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He may be too young to have a driver’s license but eight-year-old Kaid Jaret Olson-Weston has been entertaining Americans as the world’s youngest monster truck driver for years. The third-grader, who got his first monster truck when he was just six years old, has become an internet sensation thanks to the videos he and his [...]

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A mother who confessed to letting her four-year-old daughter wear ‘a full face of make-up’ has publicly defended herself after an online backlash from other parents. Lindsay Cross wrote about her young daughter Brenna’s interest in wearing make-up on the blog Mommyish, which prompted thousands of commenters to critique her parenting style. Ms Cross told [...]

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She hails from London and has become one of the most popular fictional cats on the planet. Now iconic Japanese cartoon character Kitty White is heading for the skies as Taiwanese airline Eva launches three special Kitty-themed planes in an attempt to boost the country’s struggling tourism industry.   The instantly recognisable Hello Kitty motif is [...]

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A new chat system to Club Penguin, which allows children aged five and over to play and chat together online using penguin avatars, will automatically translate pre-selected phrases between the languages used on the site. The chat system currently contains 300,000 phrases but an update, due later this year, will extend that number to more than [...]

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Police scouring a swollen river for a missing eight-year-old boy said hopes of finding him alive were “fading” as the operation stretched into a fourth day. A major search was launched when Ian Bell fell into the Wear at Willington, County Durham, while playing with friends on Friday night. The schoolboy, from Sunnybrow, was in [...]

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With his bulbous nose, perpendicular ears and rictus grin, he makes for an unlikely-looking business trailblazer. And yet an industry worth millions owes its very existence to the synthetic, tuberous figurine that is Mr Potato Head. In commercials broadcast in the US in April 1952, he became, according to manufacturers Hasbro, the first toy advertised [...]

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Overprotective measures from parents make playground accidents more likely to take place, a study has found. A study conducted by Mineola, New York’s Winthrop University Hospital found that each injury reported through the use of a slide occurs after a child rides on the lap of a parent. Dr John T. Gaffney, a chief of [...]

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Nicki Minaj has said she would be “very upset” if she heard children singing along to the “dirty” versions of her hits such as Stupid Hoe. “I don’t want children cursing,” she said. “I’m very strict on my nieces and my little brother. They have to listen to clean versions of music.” The rapper, known [...]

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Their awesome power had been harnessed by the Americans ten years earlier to help bring about an end to the Second World War. But a US Air Force crew nearly wrought similar destruction on its own people after accidentally dropping a nuclear bomb on south Carolina at the height of the Cold War. But thanks to [...]

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Having children brings an increased sense of meaning into people’s lives, according to the Prime Minister’s national happiness survey. The latest measure of the country’s well-being yesterday revealed that having children does not necessarily make people happier or more satisfied with their lot. But it does make them feel they have more of a reason for [...]

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I started filming my daughter Lotte as a newborn in 1999, every week, usually on a Saturday morning. After 12 years of filming her, and nine years of doing the same with her brother Vince, I turned the footage into the two films you see today. While I always had the feeling that this project [...]

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Like any young boy, Noah Edwards loves a bit of rough and tumble with his friends. But the four-year-old must wear a crash helmet when he plays after he was diagnosed with a rare blood condition. The platelet function disorder means even the slightest bump can cause severe bruising. If Noah cuts himself he bleeds [...]

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Daughters are pre-programmed to find their mothers an embarrassment. Aware of this, I have tried to forestall my nine-year-old by avoiding fulsome farewells at the school gates and swapping Dolly Parton for One Direction when the car windows are down. But I had not predicted that Johnnie Boden, that bastion of middle-class wardrobes, would betray me. [...]

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A boy can now have fun splashing in puddles after life-changing surgery in the U.S helped him to run and jump for the first time. Hari Kieft, 2, was diagnosed with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy after being born 10 weeks premature, leaving him confined to a wheelchair. His devoted parents Cerianne and Richard feared he may [...]

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A child dubbed ‘turtle boy’ because of a giant mole that covered his back like a shell, can now live a normal life thanks to a British surgeon. Didier Montalvo, six, from Colombia, had the rare condition Congenital Melanocytic Nevus. There was a chance the growth could turn malignant but Didier’s mother Luz could not raise [...]

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Education Secretary Michael Gove says there are “causes for concern” about children being X-rayed by the UK Border Agency to establish their age. The practice of X-raying young asylum seekers was reintroduced in March 2012 by the UKBA, and is controversial as it exposes young people to radiation. It has been condemned by the former Children’s [...]

