At 54, Jennifer Garner is done pretending motherhood is something you can master. In a candid interview with InStyle magazine, the actress and entrepreneur told readers that the most honest thing any parent can do is accept the mess, embrace the imperfection, and extend genuine kindness to themselves along the way.

Her message is simple but pointed: there is no perfect version of this. “You have to raise yourself at the same time.”

“And just be so radically kind to yourself about how imperfect it is. And that it will just be imperfect. There’s no such thing as balance. There’s no such thing as doing it right.”

This Moment In Garner’s Life Is Important

Garner’s words carry the weight of lived experience. She and Ben Affleck, who were married from 2005 to 2015, share three children: Violet, 20; Seraphina, 17; and Samuel, 13. In the years following their divorce, Garner deliberately stepped back from Hollywood to prioritize her family.

As she described the post-divorce family upheaval: “When my kids were little, I worked so little, and then we had such an upheaval in our family, that I really hardly worked for a long time.”

That extended pause was not a retreat, she makes clear. It was a conscious investment in her children during a turbulent chapter.

Now, with her oldest away at college and her younger two well into their teens, Garner says she is reclaiming a part of herself she had set aside, and she is doing it without guilt.

Reclaiming Identity Without Abandoning Motherhood

One of the more nuanced threads running through Garner’s InStyle interview is the idea that a mother can be fully committed to her children and still want something for herself. These are not competing truths.

As she reflected on reclaiming her career identity, “I relate to that feeling of, like, okay, I gave everything to mothering. I’m still their mom, I’m not going anywhere, I’m still all-in. I’m also really grateful to have this part of my life back.”

That balance, or rather the rejection of the idea that balance is even achievable, is central to her message. She is not suggesting mothers should do it all seamlessly. She is suggesting they should stop punishing themselves for failing to.

Her entrepreneurial life reflects the same philosophy. Garner co-founded Once Upon a Farm, an organic food company for children now carried in 16,000 stores nationwide, that recently went public on the New York Stock Exchange, with Garner herself ringing the opening bell.

For Garner, the business is not just a brand extension; it is an expression of values she wants to model for her kids.

What The Five-Star Weekend Brings To Her Story

The timing of Garner’s candor is not accidental. She is starring in Peacock’s upcoming adaptation of The Five-Star Weekend, based on Elin Hilderbrand’s novel, which premieres July 16. In the eight-episode series, she plays Hollis Shaw, a food influencer whose carefully constructed life begins to unravel after her husband’s death.

She invites four friends from different eras of her life to Nantucket for a weekend that brings buried truths to light and reshapes relationships.

The role carries obvious thematic echoes of Garner’s own life: a woman reassessing who she is after a major loss, rediscovering herself through connection and work.

As she told InStyle about the big moments that test a parent, “when the big moments happen, you are okay, and that’s on you to know and understand so your child feels your okayness.”

That line, quiet as it is, may be the most useful piece of parenting advice in the entire interview. The actress has been consistent in framing her return to screens as something earned rather than rushed.

This Resonates With Working Parents

Garner’s interview lands at a moment when the cultural conversation around working motherhood is still tangled in impossible expectations.

The pressure to be present, productive, emotionally available, professionally ambitious, and perpetually composed does not ease up just because a child gets older. What Garner is offering is not a solution to that pressure; it is permission to stop pretending the pressure is manageable.

That realness is the point. A mother who spent years quietly stepping back from a high-profile career, who built a business, raised three children through a very public family upheaval, and is now stepping back into the spotlight on her own terms, is not speaking in abstractions.

She is speaking from the specific, hard-won knowledge of someone who has actually lived it.

For parents navigating their own version of the mess, Garner’s advice is worth sitting with: raise yourself alongside your kids, thank them for their grace, and be radically kind to yourself when you fall short. Because you will fall short. And that, she insists, is exactly how it is supposed to go.

A viral TikTok conversation about whether parents should be nude around their toddlers has reignited a long-standing debate in parenting circles, and the expert consensus may surprise you: being naked around young children is not harmful, provided the household message centers on body normalcy rather than shame.

The trend, which prompted one mother to reflect on her own comfort being nude around her toddler, has a name now: the “naked mom.”

But the underlying question it raises is one child development researchers have been studying for decades.

What The Research Actually Says

The science on this topic is limited, but what exists points in a reassuring direction. A UCLA study that tracked families across an 18-year period reported no harmful outcomes for children whose routine included seeing their parents undressed during the preschool years.

A separate study examining college students’ recollections of childhood parental nudity found positive associations with healthy adjustment outcomes. Paul Abramson, PhD, a professor of psychology at UCLA who focuses on human sexuality, puts it plainly: there is nothing inherently wrong with nudity among family members.

The Guardian explored how parental nudity can support body literacy and even lay groundwork for conversations about consent.

As The Guardian noted, adults have a habit of sexualizing the human body, which is part of why non-sexualized nudity in a family context can serve as a healthy corrective. Amy Lang, a child sexual health educator, told The Guardian that children who grow up seeing real adult bodies in a non-sexualized context develop more realistic expectations about what bodies look like.

“Kids are super curious. If they want to see what boobs look like, they will Google it. It’s better that they have resources to learn about the body which are safe,” Lang told The Guardian.

Lang also noted, that family nudity can actually reduce a child’s vulnerability to sexual abuse by creating an open environment where bodies and boundaries are discussed freely.

When a child’s first encounter with nudity results in a conversation shutting down, she explained, they may internalize the idea that bodies are shameful or off-limits as a topic.

Setting Ground Rules That Work For Your Family

Whether or not you choose to be nude around your children, experts agree that clear, consistent boundaries are essential.

Lang recommends making sure children understand that nudity at home does not mean nudity everywhere, and that other families operate by different rules. Children should know to put on clothing when guests are present, since visitors may not share the same comfort level.

Equally important, according to child development experts weighing in on family nudity, is that parents who are not comfortable being nude should feel no pressure to change that. Aaron Pross, a Delaware father of three girls, told Yahoo that he naturally began covering up more as his oldest daughter approached age 4, a shift rooted in his own conservative upbringing.

His instinct was entirely valid. Lang told Yahoo, “If you’re comfortable being naked in front of your kids, be naked. If you’re not, keep your clothes on. As long as the message is that it’s about privacy and not shame, embarrassment, or anything negative.”

Children’s Curiosity Is Developmentally Normal

Around age 3, children begin noticing and asking questions about bodies, including the parts typically covered by clothing.

This curiosity is a healthy developmental milestone, not a red flag. California mom Martha Shaughnessy shared with Yahoo that her sons asked questions ranging from why some bodies have hair to why their mother’s anatomy differs from theirs.

Her family’s approach was to treat those moments as natural teaching opportunities rather than awkward interruptions.

The Guardian similarly observed that one of the primary benefits of children seeing a parent undressed is exposure to what a normal adult body actually looks like, before media and advertising have a chance to distort that picture.

Aviva Braun, a licensed clinical social worker specializing in body image, told Yahoo that starting these conversations early helps children build a realistic understanding of human bodies before they encounter the heavily edited and sexualized images that dominate advertising and social media.

“We have to start teaching kids at a young age that we are imperfect by nature, and our bodies go through changes and transitions,” Braun told Yahoo. The key, she added, is keeping responses age-appropriate and not overloading a child with more information than the moment calls for.

When To Follow Your Child’s Lead

Even in households where nudity has always been casual and comfortable, children’s preferences evolve. Alan Kazdin, PhD, a research professor and Sterling Professor Emeritus of psychology at Yale University, told Yahoo that children are often the best guide in these situations.

As kids approach puberty, typically around age 10, they may begin closing doors when they change, turning away when getting dressed, or asking parents directly to cover up.

Lang is emphatic that parents must honor those signals. Respecting a child’s request for privacy, she told Yahoo, teaches them that trusted adults take their boundaries seriously, which is a foundational lesson in body autonomy and safety.

