family fun
Make Summer as Safe as It is Fun
(Family Features) With school out for summer, children will be away from teachers and coaches who might be trained in first aid and CPR, making it crucial for parents and summer caregivers to brush up on safety tips and life-saving skills.
No matter where your summer plans take you, make sure you’re equipped with the knowledge and tools you need for safe, fun days in the sun.
Keep a First Aid Kit on Hand
Having basic first aid supplies handy lets you take care of minor boo-boos so the summer play can carry on. Plan to include cleansers, wound dressings, bandages and tape; antibiotic ointment; scissors and tweezers; bug bite treatment; and over-the-counter medications such as pain relievers and antihistamines for allergic reactions.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPUoPwbRvL8?si=fjeQkMMUPRKuqXAi]
Learn CPR
Sudden cardiac arrest can happen to anyone at any age. Summer activities like swimming, boating and other watersports can lead to drowning or serious injuries, but so can outdoor play and sporting events in extreme heat. In fact, more than 23,000 children experience cardiac arrest outside of the hospital each year, according to the American Heart Association, approximately 40% of which are related to sports.
Immediate CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) use can double or even triple someone’s chance of surviving cardiac arrest. For teens and adults, Hands-Only CPR could save their life. For infants and children, CPR with breaths is recommended.
Studies show children as young as 9 years old can learn and retain CPR skills. This summer, there are many learning options available to families, including online CPR courses, local in-person Heartsaver courses, CPR Anytime Training Kits and CPR kiosks, available in public places and airports across the country.
Know the Signs of Heat Exhaustion
Even when it doesn’t seem extreme, heat and humidity can take a toll. On one end of the heat stress spectrum are heat cramps, which may ease if you take a break, drink water and cool off.
More serious heat exhaustion may occur when the body’s temperature rises to 100-102 F and can include an inability to maintain physical activity, dizziness, nausea, dehydration and rapid heart rate. Try to cool down and drink water, but if symptoms worsen or vomiting occurs, seek medical help.
Heat stroke may cause death or permanent disability. It is characterized by a body temperature of 104-106 F or higher, heat exhaustion symptoms, trouble walking and neurological difficulties such as slurred speech or confusion.
Be Smart Around Water
Drowning can happen quickly and silently. Every day, an average of 10 people of all ages die in the United States from accidental, non-boating related drowning. Always swim with a friend and keep watch, especially where water isn’t clear and underwater obstacles may be present. When boating, always wear a life jacket. At home, install fencing at least 4 feet high around pools and remove toys from the pool when it’s not in use so children aren’t tempted to play without supervision.
Bike Safely
Taking some safety precautions can make bike rides even more enjoyable. Before heading out, check all riders’ bikes to ensure everything is in good operating condition, including brakes, tires, chains and gears.
Always wear a helmet and consider guards to protect your knees, elbows and hands in the event of a fall. Avoid riding at night, when you’re less visible to drivers, and wear bright colors that make you stand out. Drive with traffic (not against it) and follow the same rules as a car when it comes to street signs and intersections. Remain alert at all times and avoid distractions such as music that can prevent you from hearing warning sounds such as a car horn.
Join the American Heart Association’s Nation of Lifesavers and make this summer as safe as it is fun with tips on CPR and other safety concerns at heart.org/nation.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images
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amusement and theme parks
Six Flags and Travis Kelce Kick Off 2027 Season Pass Sales With Lowest Prices Through Sept. 7
Six Flags launches 2027 Season Pass sales at its lowest price through Sept. 7, with unlimited visits now through 2027, parking perks, and regional access.
Six Flags is officially in “season pass season” — and it’s starting with a headline deal. The company announced Aug. 7 that it has launched sales of its 2027 Season Passes at the lowest price guests will see this season or next, with a limited-time offer running through Sept. 7, 2026. To mark the 8/7 launch date, Six Flags teamed up with brand ambassador Travis Kelce, celebrating the biggest pass offer of the year on a number that’s become part of his legacy.
