
Each weekly session revolves around a central theme:
Jul. 6 – Jul. 10: Illustration Vacation, featuring award-winning authors and illustrators Vanessa Brantley-Newton, Oge Mora, and Lauren Castillo talking about how they blend words and pictures in their books Just Like Me, Our Friend Hedgehog and The Oldest Student
Jul. 13 – Jul. 17: Camp Cartoonist, featuring graphic novelist Judd Winnick sharing how he created the world of Hilo, his beloved middle-grade series. Artists Lincoln Peirce and Lucy Knisley will also discuss their recent works, Max & the Midknights and Stepping Stones.
Jul. 20 – Jul. 24: Story Pirates in Space! featuring author Danica McKellar talking about her new book, The Times Machine! Additional special guests this week are The Magnificent Makers series author Theanne Griffith, a brain scientist by day, as well as Dean of the Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences, astrophysicist, and author of Child of the Universe Ray Jayawardhana discussing “Our Cosmic Selves.”
Jul. 27 – Jul. 31: Time Travel Adventure is the topic of week 4, featuring author Nic Stone talking about her New York Times bestselling middle-grade novel Clean Getaway. Mary Pope Osborne, renowned for her internationally bestselling Magic Tree House series, will be discussing her William Shakespeare focused story Stage Fright on a Summer Night. Finally, fiction and nonfiction author Kate Messner will talk about her new series, History Smashers.
Story Pirates CEO Benjamin Salka is excited to add July’s Story Pirates Creator Camp to the growing mix of online content available to kids who may not be able to attend traditional camps this summer. “Fans of Story Pirates, and these amazing authors and illustrators, will find a lot to engage them in July. I’m proud that we’re emphasizing the role of visual arts in the story-making process. Drawing helps kids express themselves and bring their stories to life in really creative ways.”
As the school year winds down, kids are compiling their summer reading lists. The Amazon Books editorial team works hard all throughout the year to determine the Best Books of the Month, Best Books of the Year So Far and Best Books of the Year breaking the selections down into different genres. Today they released their lists comprised of titles published from the beginning of the year until now.
These are the editors’ selections of the Best Children’s Books of the Year So Far:
