kids

At less than a third of the size of previously standard Toys 'R' Us store, the new locations might feel unfamiliar. It won't feel particularly familiar to the original customers of the mega-massive toy store chain, anyway. But what the new, more compact locations lack in size will be more than made up for with a modern retail cool factor. That's the aim, now that Tru Kids Brands (owners of Toys 'R' Us and Babies 'R' Us brands) are partnered up with the group called b8ta.

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A mysterious illness with no known cause or cure has resulted in a number of otherwise healthy children becoming paralyzed, the CDC reports, and it expects another record outbreak to happen in 2020. Called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), this condition is described as rare but very serious by the CDC; it causes weak muscles and reflexes in the body, lesions in the spinal cord, and primarily appears in otherwise healthy kids. Officials are pleading for more information from doctors about the condition ahead of the next anticipated wave.

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Grandparents may be fueling excessive device usage among kids, a new study has found. Screen time among youth is a growing public health concern, but reducing the number of time kids spend on gadgets is tricky. According to research from Rutgers University, kids may be getting far too much screen time while in the care of grandparents who want to spoil their grandchildren.

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There are saying about “starting them young” but no parent will probably get kids driving even before they can properly understand driving laws. They can, however, instill the love of car brands at a young age, attuning their minds to the intricacies of supercar designs and sounds. That may be the kind of thinking behind McLaren Automotive’s latest car toy, the 720S Ride-On, that tries to deliver a look and feel that these kids will remember as distinctly McLaren.

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YouTube may introduce a massive change to how it handles children's content, a new leak claims. Company executives are reportedly considering a plan that would move videos targeted at children from the main YouTube app to a separate app, as well as disabling the auto-play feature that causes new random videos to play after the current one ends.

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Video game developer Kuato Studios has unveiled Marvel Hero Tales, a new literacy app that taps Marvel's most popular superheros to help kids learn to read. The app was created by Kuato Studios and Marvel Entertainment, which are targeting kids ages 7 to 11. The app's content will be updated regularly, according to the developer, with new storylines and characters.

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A new study led by Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health warns that dietary supplements are causing serious health issues in some kids and teens who consume them. These supplements, which are typically available to purchase over-the-counter at places like gas stations and grocery stores, claim to offer benefits like better energy and improved sports performance.

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Research out of the University of Pennsylvania highlights the numerous benefits associated with napping during childhood. The large study involved around 3,000 kids in China who were found to have fewer issues with problematic behavior, as well as improvements in their school performance and more. The napping didn't have to take place every day in order to experience the benefits.

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This week the folks at Hasbro sent out a number of sizeable cardboard boxes to the media. These boxes contained large arrangements of toys - Transformers toys. It's the 35th anniversary of the original release of Transformers into our collective conscious - and it's apparently time to celebrate. This celebration is connected to the hashtag #morethanmeetstheeye, because of course it is.

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Instead of television channels, many kids today stream their video content on YouTube or Netflix. Being able to select the specific episode and show you want gives parents and children more flexibility. But there’s a dark side to this convenience – the proximity of explicit content.

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There still an ongoing debate on the positive and negative effects mobile devices and apps have on kids today but the cat is already out of the bag. Phones and tablets and apps are here to stay and some would rather turn those into learning tools than burn them at the stake. Unsurprisingly, Google is one such proponent of crafting tools to educate rather than hinder and its skunkworks arm Area 120 has developed Rivet exactly for that purpose.

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Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) screenings can begin as young as 14 months old, according to a new study, while retaining high accuracy. This is a few months earlier than the minimum 18-month-old age recommendation for ASD screenings, which happen at regular doctor visits. The findings were detailed in a study recently published in the JAMA Pediatrics journal.

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