What makes this TikTok conversation worth taking seriously is not the nudity itself but what it represents: a generation of parents actively questioning whether the body shame many of them grew up with is something worth passing on.

The research, limited as it is, suggests it is not. Families that talk openly about bodies, answer questions calmly, and treat nudity as a matter of privacy rather than scandal are giving their children a healthier foundation than silence ever could.

The Influencer And Mental Wellness Advocate Gets Candid About First Trimester Struggles, Body Image, And The Partner Who Never Blinks

Two months after announcing their first pregnancy, Tay Lautner, registered nurse, mental wellness advocate, and wife of actor Taylor Lautner, is speaking with striking honesty about what expecting a child actually feels like, and the husband who has made it more bearable.

Tay’s candid comments, shared on her co-hosted podcast The Squeeze and in recent interviews, have sparked a wave of responses from women who say they finally feel seen. Her willingness to name the hard parts of pregnancy, without apology, is reshaping the conversation around what expectant mothers are allowed to feel.

“I Don’t Think I Like Being Pregnant”

Nausea, severe acid reflux, body image struggles, and hormone-fueled emotional meltdowns defined Tay’s first trimester. Keeping the pregnancy private during those early weeks added another layer of isolation to an already difficult stretch. When she finally spoke about it publicly, she didn’t soften the message.

“I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that,” she told listeners on The Squeeze. “I hate saying it, but I don’t think I like being pregnant.”

She also described the mental and physical weight of those early months, telling the podcast, “I was trying to adjust to my changing body while keeping the pregnancy private. The first trimester was especially hard. That’s when everything kind of hit me mentally and physically.”

Pushing Back Against The “Grateful” Narrative

Part of what makes Tay’s honesty so striking is her direct challenge to the social pressure placed on pregnant women to perform gratitude at all times. She addressed that pressure head-on, telling The Squeeze, “I think a lot of women don’t feel like they can say that. People are quick to judge. ‘You’re ungrateful. There are so many women who would kill to be pregnant.’ But both can be true. I can be over the moon that I’m having a baby… and also really not like how my body feels.”

The response from her audience confirmed she had touched a nerve. “I’m so thankful that I made the decision to open up about my pregnancy because I’ve never had so many DMs from other pregnant women and moms,” she said. “The biggest response was about body image. So many women related to what I said about the adjustment.”

How Taylor Lautner Has Shown Up

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Throughout the physical and emotional turbulence, Taylor Lautner has been a consistent presence. Tay has detailed her husband’s steady support during pregnancy, offering fans a warm and specific picture of how he shows up in everyday moments.

“Through everything, it’s been really awesome to have a partner who genuinely wants to help,” she said on The Squeeze. “If I ask him to put ice in my Stanley for the 15th time in two hours, he doesn’t even blink an eye.”

She also shared a text exchange that captured the dynamic perfectly. During one emotional meltdown, she messaged Taylor to warn him: “If you were awake, I probably would have just cussed you out for no reason.” His reply, she recounted, was simply: “And that would have been totally fine.”

Pregnancy, Advocacy, And A Bigger Purpose

Tay’s experience carrying her first child has deepened her commitment to mental health advocacy through The Lemons Foundation. A recent trip to Washington, D.C., with RAINN for its Congressional Day of Action took on new personal weight given her pregnancy.

“Now that I’m bringing a child into the world, I want to make sure these safety precautions are set for this new generation,” she said. “It’s opened my eyes.”

She has also leaned on a community of pregnant friends, sharing everything from safe food questions to comfort clothing tips, describing the group chats as a lifeline. “We pretty much share anything and everything. It’s mainly like: Can we eat this? Can I do this? Is anyone else swollen here?”

Baby Names And What Comes Next

Beyond the physical challenges, the couple is now navigating one of pregnancy’s more delightful pressures: choosing a name. “Deciding to have a child is the first biggest decision ever, and the second is naming your child,” Tay said. “There are so many names to choose from. It’s definitely high pressure.”

The Lautners are among a wave of celebrity couples expecting in 2026, a year that has seen pregnancy announcements from Natalie Portman, Princess Eugenie, Barbara Palvin, and others. But few have used their platform to speak as openly about the unglamorous side of the experience as Tay has.

Tay Lautner isn’t the first person to find pregnancy difficult, but she may be one of the most effective at saying so out loud.

At a time when social media still rewards the curated, glowing version of expectant motherhood, her refusal to perform happiness is a genuine act of advocacy. For parents who want to talk honestly with their kids about emotions and self-image, her example is a useful one: naming what you actually feel, even when it’s uncomfortable, is not ingratitude. It’s honesty.

Minecraft is one of those games that keeps kids (and many adults, too) coming back because it gives them so many different ways to play. Some players spend most of their time building elaborate homes, cities, or redstone machines. Others prefer mining deep underground, exploring dangerous places, playing on custom servers, or simply messing around with friends in a world that feels like it belongs to them.

Much like other popular games that became cultural phenomena, Minecraft inspired many titles to borrow some of its distinctive elements. While many games opted to recreate the iconic blocky art style, others settled for replicating the sandbox gameplay or the procedurally generated world.

With all of that in mind, this list isn’t limited strictly to games that copy Minecraft’s formula to the letter. We handpicked a mixed bag of games that feature elements we love about Minecraft, be it the base-building, mining, exploration, art style, or even the online component.

The only rule is that these elements have to be clearly inspired by Minecraft. As it turns out, there are more than a few games that fit the bill.

We made sure to include a variety of games suitable for different ages. You can expect both simple, colorful games aimed at very young players and more challenging, complex ones designed for teens.

Parents can check the ESRB rating, content descriptors, and online features listed under each entry before deciding which game is the best fit for their young ones.

Terraria Sends Players Down A 2D Rabbit Hole

Terraria is one of those games that looks simple until it starts swallowing entire afternoons. At first, players are just dropped into a pixel-art world with a few basic tools and very little direction. Then they start digging, find a cave, stumble into something strange underground, and suddenly the little house they built ten minutes ago feels like the beginning of a much bigger adventure.

Terraria is remarkably good at gradually unfolding its expansive world. A player might start by digging for ore and end up discovering glowing biomes, dangerous ruins, or boss fights they absolutely were not prepared for. This sense of escalation is not dissimilar to what makes Minecraft so addictive, but here it’s compressed into a faster, stranger 2D format.

This first entry is more intense than many of the other games on this list, so it’s better suited to older kids and teens. Combat plays a much larger role in Terraria compared to Minecraft, and some enemies can be creepy or gross, albeit usually in a cartoony way.

Why Kids Will Love Terraria: Terraria is great for players who enjoy a sandbox world that keeps surprising them. There’s always another tunnel to dig, another upgrade to chase, another weird enemy to figure out, or another base idea that seems worth building before bedtime.

ESRB Rating: T for Teen
Content Descriptors: Blood and Gore, Cartoon Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, iOS, Android
Players: Single-player. Local and online multiplayer on supported platforms

Roblox Gives Kids A Whole Platform Of Player-Made Worlds

Roblox is not really a single game, which is both its biggest strength and the main reason parents are encouraged to look into it more closely than many other games. If one were to put a label on it, Roblox could best be described as a platform filled with user-created experiences. Because of that, the quality, tone, and content can vary wildly from one world to the next.

Whereas one kid may use Roblox mostly for obstacle courses and role-play games, another may stick to building, survival, tycoon, or sandbox-style experiences that feel much closer to Minecraft. For kids who like Minecraft for its social, flexible, and self-directed nature, Roblox offers a similar kind of freedom. The two also share some visual similarities, although some worlds look way blockier than others.