The big takeaway for fans: buy early, and you’re not just locking in 2027 access — you’re getting the rest of 2026, too. That includes major seasonal events like Halloween and holiday celebrations, plus the chance to start using the pass right away across participating parks.
What the 2027 Season Pass deal includes
Guests can purchase a 2027 Gold Pass or Prestige Pass at launch pricing and receive admission for the remainder of 2026 and all of 2027.
Kelce framed it in simple terms: unlimited visits, especially heading into fall and winter event season, is the kind of value that would have been “mind-blowing” as a kid — and it’s built for families and friend groups who want more reasons to get together.
Gold Pass: the value play for frequent park visits
The 2027 Gold Pass is positioned as the core option for guests who want maximum visits at the lowest price point. Benefits include:
- Unlimited visits for the rest of 2026 and all of 2027
- Free general parking (restrictions apply)
- Regional park access (East, West, Midwest, or Texas)
- Admission to fall haunt events and seasonal holiday celebrations
- Discounts on select food, merchandise, and tickets
- One bonus Bring-A-Friend Free ticket for renewing passholders and new members who purchase by Sept. 7
Prestige Pass: VIP perks and nationwide access
For guests who want more premium access and in-park benefits, Six Flags is also pushing its Prestige Pass tier. Prestige perks include:
- Access to all Six Flags parks across North America
- Preferred parking at many parks
- Complimentary fountain beverages
- VIP entrance access at participating parks
- Free Bring-A-Friend tickets
- One free single-use Fast Lane per visit
- A $20 in-park credit for new Prestige members and Prestige passholders who renew by Sept. 7
Memberships: month-to-month flexibility
Six Flags also announced 2027 Memberships for guests who prefer a monthly payment option. Memberships include unlimited visits and a range of benefits similar to Season Passes — including multi-park access (based on tier), parking benefits, discounts on food and merchandise, and member-exclusive rewards and offers.
Premium membership tiers add expanded park access and additional VIP-style perks, giving guests more ways to customize how they visit.
Why Six Flags is making a big push now
The 2027 pass launch arrives as Six Flags prepares what it calls one of its most ambitious attraction lineups ever, with major additions planned across regions.
Highlights announced so far include:
- East: Six Flags Great Adventure will debut Bakunawa, billed as the world’s tallest and fastest spinning coaster (382 feet, 100 mph), anchoring a renovated Boardwalk area inspired by Jersey Shore culture. Carowinds will introduce Rip Roarin’ Falls, a super-flume featuring a 100-foot drop.
- Texas: Six Flags Fiesta Texas will debut Werewolf Gorge, described as the world’s longest family launch coaster with immersive storytelling.
- Midwest: Six Flags Great America will open Camp Timber Trail, a family adventure area anchored by Sky Hawk, a suspended family coaster.
- West: Knott’s Soak City will introduce Coral Craze and Kelp Kraze, new family raft slides featuring ride systems making their West Coast and North American debuts.
Six Flags also teased that more major announcements are still on the way.
You can start using the pass in 2026 — and more is coming
Beyond the 2027 pipeline, Six Flags says guests who buy now can take advantage of new or recently opened additions in 2026, including:
- Quantum Accelerator (Six Flags New England)
- Tormenta: Rampaging Run (Six Flags Over Texas)
- Shoreline Pier (Six Flags Great Adventure)
- Daredeviler (Canada’s Wonderland)
- Speedway Stunt Coaster (Six Flags Mexico)
- Looney Tunes™ Land (Six Flags Magic Mountain)
- Phantom Theater (Kings Island)
- A major summer entertainment lineup (Kings Dominion)
And the calendar doesn’t slow down after summer. Six Flags says its 2026 Halloween lineup is coming soon, featuring new horror franchise experiences and new entertainment, followed by holiday events across parks — including the return of a newly reimagined Holiday in the Park at Six Flags Great Adventure and Six Flags Over Georgia.
The deadline to know
If you’re considering a pass, the timing matters: guests must purchase by Sept. 7, 2026 to receive launch pricing and promotional offers. For park-specific details and restrictions, Six Flags directs guests to visit sixflags.com.