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Meet Sophie Hollins, who at 4ft 10ins is the tallest six-year-old in Britain. Sophie, from Southampton, wears an adult size three shoe, jeans for 11-year-olds and is the average height of a 12-year-old – twice her age. Despite all this, she still has her baby teeth. As a baby she was diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome, a rare [...]

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The problem is so serious that over a quarter of youngsters claim they cannot concentrate in school and even fall asleep in class at least once a week. Traditionally younger children went through the ritual of having a bedtime story before going to sleep. Now they are much more likely to nod off to the sound of [...]

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There has, quite rightly, been much satirical comment about the Education Secretary Michael Gove’s anti-truancy drive, notably his suggestion that parents are too readily deceived by their children “playing up” symptoms of illness so as to have a day off school. Better to let the teacher decide, his “expert adviser” Charlie Taylor proposes. As so [...]

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Until now women have lived up to six years longer than men due to the health protecting properties of female hormones. But with the increase in binge drinking, rising lung cancer rates and obesity, it is thought that this trend will be reversed in the new generation. Experts advising the Office of National Statistics population projection [...]

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One in three children admit they don’t want to listen to their grandparents because they find them ‘boring’, according to new reseach. These stories from the days of our grandparents are in danger of being lost with 42 per cent of parents saying their children tune out of such conversations. It is not only personal [...]

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Four and five-year-olds should be given simple checks on their balance, motor skills, vision and hearing as part of standard school entry procedures, it was claimed. Sally Goddard Blythe, director of the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology in Chester, said the tests were needed because large numbers of children were not ready for school after leading [...]

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If your children are still lazing in bed while you are reading this, it may be an idea to leave them where they are. New research suggests a weekend lie-in is just what youngsters need to reduce their risk of obesity by more than 30 per cent. Scientists who studied children aged ten and 11 [...]

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Dive in As we brace ourselves for lost kit and verrucas, Marks & Spencer is channelling a far pleasanter version of swimming with children through a new swim and beachwear range out next month. Designed by Alice North, a Northumbria University student, the 12-piece collection for 0-7-year-olds borrows from a rose-tinted vision of the traditional [...]

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Growing up in the Sixties, I was a free-range child — we all were. From the age of eight or nine, at weekends and during school holidays, my mum would pack me off to  explore the outside world. As I went out the door, she gave me one simple instruction: ‘Be back home for tea.’ [...]

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David Cameron is considering plans to give ‘raunchy’ music videos cinema-style age certificates in order to protect children. Under the proposals, websites hosting explicit videos would be forced to introduce age-verification systems similar to those used to prevent children gambling online. The Prime Minister will summon leading industry figures to Downing Street for talks next [...]

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That winter’s day in the park, although we weren’t to know it, was to be the last time I ever played football with my son. The memorable two-a-side match featured Peter and his cousin William, with a combined age of 20, against his uncle and me, each aged more than twice that. The half-time score was: sons [...]

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By 2017 two hospitals will be offering the treatment, which is better than standard therapies at killing cancerous tumours without damaging heath tissue. Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, last night announced that University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and The Christie Hospital in Manchester had been chosen to house the centres. The Department of Health has [...]

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Primary school student Aishwarya Parashar from Lucknow in northern India put the question to the office of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh which referred it to the home ministry and then on to the National Archives. Last month, the archives wrote back saying that its staff were unable to resolve the matter of who bestowed the [...]

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Some middle class parents are turning their children into “little Buddhas” by “waiting on them hand and foot” at home, a teachers’ leader has said. Association of Teachers and Lecturers general secretary Dr Mary Bousted warned spoilt children had “disproportionate” consequences for behaviour in schools. Parents needed to be confident in saying no to their [...]

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A nine-year-old prodigy who lives in a council house is set to perform in front of thousands of ballet fans at the London Coliseum.   Charlie Salsen, from Ilford, has overcome shyness and bullying at school to land a starring role in an adaptation of Tolstoy novel Anna Karenina by acclaimed Russian choreographer Boris Eifman. [...]

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An airplane was grounded mid-flight on Tuesday after two young children refused to fasten their seatbelts. The Alaska Airlines flight was scheduled to travel between Long Beach, California, and Vancouver, Canada. But it was forced to land in Portland, Oregon, when the children, aged three and eight, refused to stay in their seats. The children [...]

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Children are doing more exercise in their lunchtimes than in school PE lessons, a study shows today. Primary pupils are more active when given toys to play with at breaktime, the Institute of Youth Sport at Loughborough University found. Its Active Play Report says children are physically active for two thirds of lunch breaks, compared [...]