Considering that Roblox revolves around user-created content and online interaction, it’s worth checking privacy settings, spending controls, chat options, and the specific experiences your kids want to play. We have an article dedicated solely to everything you need to know about Roblox right here. We recommend checking it out because this isn’t a typical video game.

Why Kids Will Love Roblox: Roblox works best for kids who like bouncing between different ideas rather than staying inside one fixed game. Some experiences are silly, some are social, some are creative, and some are clearly built for players who love Minecraft-style worlds.

ESRB Rating: T for Teen
Content Descriptors: Diverse Content: Discretion Advised, Users Interact, In-Game Purchases Including Random Items
Platforms: PC, Mac, iOS, Android, PS4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Meta Quest
Players: Online multiplayer

LEGO Worlds Transforms Digital Bricks Into A Building Playground

LEGO Worlds takes the free-building aspect of LEGO bricks and turns it into a Minecraft-style sandbox game. The title primarily revolves around hopping between brick-built worlds, collecting discoveries, unlocking tools, and gradually unlocking more ways to reshape the surrounding landscape.

The best parts of LEGO Worlds are the moments when it acts like a huge digital toy box. Kids can raise hills, flatten land, drop in structures, build brick by brick, and mess around with strange vehicles or creatures they find along the way. It doesn’t have Minecraft’s survival elements, but it does have that same pleasure of looking at an empty patch of land and deciding what should go there.

There is one caveat to LEGO Worlds: the game can feel a little more awkward than the concept suggests. The building tools are powerful, but they’re not always as smooth or intuitive as snapping physical LEGO bricks together. Even so, patient young builders will still have a great time with it once they get used to the controls.

Why Kids Will Love LEGO Worlds: This is a good choice for kids who spend more time building than battling. The game is at its best when players stop worrying about quests and start treating the world like a pile of LEGO pieces waiting to be transformed into something weird.

ESRB Rating: E10+ for Everyone 10+
Content Descriptors: Cartoon Violence
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One
Players: Single-player. 2-player local co-op on supported platforms

Dragon Quest Builders Turns Construction Into A Storybook Quest

Dragon Quest Builders is perfect for kids who like Minecraft’s building system, but want a game that gives them a stronger sense of purpose. Instead of waking up in a random world and making their own goals from scratch, players step into the ruined Dragon Quest kingdom and are tasked with rebuilding it.

The game still has plenty of block-placing, material-gathering, crafting, and monster-fighting, but it wraps those familiar actions inside a friendlier RPG framework. That structured, objective-based gameplay makes the game a little different from Minecraft in some ways, even though the two share many visual elements.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 is also worth mentioning here, as it expands on the formula with a broader scope and online multiplayer. Parents don’t necessarily need to buy both games, but overall, the sequel is the stronger choice for kids who want a more polished version of the same concept.

Why Kids Will Love Dragon Quest Builders: The fun comes from watching small construction jobs turn into a living town. It gives kids the satisfaction of building things by hand, then adds characters who actually notice and benefit from what they’ve made.

ESRB Rating: E10+ for Everyone 10+
Content Descriptors: Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, and Mild Suggestive Themes for Dragon Quest Builders. Alcohol Reference, Comic Mischief, Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Users Interact for Dragon Quest Builders 2.
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, iOS, Android
Players: Single-player for Dragon Quest Builders. Single-player and online multiplayer on supported versions of Dragon Quest Builders 2

Hytale Is A Minecraft-Inspired Wild Card With A Caveat

Hytale is a rare case where the caveat has to come before the recommendation. The game is in Early Access at the time of writing, does not yet have an ESRB rating, and the developers have been upfront about the fact that the current version is still unfinished. That makes it harder to recommend than some of the other titles on this list, but at the same time, Hytale is too relevant to leave out.

Hytale was clearly built with the Minecraft audience in mind, then pushed toward a more fantasy-adventure direction. Some of the developers working on Hytale have been involved in the Minecraft modding scene for years and are very in tune with what people want from a game like this. The main selling point here is the combination of survival-crafting elements, which are more common in multiplayer games, and Minecraft-style immersion.

For now, we can only recommend Hytale for older kids and teens who are comfortable following an Early Access game as it changes. Parents of younger children may want to wait until the game is more complete, more widely reviewed, and officially rated.

Why Kids Will Love Hytale: Hytale was designed with Minecraft players in mind. You’ve got a blocky world with more fantasy and more room for community-made ideas to look forward to. The promise is exciting, but for now, players should treat it as a work in progress rather than a finished product.

ESRB Rating: Not rated by the ESRB at the time of writing
Content Descriptors: Not available at the time of writing
Platforms: PC
Players: Single-player and online multiplayer features are expected, but parents should check the current Early Access build before buying

Astroneer Lets Kids Reshape Entire Alien Planets

Astroneer trades Minecraft’s blocky hills and forests for a sci-fi setting where players explore alien planets. The main difference is in how the world can be shaped. Here, players use a terrain tool to carve into the ground, smooth out paths, build ramps, and slowly turn hostile little landing zones into functioning bases.

The terraforming system allows Astroneer to distinguish itself from Minecraft, and yet there are still plenty of similarities between the two. A short trip away from base can quickly turn into a whole project once players start digging for resources or trying to chart a safer route back home. There is danger, mostly from oxygen loss and hazardous plants, but the overall tone leans more toward relaxing than hardcore survival.

Kids may need a little help early on because the game does not explain every system immediately. There is also a constant sense of danger, mostly from oxygen loss and hazardous plants. However, once players start wrapping their heads around the core gameplay mechanics, Astroneer becomes a relaxing mix of exploration, problem-solving, and base-building.

Why Kids Will Love Astroneer: Astroneer is great for kids who like exploring weird places and slowly making them feel like home. The planets are mysterious without being too scary, and the terrain tool gives players a fun way to leave their mark on every world they visit.

ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
Content Descriptors: Mild Fantasy Violence, Users Interact, In-Game Purchases
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Players: Single-player. Online co-op on supported platforms

Portal Knights Adds Fantasy RPG Structure To Sandbox Building

Portal Knights is what you get when you take Minecraft’s block-building sandbox and incorporate it into a fantasy adventure game. Players get to travel between floating islands, build bases, and slay monsters as warriors, rangers, or mages. It still offers the familiar pleasure of breaking things down and turning materials into something useful, but the game holds your hand a lot more than Minecraft.

The island structure makes Portal Knights less jarring than a procedurally generated open world, since the game is divided into smaller areas connected by portals. Each new island is its own little ecosystem, with enough structure to keep younger players moving forward without making the whole thing seem too restrictive.

Compared to Minecraft, combat plays a bigger role here and is central to the gameplay. That said, the presentation stays colorful and approachable. Meanwhile, the co-op support helps make tougher moments feel less intimidating for siblings or parents playing together.

Why Kids Will Love Portal Knights: Portal Knights works well for kids who want building, quests, and fantasy combat all in one place. The game gives them enough direction to stay focused while still leaving room to build a home base, decorate, explore, and mess around between objectives.

ESRB Rating: E10+ for Everyone 10+
Content Descriptors: Fantasy Violence
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, iOS, Android
Players: Single-player. 2-player local co-op and up to 4-player online co-op on supported platforms

Core Keeper Makes The Underground Feel Like A Place Worth Calling Home

Core Keeper begins deep underground, with darkness pressing in from every side and a strange relic sitting at the center of it all. The world seems unknown at first, but every tunnel dug and every room carved out makes the cave system a little less hostile. As players progress, they gradually discover an expansive subterranean world full of possibilities.

Just like Minecraft, much of Core Keeper’s gameplay revolves around mining. A wall is rarely just a wall for long in this game. It might hide ore, a new passage, a strange biome, or something players were not quite ready to awaken. That slow push into the dark gives Core Keeper a steady sense of discovery without making it overwhelming.

