On a routine visit to the nation's capital, a high school class from Arizona changed one of the city's most visited monuments and became a national model for incorporating community service and academic curriculum.

Many mothers moving into the workforce under welfare reform are being forced to rely on low-quality child care. Leslie de Pietro, coordinator of the University of Michigan's Family Care Resources Program, looks at the struggle between shrinking welfare rolls and supporting young children's development.

In the last national census, nearly 9 million people went uncounted, many of them children. Because the census helps determine federal funding in each region—including education, day care, health care, and housing assistance—and how many legislators each state sends to Washington, getting the numbers right is important for kids and families. Rich Louv examines how Census 2000 could shape childhood's future.

Former editor Richard Louv looked at why so many children today lack opportunities to explore, play and dream in the natural world—and what they have lost as a result. This time, he offers suggestions for bringing children back to nature.

Reid Kellam and Willie Conaghan, two best friends in Bethesda, Maryland, celebrated their birthdays together with a big sports party that netted five boxes of sports equipment for a local children's home. Give-away parties are fun and easy to organize. Susan Kellam explains.

Helping kids get back to nature can be a community activity. Artist Rusty Keeler designs playgrounds with the help of families, educators and our natural surroundings.

Parents who remember lazy summer afternoons at the swimming hole, or evening games of kick-the-can, are often dismayed when they consider the scheduled, plugged-in lives of their own children. Senior Editor Richard Louv says we must work to bring children closer to nature.

Learn how to help your child—or any child—learn to appreciate the performing arts, and help promote a lifelong appreciation of cultural events and activities.

Richard Louv explores how faith-based organizations around the country are reaching out to support children and families in new ways. The idea is community: not just within the place of worship, but beyond.

Richard Louv explores how faith-based organizations around the country are reaching out to support children and families in new ways. The idea is community: not just within the place of worship, but beyond.