For fans, Kelce summed up the pitch: more time at the parks now means more memories later — more rides, more laughs, and more reasons to bring your crew along for the season.
Source: Six Flags
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amusement and theme parks
Six Flags Unleashes Its Biggest-Ever Halloween Lineup for 2026
Six Flags is raising the fear factor for Halloween 2026 with new haunted mazes inspired by Jason Voorhees, Diablo, Final Destination and The Blair Witch Project.
Jason Voorhees, Diablo, Final Destination and The Blair Witch Project headline an expanded season of haunted mazes, scare zones and nighttime thrills
Six Flags is turning up the fear factor for Halloween 2026 with its largest collection of licensed horror attractions to date.
The amusement park operator announced 11 new haunted mazes inspired by major film and gaming franchises, including Friday the 13th, Final Destination, The Blair Witch Project and Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo. Returning attractions will feature characters and settings from The Conjuring Universe, SAW, Army of the Dead, The Strangersand Trick ’r Treat.
Altogether, Six Flags says its parks will offer 448 Halloween-themed experiences across North America, including 29 new and returning licensed haunted attractions, 196 scare zones and live shows, nighttime rides and 141 family-friendly daytime activities.
“We’re taking Halloween to an entirely new level in 2026,” Kelly Daugherty, Six Flags’ director of entertainment, said in the company’s announcement. “Guests won’t just watch these stories unfold—they’ll step inside them.”
New nightmares arrive at Six Flags
One of the biggest additions is JASON: Blood Reign, an attraction inspired by Jason Voorhees and the Friday the 13thfranchise. Guests will enter the dark woods surrounding the slasher’s legendary summer camp while retracing the events that transformed Jason into one of horror cinema’s most recognizable villains.
The maze is scheduled to appear at SCarowinds, Kings Island and Six Flags Great Adventure.
Fans of elaborate cinematic accidents can enter Final Destination: Death’s Playground, where death itself serves as the villain. Inspired by New Line Cinema’s Final Destination films, the attraction will place guests inside a chain of seemingly calculated disasters.
The maze is coming to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey and Six Flags Magic Mountain in Southern California.
At Six Flags Great America and Dorney Park, Blair Witch: No Signal will send visitors into a dark recreation of the Black Hills Forest. The experience will include abandoned camps, ritual sites, winding trails and the infamous Rustin Parr house.
Video game fans will also get their chance to enter the underworld. DIABLO: The Infernal Path will bring Blizzard Entertainment’s gothic franchise to Kings Dominion and Cedar Point. Guests will encounter characters including Diablo, Lilith, Mephisto and Baal while traveling through cursed cathedrals and scenes inspired by ancient rituals.
Familiar horror franchises return
Several previously featured horror properties will return following what Six Flags described as strong guest demand.
The Conjuring: Beyond Fear will appear at Canada’s Wonderland, SCarowinds, Cedar Point and Kings Island. The attraction casts visitors as paranormal investigators attempting to contain cursed artifacts and supernatural entities, including Annabelle.
A separate Conjuring Universe attraction will return to Six Flags Magic Mountain, Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags Over Texas, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Six Flags Great America and Six Flags Over Georgia.
Other returning experiences include:
- SAW: Legacy of Terror, featuring scenes inspired by Jigsaw’s traps
- The Strangers: No Escape at Six Flags Over Texas
- Trick ’r Treat at Six Flags Magic Mountain
- Army of the Dead at Six Flags Great Adventure
Knott’s Berry Farm will once again stage Knott’s Scary Farm, the long-running Southern California Halloween event. Six Flags Mexico will also present Festival del Terror, with additional licensed attractions expected to be announced.
More than haunted mazes
The 2026 Halloween season will extend beyond indoor attractions. Six Flags parks will feature themed scare zones filled with roaming performers, elaborate sets, fog, lighting effects and unexpected encounters.
Six Flags Over Texas will introduce Varnum’s Traveling Pit Show of Oddities, described as a premium scare-zone experience combining immersive horror, themed offerings and live entertainment.