Core Keeper manages to strike a good balance between cozy and dangerous. There are farms to maintain, rooms to decorate, and friendly routines to settle into, but there are also monsters, bosses, and darker biomes waiting beyond the safer parts of the cave.

Why Kids Will Love Core Keeper: Core Keeper is great for players who enjoy digging into the unknown and slowly turning a dangerous space into their own. The underground world keeps offering new surprises while the base gives kids a familiar place to improve between expeditions.

ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
Content Descriptors: Mild Fantasy Violence, Users Interact
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Players: Single-player. Online co-op for up to 8 players on most platforms, and up to 4 players on Nintendo Switch

Subnautica Sends Older Kids Into A Beautiful But Scary Alien Ocean

Subnautica is one of those games where the setting does a lot of the storytelling. Players begin in the shallow waters of an alien ocean, close enough to safety that the world seems almost peaceful. The reefs are bright, the resources are nearby, and the escape pod gives them a place that lets them feel secure.

But then the ocean starts asking for more courage. A useful material might be just a little farther out than expected. A signal might lead toward deeper water. The light fades, the sounds change, and suddenly the trip back to base seems much longer than the trip out.

The shift from wonder to tension is what makes Subnautica so memorable. The crafting and base-building are important and mandatory for progression, but the real pull is curiosity. The game is definitely best suited to older kids and teens who can handle isolation, suspense, and the occasional sea monster. Subnautica can be terrifying, but it can also be one of the most peaceful games around as long as you don’t venture too far into the depths.

Why Kids Will Love Subnautica: Subnautica is perfect for curious players who want exploration to be genuinely exciting. Building an underwater base is satisfying, but the strongest moments come from diving deeper, holding your nerve, and discovering the ocean’s secrets.

ESRB Rating: E10+ for Everyone 10+
Content Descriptors: Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Users Interact
Platforms: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PS4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, iOS, Android
Players: Single-player only.

Starbound Is Equal Parts Sandbox Exploration And Space Journey

Starbound starts with a damaged spaceship and a universe full of planets waiting beyond it. The opening has a scrappy, makeshift feeling where you’re tasked with repairing what you can, beaming down somewhere unfamiliar, and seeing whether the planet below is useful, dangerous, or just strange enough to be worth exploring.

The game’s biggest selling point is that it doesn’t tie down players to a single world. A planet can become a quick supply stop, a dangerous detour, or the place where they decide to build a permanent base. That sense of constant movement makes Starbound feel different from many other sandbox games, especially once the ship begins to act like a home between homes.

While perhaps not as famous as Terraria, Starbound shares a similar side-scrolling sandbox design philosophy. The game simply stretches the idea across a sci-fi universe filled with alien landscapes, underground pockets of danger, and little places that invite players to stay awhile.

Why Kids Will Love Starbound: Starbound is great for players who enjoy a sandbox game that keeps moving. There is always another planet on the map, another place to land, and another reason to see what might be waiting below the surface.

ESRB Rating: E10+ for Everyone 10+
Content Descriptors: Alcohol Reference, Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Users Interact on supported platforms
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Players: Single-player. Online multiplayer/co-op on supported platforms

Trove Turns The Voxel Sandbox Into A Bright Online RPG

Trove is like a blocky Saturday-morning cartoon that was turned into an online RPG. The world is fast-moving and built around short bursts of action rather than long stretches of survival. Kids pick a class, jump into strange little worlds, and spend a lot of time chasing loot, clearing dungeons, and making their corner of the game look more personal.

The building side is still important, but Trove is not the kind of sandbox where players slowly disappear into a private world for months. It has more of an arcade-like rhythm. There’s always another portal, another enemy-filled room, another weird biome, or another piece of gear pulling players forward.

Because Trove is an online game, parents should treat it with the same caution they would any multiplayer title. The tone is light and cartoony, but younger kids may still need help with social features, free-to-play systems, and the busier MMO-style structure.

Why Kids Will Love Trove: Trove is a good pick for kids who want something brighter and more action-focused than a traditional building sandbox. The game moves quickly, the worlds look playful, and the class-based combat gives players a clear identity before they start carving out their own path.

ESRB Rating: E10+ for Everyone 10+
Content Descriptors: Fantasy Violence, Users Interact
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One
Players: Online multiplayer

Creativerse Gives Block-Building Fans A More Polished Sandbox World

Creativerse wears its Minecraft influence pretty openly on its sleeve, but the game nevertheless has its own distinct personality. The world here looks smoother and shinier, the tools have a slightly futuristic edge, and the whole thing is like a more curated take on the familiar block-building gameplay.

Creativerse doesn’t hand over everything right away and makes players work for the privilege of unlocking new toys. Kids dig deeper, unlock better tools, and gradually gain more control over the world around them. That slower climb may frustrate players who only want instant creative freedom, but it can also give younger builders a stronger sense that everything they obtained was rightly earned.

The game’s Definitive Edition shifted Creativerse away from the old free-to-play toward a more traditional business model. Parents should also know that the title features in-game chat and online interactivity, so the multiplayer side deserves the same attention as any other online sandbox.

Why Kids Will Love Creativerse: Creativerse is great for kids who want a familiar blocky sandbox with a smoother fantasy look. The best moments come from digging into a new layer, finding something odd underground, and coming back with just enough new material to progress to the next stage.

ESRB Rating: Not rated by the ESRB at the time of writing
Content Descriptors: Not available at the time of writing. Steam lists In-game chat and Online interactivity.
Platforms: PC
Players: Single-player. Online and LAN multiplayer/co-op on supported modes

The Planet Crafter Lets Kids Watch A Dead World Come Back To Life

The Planet Crafter is a Minecraft-like game where players land on a barren planet and gradually make it livable. At first, the world looks empty and harsh, with red rock, thin air, and very little comfort outside the starting shelter. Then the machines start working, the terraforming process kicks in, and the planet begins to change.

The game is all about taking a desolate wasteland and turning it into a lush habitable world. Progress comes in the form of a blue sky where there used to be dust, water gathering in low places, plants spreading through once-dead terrain, and a base that starts to seem less like a survival bunker and more like the first home on a new world.

The Planet Crafter is more kid-friendly than many other survival games because there’s no combat, however, the game still requires patience. Younger kids may need help understanding the resource loop, especially early on when oxygen and distance make every trip more deliberate. But once they get past the initial learning curve, this game will keep them hooked for days.

Why Kids Will Love The Planet Crafter: The fun comes from seeing the world respond to what players build. Kids who enjoy big long-term projects will love watching a lifeless planet slowly turn green because of the work they put into it.

ESRB Rating: Not rated by the ESRB at the time of writing
Content Descriptors: Not available at the time of writing
Platforms: PC
Players: Single-player. Online co-op for up to 10 players

Scrap Mechanic Is Aimed At Kids Who Want Their Builds To Move

Scrap Mechanic is all about asking questions like, “Can I make this ridiculous machine actually work?” A pile of parts can become a car, a trap, a farming gadget, a shaky contraption with too many moving pieces, or something that collapses the second it leaves the garage. The whole thing can be a bit chaotic, but that’s part of the fun.

The game is at its best when experiments go wrong in funny ways. A vehicle might flip over because the wheels are badly placed, or a machine might jam because one moving part is fighting another. Whenever they’re not roleplaying as robot mechanics, players can explore the world and engage in various Minecraft-style activities like collecting resources and building bases.

Scrap Mechanic has a survival mode with hostile robots, but the creative building side is the more appealing mode for kids who love Minecraft. It’s worth noting that the game is still in Early Access, but it originally came out in 2016 and plays like a complete experience overall.

Why Kids Will Love Scrap Mechanic: It’s a great choice for kids who care more about machines than castles. It rewards tinkering, testing, breaking things, and trying again until a strange idea finally rolls, drives, spins, or crashes exactly the way they hoped.

