After an unexpected school year and ongoing closures of some traditional summer camps and social activities, many parents and caregivers are looking for extra support for their kids. Months of distance learning, paired with normal summer learning loss, can bring academic, social and emotional challenges. Here are things parents can do at home to help.

The Asian Lantern Festival will again transform the zoo with over 1,000 illuminated lanterns. In the event’s third year, Asian Lantern Festival returns bigger than ever with more than 70 never-before-seen lantern displays, new acrobatic performances, interactive experiences and culturally-inspired cuisine.

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Is your child ready for kindergarten? The Cleveland Public Library offers programs and resources to help parents and guardians prepare their youngest learners for school, including a virtual Kindergarten Club with live sessions held via Zoom calls.

"The Week Junior" kicks off its first-ever Summer of Reading challenge — a six-week program helping kids ages 8-14 fall in love with reading, develop critical thinking skills and make connections that matter. The challenge encourages kids to read three books over the summer and includes a list of recommended books to get them started.

Warm weather means we can now socially distance in the safety of our own yards. This goes for babies, too — whom we can provide a little fresh air and sunshine. If you’re a new parent and experiencing your first summer with your baby, here are some ways to gear-up and safely celebrate the season. 

There’s a good chance that both you and your family are eager to get out and do things, especially now that things are open again. But a lot has changed, so Northeast Ohio Parent blogger Jason Lea provides a roundup of how some of your family’s favorite zoos, museums, amusement parks and more are handling reopening.

Join the staff of the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and get up close with koalas, one of the many marsupials found in Australia.

It’s summer — that time of year when home sandboxes are opened and sand castles begin springing up on beaches. Beyond the pure fun of playing in the sand, did you realize that something as simple as grains of sand could ignite STEAM curiosity in your little scientist? Check out these fun activities you and your child can do with sand.