Halloween programming across the company’s parks will also include monster bands, musical productions, stunt performances, parades and nighttime spectaculars. Roller coasters and other thrill rides will continue operating after dark at participating locations, with fog, lighting and sound effects altering the experience.
Scare zones, live entertainment and most nighttime rides will be included with regular park admission. However, admission to the haunted mazes will generally require a separate Haunted Attractions Pass in addition to a valid park ticket, season pass or membership.
Knott’s Scary Farm operates under a different system as a separately ticketed event, with its haunted mazes and entertainment included in the event admission.
Halloween fun for younger visitors
Not every seasonal attraction will be designed to terrify guests.
Before the nighttime scares begin, participating parks will offer daytime activities for families and younger children. Programs such as Kids Boo Fest, Tricks and Treats and Camp Spooky will feature trick-or-treating, pumpkin-themed activities and interactive entertainment.
Select parks will also hold Oktoberfest celebrations featuring seasonal food, beverages and live entertainment.
The family-friendly activities will generally be included with daytime park admission.
Dates and ticket details are still coming
Operating dates, attraction availability and ticket prices will vary by park. Six Flags said individual parks will release their complete Halloween schedules and ticketing information between mid-August and early September.
Guests should also review each attraction’s age recommendations, health warnings and accessibility guidelines before purchasing tickets. Haunted mazes may include darkness, fog, loud sounds, flashing lights and intense imagery that may not be suitable for every visitor.
With iconic slashers, supernatural villains, video game demons and hundreds of seasonal attractions, Six Flags is betting that horror fans will be eager to spend part of Halloween 2026 inside their favorite nightmares.
For park-specific schedules and ticket information, visit Six Flags.
Source: Six Flags Entertainment Corporation press release. Attraction schedules and availability are subject to change.
Source
- Six Flags Raises the Fear Factor in 2026 — Original Six Flags Entertainment Corporation press release.
Related Links
- Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest — Details about the Southern California event, including Final Destination, The Conjuring Universe and Trick ’r Treat. The 2026 event runs on select nights from September 18 through November 1.
- Six Flags Great Adventure Fright Fest — Official information for the New Jersey event, featuring haunted mazes, shows and nighttime attractions.
- Knott’s Scary Farm — Official information for the separately ticketed Halloween event, scheduled for select nights from September 17 through October 31, 2026.
- Knott’s Spooky Farm — Family-friendly daytime Halloween activities offered on select days from September 24 through October 31, 2026.
- Six Flags Great America Fright Fest — Official details for the Illinois event, including haunted attractions and scare zones.
- Six Flags Great Adventure Seasonal Events — Calendar of Fright Fest, Oktoberfest and other seasonal events at the park.
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child education
Toy Story 5’s ‘Lilypad’ is an indictment of the world that birthed the ‘iPad Kid’
Toy Story 5 introduces “Lilypad,” a kid-friendly tablet that sidelines Woody and Buzz—and spotlights how the “iPad kid” debate is less about bad parenting and more about work, childcare costs, and a broken social safety net.
Aarushi Bhandari, Davidson College
In the trailer for “Toy Story 5,” a little girl named Bonnie is playing with her toys when a package arrives in the mail.
She opens it to find Lilypad, a tablet for children.
The iconic toys from the series – Woody, Buzz Lightyear, the Potato Heads, Forky and Slinky Dog – then watch in dismay as Bonnie casts them all aside in favor of the bright tablet screen. Rex the dinosaur exclaims, “What? Extinction? Not again!”
The film zeros in on a uniquely 21st-century phenomenon: the “iPad kid,” a term used – often disparagingly – to describe a generation of children who grew up enchanted by screens.
A lot of the discussion around tablet use among kids shames parents, framing it as an example of lazy or bad parenting. Yet factors such as long working hours and lack of access to affordable childcare compel many parents to rely on tablets.
As a scholar of the attention economy – and also as a mom to a 4-year-old – I’ve noticed a disconnect between the resources U.S. society offers parents versus what’s expected of them in the digital age.
’ Woody, Buzz and the gang must prove that traditional toys still matter when Bonnie becomes captivated by a high-tech tablet named Lilypad.