ESRB Rating: Not rated by the ESRB at the time of writing
Content Descriptors: Not available at the time of writing
Platforms: PC
Players: Single-player. Online multiplayer/co-op on supported modes.

Trailmakers Turns Building Into A Physics Playground

Trailmakers is another great choice for kids who love building vehicles, but it has a cleaner, more toy-like vibe than other engineering sandboxes. The basic concept revolves around building all sorts of crazy machines, not unlike Scrap Mechanics; however, this one is more focused on combat vehicles. Planes, tanks, assault boats, and even mecha-style robots are all awaiting construction.

The physics in this game are a bit more unusual compared to what you can expect to encounter in similar titles. A vehicle that looks fine in the garage might wobble badly once it starts moving. A plane may technically fly but refuse to land like anything designed by a responsible person. Half the fun comes from fixing those problems, while the other half comes from laughing at them.

Trailmakers can get chaotic, especially in multiplayer or combat-focused modes, but it’s still one of the more approachable games in this construction-heavy corner of the list. It works best for kids who enjoy building something practical, testing it immediately, and then going back to make it just a little less terrible.

Why Kids Will Love Trailmakers: Trailmakers gives young builders quick feedback. If their car flips, their boat sinks, or their aircraft nosedives into the ground, the game turns the failure into part of the fun rather than a dead end.

ESRB Rating: E10+ for Everyone 10+
Content Descriptors: Fantasy Violence, In-Game Purchases
Platforms: PC, PS4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Players: Single-player. Online multiplayer for up to 8 players on supported platforms

TerraTech Takes Inspiration From Both Minecraft And LEGO

TerraTech is all about building vehicles from the ground up, then sending them out into an alien world to see how well they survive. A tiny starter machine can slowly become a bulky mining rig, a rolling fortress, or some ridiculous pile of blocks that technically moves even if it looks like it shouldn’t.

TerraTech makes most things modular and upgradable. While it’s not exactly like a LEGO game, there are some pretty obvious similarities here. Players can bolt new pieces onto their creations, rearrange them into something better after a bad fight, or use them to solve whatever problem the landscape throws at them next.

The game does lean more toward vehicle-building and combat than construction, so it may appeal most to kids who enjoy Minecraft’s tinkering side. Players who like making practical machines out of strange parts will probably get more out of it than those who mostly want to build houses or decorate bases.

Why Kids Will Love TerraTech: TerraTech is great for kids who like testing their own designs. A machine that falls apart, tips over, or barely survives a fight isn’t necessarily a failure; it’s usually just the start of the next rebuild.

ESRB Rating: E10+ for Everyone 10+
Content Descriptors: Fantasy Violence, Users Interact
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One
Players: Single-player. Online co-op and multiplayer on supported platforms

Lightyear Frontier Is An Alien Farming Game, But With Mechs

Lightyear Frontier has a fantastic premise: landing on a beautiful alien planet, climbing into a farming mech, and turning the wilderness into a homestead. The mech is obviously the main attraction here, as simple farm work feels bigger and more playful when kids are able to stomp around in a giant machine.

In spite of the whole mech aspect, Lightyear Frontier is a surprisingly cozy game. Players can spend much of their time clearing space around the farm, planning where machines should go, or exploring the wider planet beyond, little by little. There is a nice rhythm to the way the game mixes chores with exploration, especially for kids who like slower games but still want a sense of progress.

Lightyear Frontier is a lot more relaxing than some of the other survival-crafting games on this list. There are no monsters waiting to ambush players while they work, so the focus stays on building a life in a strange place rather than constantly bracing for danger.

Why Kids Will Love Lightyear Frontier: Lightyear Frontier is a good choice for kids who want a sandbox with a cool sci-fi twist. The mech makes everyday farming more exciting while the alien planet gives players a reason to keep expanding beyond the first little patch of land.

ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
Content Descriptors: No Descriptors
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Players: Single-player. Online co-op for up to 4 players

PixARK Mixes Voxel Survival With Dinosaurs

PixARK is one of the more visually obvious Minecraft-adjacent games on this list. But the game does introduce a bunch of interesting things you won’t be able to find in Minecraft. PixARK is essentially a blocky version of ARK: Survival Evolved, a game that’s all about dinosaurs, so expect to run into tons of them here as well.

The dinosaurs in PixARK are far less intimidating compared to their counterparts from the mainline ARK games, but they do work similarly to a certain degree. Some of the dinos are threats, some can be tamed, and some will make kids immediately rethink how safe their base actually is. Overall, though, it’s still a more lighthearted experience than regular ARK.

PixARK has a chaotic toy-box quality that can be very appealing to certain right players. One session might revolve around improving a shelter, while the next becomes about tracking down a giant creature or building futuristic technology. Players can play by themselves if they want, but it’s a lot more fun to party up with others.

Why Kids Will Love PixARK: Anyone who loves the idea of a blocky game with dinosaur interesting will have a field day with this one. The creature-taming side of the world gives it a unique kind of excitement, especially once kids start treating certain dinosaurs as companions rather than hazards.

ESRB Rating: T for Teen
Content Descriptors: Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Users Interact
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One
Players: Single-player. Online multiplayer on supported platforms

Enshrouded Is A Darker Fantasy Sandbox For Teens

Enshrouded is one of the heavier games on this list, both in tone and complexity. Its world feels ruined, fog-covered, and dangerous in a way that immediately separates it from the brighter building titles we’ve discussed earlier. This definitely isn’t a cozy sandbox for younger kids. Rather, it’s a fantasy survival RPG for teens who want crafting and construction wrapped in a much moodier adventure.

The top-notch building system is a big part of why so many players love Enshrouded, but the atmosphere is what allows the game to really stand out from the crowd. The Shroud gives exploration a clear sense of risk, as players go out of their way to explore diverse biomes before finding a safe spot they can call home.

Because Enshrouded is still moving toward its full 1.0 release, parents should check the current version before buying. The game has been in development for a while now and has a strong playerbase, but it’s still an Early Access game at the time of writing, with more updates planned ahead of the full launch.

Why Teens Will Love Enshrouded: Enshrouded is a good fit for teens who want a deeper, darker survival game where building is tied to reclaiming space from a hostile world. It’s more intense than most entries here, but that weight is exactly what makes it so memorable.

ESRB Rating: Not rated by the ESRB at the time of writing
Content Descriptors: Not available at the time of writing
Platforms: PC, with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions planned for the full release
Players: Single-player. Online co-op for up to 16 players

Staxel Gives Minecraft Fans A Softer Village-Building Option

Staxel has the voxel look and building tools Minecraft fans will recognize, but the atmosphere is closer to a laid-back farming sim than a survival adventure. There are no monsters lurking outside the door at night, no urgent danger to prepare for, and no pressure to rush through the day. In other words, it’s sort of like Minecraft if you remove all the dangers.

The game’s quiet pace is the main reason to consider giving it a try. Kids can work on their farm, improve their house, help villagers, or wander around town without feeling like the game is pushing them toward the next threat. The building and crafting aspects are also less about defending yourself and more about making a pleasant little life in a friendly place.

Staxel is not the strongest Minecraft alternative in terms of pure sandbox depth, but it offers a nice change of pace after so many survival- and combat-heavy games. It works best for kids who like the creative side of Minecraft but would rather spend their time farming, decorating, and helping a small village grow.

Why Kids Will Love Staxel: Staxel is great for players who want a blocky world without the stress. It gives kids space to build and settle into routines, making it a good pick for younger players or anyone who prefers cozy games over dangerous ones.

ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
Content Descriptors: No Descriptors
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, Nintendo Switch
Players: Single-player. Online multiplayer on supported platforms

The Today show meteorologist gets candid about the parts of parenting that don’t come naturally, from sandbox duty to imaginative play

Dylan Dreyer, Today show meteorologist and mother of three boys, is using her podcast “The Parent Chat” to say the quiet parts of parenting out loud, and parents everywhere are paying attention.