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A London hospital has lost its legal bid to save a children’s heart unit after the Court of Appeal ruled that the national review recommending its closure was in fact lawful. The Royal Brompton Hospital had temporarily derailed NHS plans to concentrate children’s heart surgery in fewer hospitals after a judge found the ‘Safer and Sustainable’ [...]

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In the long-running tradition of cute kids narrating things on YouTube, BBC America presented this gem Thursday: children supposedly auditioning to replace narrator David Attenborough on its hit nature series Planet Earth. In honor of Earth Day, BBC America is playing the full, uncut version of the nature docu-series for the first time on April [...]

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Three men have been jailed for life for a gang-related shooting that left a five-year-old girl paralysed. Nathaniel Grant, Anthony McCalla and Kazeem Kolawole were sentenced to a total of 45 years at the Old Bailey yesterday for gunning down Thusha Kamaleswaran at her aunt’s south London shop in March last year in what the judge [...]

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The veteran Italian cook said children should be served the same food as adults when at home or eating out. “I hate the idea that because you’re a child you should have a portion of fishfingers. Food specially prepared for children? No. Children have to grow up eating everything. They might not appreciate everything but they [...]

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Etan, the first missing child to appear on the side of a milk carton, vanished after leaving his family’s apartment in Manhattan to catch a school bus. It was the first time his parents had let him go off to school alone. He was one of the first missing children to appear on a milk carton [...]

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Parents whose children have accidentally run up huge bills playing games on their iPhones could be in line for compensation from Apple. Campaigners are awaiting the result of a U.S. court case in which a group of disgruntled parents are suing the company after their children’s innocent game playing ended up costing a fortune.   They [...]

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As a jet-setting family with a two-year-old child and another one due in a month’s time, Kourtney Kardashian and husband Scott need all the help they can get to ensure their travels go smoothly. And luckily for little Mason, the nifty new travel gadget they’ve got to help them on their way looks pretty comfortable too. [...]

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It was an incredible display of batting which left cricket fans packed inside an Indian stadium open-mouthed with astonishment. But despite fans cheering with delight after West Indian batsman Chris Gayle hit five consecutive sixes, one young fan was left in agonising pain. When Gayle, who was playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, hit his [...]

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The Prime Minister made the remarks in a speech praising the return of “real discipline” to British schools. He said reforms to the education system would lead to “fantastic outcomes” like children who observe the old-fashioned practice of rising in the presence of an adult. Mr Cameron also applauded schools where children are allowed to [...]

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For just over half a million parents this week is Terror Week, when the nation’s four-year-olds are allocated a place at primary school. In most countries, this is a dull formality. In Britain, it is anything but: gaming the system has become nothing short of a national obsession. Some atheist mothers will have spent years [...]

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Nearly a third of five-year-olds in parts of London missed out on their first choice of primary school this year – new figures show. Statistics published by the Pan-London Admissions Board reveal that across the capital more than 20 per cent of youngsters did not get a place at their preferred school that they were [...]

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It may be almost four months away, but Thusha Kamaleswaran is already eagerly anticipating her seventh birthday on July 20. Her excitement is heightened by the tragically unrealistic expectation that she will be able to enjoy the only present she truly wants – to be able to walk and dance once more. When the youngster [...]

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Research by Mothercare, the retailer, found that 31 per cent of parents say that their next-door neighbours do not know whether they have a young family or not. Only 12 per cent of parents felt that their neighbours support each other well. Rather than communicating with other people in their street, Mothercare found that parents [...]

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Parents whose children have accidentally run up huge bills playing games on their iPhones could be in line for compensation from Apple. Campaigners are awaiting the result of a U.S. court case in which a group of disgruntled parents are suing the company after their children’s innocent game playing ended up costing a fortune. Apple, [...]

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Three-quarters of variations in British schools’ performance is explained by differences in socio-economic background of its students. Photograph: Rex Features Nick Clegg is reported to be planning to set targets for schools to narrow the performance gap between disadvantaged children and other pupils as a way of promoting social mobility. He is right to identify [...]

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Louis Theroux explains why he’s as proud of his new series – on the demented elderly and autistic young – as anything he’s ever done. Over the past 15 years, I’ve carved out a niche for myself as a maker of documentaries about people whose choices in life seem odd, offbeat or at the very [...]

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Three men are due to be sentenced today over a gang shooting that left a five-year-old girl paralysed. Nathaniel Grant, Anthony McCalla and Kazeem Kolawole were hunting down a rival gang member when they shot Thusha Kamaleswaran at her aunt’s south London shop in March last year. They were found guilty last month of causing grievous [...]

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