The pandemic and the ‘square au pair’
When the first “Toy Story” came out in 1995, many single-income families could still afford to comfortably raise multiple kids. It was more common for new parents to live near their extended families, such as grandparents, to provide childcare support. Federal policies provided some low-income families with cash assistance that helped ease the cost of transition to parenthood.
Since then, parenting has become a lot more challenging. Single-income households with kids under 18 have steadily declined as wages have stagnated, forcing both parents into the workforce. At the same time, it’s harder to qualify for government benefits.
And even when moms do earn a paycheck, working moms experience what sociologists call the “motherhood penalty” – career disadvantages, such as lower wages and promotion barriers, due to childbirth – even as U.S. parental leave policies remain weak.
So it’s hardly a surprise that fewer Americans are choosing to become parents under these conditions. But those who did have kids in the years leading up to 2020 ran smack into the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lockdown that started in March 2020 following the outbreak of the pandemic led to closures of schools and many workplaces. Many parents either worked from home or provided critical work in grocery stores and hospitals. Kids stayed home and schools transitioned to remote-learning models.
It’s important to remember that many institutions with social legitimacy and authority encouraged the use of tablets during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.
School systems around the world normalized their use for remote learning. Children as young as 4 were given tablets, which gave their parents space to complete their own remote work and other household tasks, with some moms referring to it as “the square au pair.”
In this sense, the tablet became a form of school-sanctioned childcare.
Economic activity was minimally disrupted. Productivity hummed along. And the kids? Comfortably distracted.
For some households, there’s little choice
When lockdowns ended, tablets remained integrated into the education system. In 2021, 4 in 5 U.S. households with children had a tablet. Beyond schoolwork, kids also use tablets for activities, such as video games and watching TV.
The adverse impacts of excessive screen time in general has been well documented for decades. But scholars have only recently unpacked the specific harms of interactive tablet use among young children.
Children who use tablets are more likely to experience emotional dysregulation and dependency on screens. Researchers have also found tablet use among kids to be significantly associated with ADHD diagnoses.
At the same time, research shows screen time use among children is tied to social class.
Parents from working- and middle-class households are more likely to rely on screens compared to high-income parents, who can hire childcare services, such as full-time nannies.
Parental education is also a factor. Americans generally have little grasp of digital hygiene – knowledge about best practices to minimize negative effects of screens. But households with parents who didn’t graduate from college are even more in the dark.
And while schools hand out tablets, most of them fail to provide students and families with a comprehensive education on the adverse impacts of excessive screen time.
In other words, this isn’t a Generation Alpha problem. Most people – adults included, with or without children – aren’t properly educated and informed about their choices around technology use. Yet adults continue to be shamed if they hand their kid a tablet. All the while, parents navigate the added burdens of challenging the educational status quo around tablets.
Frankenstein’s village
When work is the only sturdy pillar in a society where government benefits for low-income people, family ties and community institutions have eroded, tablets replace the metaphorical village – the web of social support that helps families thrive.
In pursuit of jobs or affordable housing, many young parents move farther from their extended families and the communities where they grew up. The working parents who are forced to rely on daycare – sending kids as young as a few weeks old – end up spending an exorbitant amount of money on the service.
Meanwhile, the persistence of traditional gender roles ensures that many moms still go home to a second shift: Working women continue to disproportionately cook, clean and care for children. No matter how overworked or exhausted some parents are, they cannot afford to hire help as the inflation and cost-of-living crises hit historic highs.
Big Tech takes advantage of this crisis with a “solution” that ultimately treats children as products, manipulating their emotions and mining their data. As I argue in my book, “Attention and Alienation,” children’s dependency on screens is a key component of the attention economy.
The earlier a life is monetized, the longer it is profitable.
“Toy Story 5” and its critical take on the tablet may be helpful. But it will take more than a blockbuster movie to protect small kids from the harms of too much screen time. Instead, I think it will require strong parental leave policies, expansive and affordable childcare access, fair wages and shared household labor.
In other words, there needs to be a full rehabilitation of the village.
Aarushi Bhandari, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Davidson College
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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