Recent episodes have tackled everything from the guilt of dreading playground duty to the emotional terrain of watching children grow into teenagers, featuring guests ranging from parenting authors to beloved television stars.

When The Playground Feels Like A Chore

Parenting author Neha Ruch joined Dreyer on a recent episode of the podcast to discuss her book The Power Pause, a guide to rethinking career breaks, but the conversation quickly veered into territory many parents recognize immediately: the particular misery of spending hours at a playground when your mind is somewhere else entirely.

Dreyer was candid about her own experience, describing New York City sandboxes as “disgusting” and admitting that rooting around in the sand to recover her sons’ buried toys is far from her idea of quality time.

Ruch, a mother of two, shared that she often found herself trailing her children from one piece of equipment to the next rather than relaxing on a bench, eventually becoming the unofficial supervisor for other people’s kids while their parents chatted nearby.

Her workaround? Handing playground duty off to a babysitter.

Rather than feeling judged, Dreyer told Ruch on the podcast, “This makes me feel so seen,” admitting she often feels out of sync with parents who seem genuinely content to spend long stretches at the park. She described her mind cycling through dinner prep, household tasks, and everything waiting at home while she sat watching her boys play. “My mind’s like, I really need to just go home, and I need to cook dinner, and I want to do this,” she said on The Parent Chat. “And I’m just sitting here for hours when there is something else I could be enjoying.”

The conversation also surfaced another common parenting tension: imaginative play. Dreyer acknowledged that pretend play doesn’t come naturally to her, while activities like baking, cooking, or working on a project together feel far more intuitive.

Ruch offered a reframe that rejects the idea that good parenting means enthusiastically showing up for every type of activity.

“The fact that you bake, I’m not doing that,” Ruch told Dreyer on The Parent Chat. “But I do really love doing art with them. That fills me up. I enjoy that.”

The takeaway Ruch offered is one that many parents may need to hear: “What children really value is presence,” Ruch said on The Parent Chat. “It’s not measured in hours. It’s measured in how you show up for your time.”

That reframe, from quantity to quality of engagement, sits at the heart of Ruch’s argument in The Power Pause, which encourages parents to see caregiving as a chapter that can coexist with long-term personal and professional growth rather than as a pause that puts everything else on hold.

Making Playground Time Safer And Less Stressful

If you do find yourself at the playground, whether by choice or necessity, there are ways to make the experience feel less like a grind.

Safe Kids Worldwide points out that age-appropriate playground equipment matters for both safety and enjoyment: toddlers and preschoolers thrive on smaller-scale structures designed for their size, while school-age children are better suited to the taller, more complex equipment found in most neighborhood parks.

Checking that surfaces beneath equipment are soft and impact-absorbing, and doing a quick scan for hazards like broken hardware or exposed bolts, can help you feel more purposeful during those long stretches of supervision rather than simply counting down the minutes.

Knowing what to look for gives even the most reluctant playground parent a concrete role beyond just sitting on a bench.

What makes “The Parent Chat” worth paying attention to isn’t celebrity access or parenting advice delivered from a pedestal.

It’s the permission structure Dreyer creates by going first, admitting she finds sandboxes gross, that imaginative play doesn’t light her up, that she’s navigating separation while raising three young boys.

When a recognizable face says “me too” to the parts of parenting that feel like a grind, it gives other parents room to stop performing enthusiasm they don’t feel. That honesty, more than any tip or technique, may be the most useful thing a parenting podcast can offer.

New episodes of “The Parent Chat” are available on the Today YouTube channel and wherever you listen to podcasts.

For many new mothers, the earliest weeks of parenthood arrive alongside something no one warned them about: sudden, terrifying mental images of their baby being harmed, sometimes by their own hands.

These thoughts are so disturbing, so deeply at odds with the love a mother feels, that most women never tell a soul, convinced they are uniquely broken or dangerous. They are not. What they are experiencing is a recognized, clinically documented feature of postpartum depression and anxiety, and the silence surrounding it is making things worse.

Understanding why these thoughts happen, and what they actually mean, is one of the most important things a new parent can learn, both for their own mental health and for the well-being of their family.

What Intrusive Thoughts Actually Are

Intrusive thoughts are involuntary mental images or impulses that feel completely foreign to the person experiencing them.

For postpartum mothers, they frequently involve scenarios of accidentally or deliberately harming the baby, whether during a bath, while holding the child near a staircase, or during an ordinary moment in the kitchen.

The thoughts arrive without warning, feel deeply out of character, and tend to intensify the harder a mother tries to push them away. According to intrusive thoughts in new mothers, more than half of new mothers report experiencing them, making this one of the most widespread and least-discussed aspects of the postpartum period.

The critical distinction, and the one that most mothers never hear, is that being horrified by a thought is precisely what separates an intrusive thought from a genuine desire or intent.

As the editorial team at Happiestbaby.com put it, addressing mothers directly: “The fact that you’re horrified by these thoughts is exactly what marks them as what they are: intrusive thoughts, not actual desires.” A mother who recoils in disgust at a mental image is not a threat to her child. She is a person whose brain is misfiring under enormous physiological and emotional stress.

The Research Behind The Silence

Despite how common these experiences are, they remain among the hardest things for postpartum mothers to voice aloud.

A 2022 peer-reviewed study from Brown University researcher Katherine Mason, published in an academic journal and drawing on years of ethnographic fieldwork, offers some of the most unflinching documentation of this phenomenon available.

Mason conducted forty-five semi-structured interviews with Providence-area mothers diagnosed with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, supplemented by clinical observations, postpartum doula work, and a weekly volunteer shift on a postpartum mental health helpline.

What she found was consistent and heartbreaking: even saying the thoughts aloud could fill women with self-loathing.

One mother, calling the helpline in distress, described an image so vivid and violent that she needed Mason to truly hear it before she could accept that she was not a monster. “I said I thought about putting my baby in the blender,” the anonymous research subject told Mason, as recounted in the Brown University ethnographic study.

The mother’s desperation to be understood and her terror at what she had thought capture exactly why this topic demands more open conversation.

Mason’s research also highlights a troubling pattern in how clinicians respond. Rather than engaging with the content of these thoughts, many providers tend to minimize them, offering blanket reassurances about a mother’s safety without exploring the fear, grief, or exhaustion that may be driving the imagery.

Mason argues that this approach, while well-intentioned, may miss something important: that sitting with the disturbing content of intrusive thoughts, rather than immediately dismissing it, can actually be meaningful for understanding the depth and complexity of maternal love.

Why Shame Keeps Mothers From Getting Help

The gap between how common intrusive thoughts are and how rarely they get discussed comes down to one word: shame.

Mothers who experience these thoughts frequently fear that disclosing them will result in their baby being taken away, that they will be labeled unfit or dangerous, or that the people they love most will look at them differently.

This fear is compounded by cultural expectations of motherhood that leave almost no room for ambivalence, rage, or darkness.

Mason’s research also surfaces the racial, class, and gender dimensions of this problem. The institutional and clinical responses to intrusive thoughts are not experienced equally across all mothers.

Women from marginalized communities face additional layers of risk when disclosing mental health struggles, including heightened scrutiny from child welfare systems, making the calculus of speaking up even more fraught.

A resource like the Scary Mommy guide to PPD intrusive thoughts serves a real purpose in this landscape, offering a non-clinical, judgment-free entry point for mothers who are not yet ready to talk to a doctor but need to know they are not alone.

The shame cycle is also self-reinforcing. The more a mother tries to suppress an intrusive thought, the more persistent it tends to become, which then generates more shame, more fear, and more isolation. Breaking that cycle requires information first, then connection.

How To Take The First Step Toward Help

Mental health professionals who specialize in perinatal mood disorders are clear: intrusive thoughts are treatable, and reaching out is the most important thing a struggling mother can do.

