Another Stupid Kid Prank; personality quizzes; a new national park; virtual field trips
|  | Sunday, November 7, 2021 | | | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY JASONDOIY / GETTY IMAGES | | By Rachel Buchholz, KIDS and FAMILY Editor in Chief
As a child, I was usually pretty good about doing what I was told. Once, a nurse asked me to count backward from 10 as she jabbed me in the arm with a needle—and I tearfully complied all the way to 1. Her command was likely a standard ploy to distract children for at least a three-count while she poked them. But based on her and my mother’s stifled giggles as I sobbed past 5, no child was expected to stay distracted for that long.
Getting a shot is a normal part of childhood, whether kids are being vaccinated against chicken pox or getting pricked for a cavity filling. And though many parents are breathing a sigh of relief after the CDC signed off on the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages five to 11 last week, lots of kids are likely in panic mode over the anticipation of another painful shot.
That’s because as my colleague Amy McKeever reports, it’s exactly this age group that has the biggest fear of needles. In one survey, 68 percent of six- to eight-year-olds and 65 percent of nine- to 12-year-olds reported one. That number dropped to 51 percent among 13- to 17-year-olds. (Check out the latest on COVID-19 vaccines here.)
Whether or not you’re planning to vaccinate your child against COVID-19, experts say helping children prepare for any shot can help foster healthy attitudes as they grow older. Turns out, kids who have trouble coping with needles often become adults who avoid medical care altogether. So:
—Talk to your kids about what will happen. This article can help parents explain how vaccines work and why we need them.
—Give them a sense of control, which will help them relax. Affirmations like "I can do this” help, as can deep breathing and other meditation techniques for children.
—Don’t lie. Telling a kid you’re going out for cupcakes only to wind up at the doctor’s office never works. Instead, check out these other ideas to help your child deal with the prospect of getting yet another shot.
I hear after-shot lollipops also work, but I’m still not sure about counting backward.
| | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY PLEASANTON UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT | | | Another year, another Stupid Kid Prank. Thanks to pranks like TikTok’s #DeviousLicks, some children are starting to think that destroying school property is high-LAR-ious. (For instance, soap dispensers went missing from a Bay Area school in September, above.) And though kids doing dumb things to impress friends is nothing new, kids doing dumb things to impress thousands of social media strangers feels like, well, a special kind of specialness. If you’re panicking about this naughty behavior infecting your child, experts reassure parents that you've already got this: It’s just a matter of dealing with the age-old issue of peer pressure. Here are some helpful tips about talking to kids about online (and other) pranks, as well as why kids’ brains seem to be so susceptible to the nonsense. | | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCULPIES, DREAMSTIME | | | What kind of explorer are you? Would your child rather tunnel through ancient pyramids or swim through coral reefs? Have them take this personality quiz ahead of tomorrow’s National STEM Day to discover which science most inspires them. For a more hands-on experience, check out our Nat Geo chemistry set with tons of kid-friendly experiments. If children want a little science fiction with their science, try the Explorer Academy books series, which follows a group of friends using futuristic save-the-world technology inspired by real-life Nat Geo Explorers. | | | |
 | PHOTOGRAPH BY JON G. FULLER, VWPICS/REDUX
| | | White Sands National Park. This may seem like a scene out of Dune, but White Sands National Park (above) in New Mexico is actually one of the nation’s newest national parks. A surprising number of species have adapted to life in this desert, including species of mice, lizards, and moths found nowhere else in the world. This is just one of the illuminating winter getaways adventurous families can learn about in this article. | | | |
 | PHOTOGRAPH BY FRANS LANTING, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION
| | The original caretakers. Kids can probably tell you that U.S. national parks are packed with wildlife like Florida panthers (above) in Everglades National Park or grizzly bears in Alaska’s Denali National Park and Preserve. But probably not about the people who lived on these lands thousands of years before they were vacation destinations. As we celebrate Native American Heritage Month, have kids learn about tribes like the Shoshone, Miwok, and others who were driven from their lands to create these parks. National parks are there to inspire us—but the people who cared for these lands long before the government are inspirational as well.
Native American Stories: A Virtual Field Trip. Join the National Geographic Society for a free Virtual Field Trip featuring three storytellers who share unique insights from their experiences as Native Americans. We travel to New Mexico, where a dedicated conservationist reinvents maps through the Zuni Map Art Project. Then we visit the Flathead Reservation in Montana, where a photographer challenges stereotypes through journalism. And finally, a quick trip to Ontario, Canada, reveals how a 20-year-old artist examines what it means to be Indigenous in a colonialist world. Find deeper understanding and appreciation on Monday, November 15, at 1 p.m. Register to attend.
This newsletter was edited and curated by Rachel Buchholz, with Monica Williams and David Beard. Have a healthy and a sane (as possible) week ahead | | | |
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