Children

Having kids has changed my cinema experience

The psychedelic joy of children’s screenings has replaced the indulgence of going to the movies as an adult

Halloween books for kids to sink their teeth into

Vampires called Buffy and Bella, a haunted house, and a game of hide-and-seek feature among a spooky seasonal feast

Seeking safety, children find hostility on Britain’s shores

The number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum in Britain has soared, and many are being put at risk having got here

Pupils starved of art lose their creative spark

You can’t buy a crayon with the amount spent on arts materials in some schools

If growth is the aim, the UK must lift more children out of poverty

Better grades in school will lead to higher wages, more tax revenue and less welfare spending for the next generation

How a western charity helped the Syrian regime abduct children

Hundreds of children were kidnapped by the state and placed in orphanages during the Syrian civil war. One charity, SOS International, helped disappear them, colluding with military intelligence to break their parents. SOS was able to keep their complicity a secret – until the regime fell

How a western charity helped the Syrian regime abduct children

SOS International helped disappear hundreds of children kidnapped by the state during the Syrian civil war

Dismay in nursery sector as free hours plan expands

Increase to 30 hours a week from tomorrow is popular with parents but early years providers say the cash they will receive won’t cover costs

Baby on board: four families on intrepid travels with kids

Spontaneous travel and outdoor adventures with kids... how hard could it be? Four families find out

Back to life: kids’ clothes don’t have to be brand new

Pre-loved and upcycled gear is greener and cheaper, and it’s bang on trend right now

Teenage boys claimed by growing knife crime crisis

The number of teenage boys killed on our streets has more than doubled in a decade. We spoke to some of the bereaved parents trying to make sense of it all

Children can’t be safe online. We will have to carry on policing them

The online safety bill is already restricting liberty – and is unlikely to protect the vulnerable

What do tweens really want?

If eight to 12-year-olds were left to their own devices, what would they buy? We gave £30 each to five of them to find out

At 2am, unthinkable things become all too thinkable

A noise from my kids’ bedroom in the middle of the night snapped me into my role of doughty protector

More Gazan children will come to UK for treatment

‘Their welfare is the world’s priority’ MP says after just two young girls granted medical visas since war began

Measles is back. We need herd immunity, not herd instinct

‘Call the Midwife’ creator Heidi Thomas on what the return of the disease says about our understanding of public health

Why wellies, worms and birdsong are vital to children’s mental health

Exposure to nature offers numerous benefits, but not every child has access to green spaces. The Zoological Society of London is campaigning for all schools to be able to offer outdoor learning experiences

How to fix special needs education

A new scheme allows early autism support for children as young as five, but future funding of Send provision is uncertain