But for many women, the idea of telling a partner, a friend, or a doctor about these thoughts feels impossible. Experts suggest starting smaller.

Reading about other mothers’ experiences, whether through books, articles, or peer communities, can help normalize what feels deeply abnormal.

Once a mother recognizes that her experience has a name, a clinical explanation, and a community of others who have lived through it, the path to professional support becomes less terrifying.

From there, a conversation with an OB-GYN or a referral to a perinatal mental health specialist can open the door to therapy, medication, or both, all of which have strong evidence behind them for postpartum mood disorders.

It is also worth understanding the difference between intrusive thoughts and psychotic thoughts, a distinction that clinicians consider essential. Intrusive thoughts come with horror and resistance; the mother knows the thought is wrong and does not want to act on it.

Psychotic thoughts, by contrast, may feel logical or justified to the person experiencing them. The former is a symptom of anxiety or OCD-spectrum postpartum conditions.

The latter is a psychiatric emergency. If you are unsure which category your experience falls into, that uncertainty itself is a reason to call your provider today.

The fact that more than half of new mothers may experience intrusive thoughts, yet the topic remains largely taboo, points to a serious gap in how postpartum mental health is discussed and supported.

When mothers suffer in silence out of fear that honesty will cost them their children or their reputations, the entire family pays a price. Normalizing this conversation is not about lowering the bar for maternal care; it is about making sure the mothers who need help can actually ask for it.

The research is detailed, the support exists, and no mother should have to carry this alone.

A failed IVF cycle that yielded no viable embryos preceded Mandy Moore’s third pregnancy, the actress revealed during a June 2 appearance on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, hosted by Amanda Hirsch. Moore, 42, described the surprise conception of daughter Louise “Lou” Goldsmith, born in September 2024, as something she never anticipated after that setback.

For the millions of families who have sat in a fertility clinic waiting room, Moore’s candor lands with particular weight. Her willingness to discuss a treatment outcome that produced nothing, followed by an unplanned natural conception, captures a reality that fertility specialists say is far more common than most people realize.

From “Insurance Policy” To Unexpected News

Moore, who conceived her first two sons naturally, described her decision to pursue IVF as a precautionary measure rather than a response to a diagnosed fertility problem. She framed the treatment as an attempt to bank embryos for future use, a kind of reproductive safety net that would give her and husband Taylor Goldsmith flexibility about timing a third child. The plan did not go as hoped.

“So, I did a round of IVF, and it was unsuccessful; we didn’t get any viable eggs, no embryos,” Moore told host Amanda Hirsch on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast. “And I was like, okay, well, this just settles that. If this is something that is meant to be, it will happen naturally.”

What happened next caught her completely off guard. “And then Lou just had to show up,” Moore said on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, laughing. “And she showed up very, very surprisingly. We were not trying, but obviously we were open to it because of the IVF of it all.”

A Fertility History That Goes Back Further

Moore’s path to parenthood has never been entirely straightforward. Before her first pregnancy with son August “Gus” Harrison Goldsmith, now 5, she received discouraging news from her doctor. In a 2024 Instagram post on the This Was Us podcast account, Moore wrote that “The doctor told me there was a slim chance of getting pregnant… and then lo and behold to our surprise, I became pregnant with Gus.”

That history adds meaningful context to her IVF decision. Knowing she had once been told conception might be difficult, pursuing IVF before a third pregnancy was a reasonable, proactive step, even if the outcome was disappointing.

Son Oscar “Ozzie” Bennett Goldsmith, now 3, also arrived naturally, and Lou, now 21 months old, completed the family in a way Moore had not planned.

Three Kids In Three-And-A-Half Years

The rapid pace of her family’s growth has taken a real toll, Moore acknowledged. “I had three kids in three-and-a-half years,” she said with a sigh on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast.

When asked whether that compressed timeline had been physically and emotionally demanding, she did not minimize it. Moore told the podcast she is “still emotionally recovering,” even while noting that pregnancy itself was physically manageable for her and that she did not experience postpartum symptoms.

That combination, physically resilient but emotionally stretched, is something many parents of young children will recognize. The logistics of caring for a five-year-old, a three-year-old, and a toddler simultaneously, regardless of how any of them arrived, is its own kind of marathon.

What Fertility Experts Want You To Know After A Failed Cycle

Moore’s experience reflects a pattern that fertility specialists work hard to reframe for their patients.

Dr. Matrika Johnson of Reproductive Specialists of the Carolinas addressed this directly in an episode of the More Than Your Infertility podcast, drawing on both her clinical expertise and her own personal IVF experience. Her message to patients who receive bad news is direct.

“When people hear, ‘your IVF cycle failed,’ many internalize it as ‘I failed,'” Dr. Johnson said, according to Reproductive Specialists of the Carolinas. Her response to that internalization is equally direct: you did not fail.

Dr. Johnson emphasizes that IVF outcomes are shaped by biology and probability, not by a patient’s effort, character, or desire to become a parent. Factors such as embryo chromosomal health, uterine receptivity, and the precise timing of implantation can influence whether a cycle succeeds, and many of these variables are simply beyond anyone’s control.

A cycle that produces no viable embryos, as Moore experienced, is a medical outcome, not a verdict on the person going through it.

For patients navigating that grief, Dr. Johnson recommends naming the loss explicitly, resisting the urge to make immediate decisions, and leaning on professional support, whether through therapy, fertility coaching, or community.

She is clear that the sorrow accompanying a failed cycle is genuine and warrants real acknowledgment, not dismissal or minimization.

Why Moore’s Openness Matters For Families

Moore is not the first public figure to discuss fertility struggles, but the specific combination of details she shared is unusually instructive.

She pursued IVF not because she had been told she could not conceive, but as a precaution. The cycle failed completely. She made peace with that outcome. And then a natural pregnancy arrived anyway.

That sequence does not follow the narrative arc most people expect from fertility stories, and that is precisely why it is worth hearing.

Her account on the June 2 podcast episode also underscores something fertility specialists consistently stress: a single failed cycle is not a final answer. It is data. It is a starting point for a follow-up conversation with a care team about what to try differently, or, as in Moore’s case, sometimes the body finds its own path forward.

Stories like Moore’s do something that clinical statistics cannot: they give shape to the emotional experience of fertility treatment in a way that feels human and specific.

When a well-known actress describes sitting with the news that a cycle produced nothing, and then describes laughing about the daughter who “just had to show up,” she is holding two truths at once, grief and gratitude, that many parents carry simultaneously.

That kind of honesty normalizes the full range of fertility experiences, including the ones that do not resolve neatly, and that matters for every family still in the middle of their own story.

The infamous Dr. Seuss is back yet again with a new and exciting book, Sing the 50 States! Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) passed away in 1991, but the manuscript was rediscovered and printed this week.

Dr. Seuss created characters like the Grinch, the Lorax, Horton, and the Cat in the Hat, who later became some of Dr. Seuss’s most popular characters. Their tales have been printed over 600 million times, and now, kids have another book to add to their collection.

Although Dr. Seuss died 35 years ago and his last book (What Pet Should I Get?) was published in 2013, his legacy lives on in countless ways — including lost and rediscovered manuscripts.

Sing the 50 States! Is On Sale Now

Dr. Seuss’s Sing the 50 States! hits shelves just in time for America’s 250th birthday! The new children’s book was released on June 2, 2026, and teaches kids about America’s different states in a fun, zany way.

The Cat in the Hat is the star of the book, along with his two kitty friends. The Cat in the Hat teaches readers the designated state and where its shape fits on a map of America.

Although Dr. Seuss died in 1991, Sing the 50 States! was discovered in 2025 in the archives of UC San Diego’s Geisel Library. The book was found with notes on its tone and direction, along with a sketch for the cover.

Artist Tom Brannon took on the challenge and animated Sing the 50 States! artwork.

President and CEO, Dr. Seuss Enterprises (DSE), Susan Brandt, said in a news release, “Sing the 50 United States! celebrates his boundless creativity, genius with words, and enduring ability to inspire young readers everywhere. We’re honored to share this new Dr. Seuss treasure with readers across America during such a meaningful milestone year.”

From hardcover to e-book, get Sing the 50 States! wherever books are sold.

There’s A New Song That Coincides With The Book

To coincide with the book, Dr. Seuss Entertainment released a song on YouTube to accompany it.

The Cat in the Hat sings the song and starts it the same way the book does, “To sing the 50 United States, you have to use your brain.”

The Cat in the Hat then looks for each state as he sings and places it on the map of the United States. The video is simple, straightforward, and fun since it matches the book.

Listening to “Sing the 50 States!” isn’t just fun, but it’s a wonderful way to learn (and memorize the book!).

When you think about how your child learns to read, the first thing that probably comes to mind is the skills they learn in school — letter sounds, phonics, and eventually decoding words to read.

But new research is showing that long before these academic skills are learned, the basis for reading is developing in your child’s brain. This means that setting your child up for reading success begins even earlier than previously thought.

New Study Shows The Formation of Pre-Reading Skills 

An innovative study tracked the brain development of children over several years, from infancy to the start of reading.  The children’s brains were imaged with MRIs to see how their brain structure changed over the course of their development. 

Then, researchers analyze these findings in comparison to the children’s later reading scores. They found that even in these early years, the brain is developing in ways that can either help or hinder a child’s later reading development.

One key finding was that although reading is typically not taught until kindergarten or the early elementary years, the underlying skills needed begin much earlier.

Skills like being able to hear sounds within words, known as phonological processing, as well as auditory processing, all begin to develop in the brain very early on in a child’s development. 

Underlying Skills for Reading Start Early

These skills are crucial to reading, but they may not be as obvious to parents. This means that when your child enters kindergarten or first grade and begins learning to read, the structure of their brain may already be influencing how the process unfolds.

Perhaps most importantly, researchers suggest that how their brains have developed up to this point may influence whether they learn to read easily or struggle. Study author Nadine Gaab puts it this way,

“Our findings suggest that some of these kids walk into their first day of kindergarten with their little backpacks and a less-optimal brain for learning to read, and that these differences in brain development start showing up in toddlerhood.” 

Setting Your Child Up for Reading Success

As a parent, you can’t completely control how these structures of your child’s brain are developing.

However, you can set up an environment that is conducive to these early language and auditory skills, which influence the process of learning to read. In the early years of your child’s development, even years before they start kindergarten, you can all do things that help their brain develop the ability to hear and understand sounds within words. 

Reading Is Important, But So Is Talking

We all know that reading to your child is one of the most important things we can do to help their overall language development and later reading skills.

But it’s not just about reading. Here are a few other ideas for language development activities that you can do even in those early months and years:

Talk to your baby or toddler…a lot. Try to have back-and-forth conversations with your child, even when they’re just babbling or first learning words. Expose them to new interesting words through books or just daily life. Use vivid language with words that describe what they’re seeing—colors, sizes, and textures. They won’t understand these words at first, but they will come with time.

Describe daily life. Talk to your baby or toddler about what you’re doing. At these early ages, they are often along for the ride as you do chores or errands, but they’re still learning. Some scholars call this process “dialogic living” because it’s an ongoing dialogue with your child throughout the day. Even just identifying objects around the house can help with the development of oral language and with picking up on words and sounds.

Use word play. Children don’t learn words in a vacuum; they learn them in relationship with other caregivers and us. Use playful interactions with words through songs, rhymes, and hand movements. 

Early Intervention Before Reading Struggles

Perhaps the most helpful aspect of this new study is its demonstration that early intervention is crucial. If your toddler struggles with speaking, hearing sounds, or communicating, it’s helpful to seek out support.

This study shows that these early language and hearing skills needed for reading are established years before your child learns the ABCs.

Early intervention with a pediatrician or speech-language pathologist could help your child enter school better prepared for early reading skills.

Cinemas have been a dying breed over the past decade because of streaming services, but Toy Story 5 is a chance to get families back in theatre seats.

After four iconic movies and multiple shorts, Disney and Pixar are releasing Toy Story 5 on June 19, 2026. With toys at the forefront of the franchise, it only makes sense that they’re now the center of various movie theatres’ marketing plans.

Movie Theatres like AMC, Regal, and Cinemark are joining the fun and selling amazing collectibles so that Toy Story fans can enjoy the fifth movie like never before. From collectible popcorn tins to blankets, here’s what to expect at a movie theatre near you.

Toy Story 5 Brings ’90s Toys Together With Tech

Starring Tom Hanks (Woody), Tim Allen (Buzz Lightyear), Joan Cusack (Jesse), and Greta Lee (Lilypad), Toy Story 5 focuses on a new toy in town: the tablet Lilypad.

With Woody and Bo-Peep working together to find new owners for lost toys, Jesse and Buzz take control of Bonnie’s room. However, things go awry when Bonnie gets infatuated with her new tablet, Lilypad. Lilypad becomes a likable villain as the toys try to get Bonnie’s attention in a fast-paced world.

Movie Theatres Are Trying To Get You Into Their Seats With Some Cool Collectibles

Streaming, rising ticket prices, COVID-19, and safety concerns have made movie theaters almost obsolete. Harvard found that the share of people visiting movie theatres decreased from 39% in 2019 to 17% just six years later.

Another survey showed 75% of people would rather stream a movie than go to the movie theatre. With Toy Story being a monumental blockbuster, it’s a chance for movie theatres to see a spike in attendance, especially if they’re selling some memorable mementos to celebrate the fifth movie. Here’s what to expect.

AMC: Starting June 18, you can shop for some amazing Toy Story collectibles at AMC theatres. “Few films evoke nostalgia quite like Toy Story, and these items give fans another way to celebrate a story they’ve loved for decades,” AMC told USA Today.

• A Buzz Lightyear popcorn bucket that looks like his spaceship.
• Super Snack Pack: Toy Story-themed (includes a 64-ounce tub of popcorn and a 16-ounce cup)
• Pixar Blind Ball Combo popcorn holder (includes a small popcorn, one small drink, one mystery pin, and one mystery topper)

Regal: For a limited time, Regal is transforming into the headquarters for Toy Story 5. If you see Toy Story 5 in Regal theatres, there are a few unique collectibles to choose from.

• The Buzz Lightyear Collectible Popcorn & Drink Container (the helmet even lights up!).
• Collectible Combo (Decorative popcorn tin and your choice of one of three themed cups).
• Snack Pack Combo (popcorn, Welch’s Fruit Snacks, a collectible 16 oz cup, and one of five character toppers).
• Toy Story 5 Thermos
• Four collectible pins
• Regal Crown Club members can get a free ScreenX upgrade to see Toy Story 5 for free!

Cinemark: Cinemark is also hard-launching some iconic Toy Story 5 collectibles.

• Woody Hat Popcorn Tin (free same-day refill)
• Toy Story 5 plush blanket
• Drink Tumbler with a themed-bubble lid
• Super Snack Pack: Toy Story-themed (includes a 64-ounce tub of popcorn and a 16-ounce cup)
• Toy Story 5 themed 130-ounce popcorn tin, 32-ounce Icee combo
• Toy Story 5 themed 130 ounce popcorn tin, 44-ounce souvenir cup

Movie theatres will also carry trading cards and specialty drinks.

Seeing Toy Story 5 in theatres is a great way to get some fun collectibles, stay cool from the heat, and create fun memories with your kids.

Editor’s Note: If you are a Disney+ subscriber who is enrolled in the Disney+ Perks Program, you can get $10 off your movie ticket if you buy from Fandango and use the promotional code “code.”