As a parent, it can be challenging to find screen time options that are both entertaining and educational.
I get the feeling I've been there.
We recently tried Cocomelon Sing and Play with JJ on our Smart TV, and the difference was obvious.
Instead of zoning out, our kids were up on their feet laughing, singing and clapping, along with JJ and friends.
Using this really cool innovative technology on the Smart TV.
The characters actually responded to our kids' voices and movements, which made it feel like a real play session rather than a show.
Developed by early childhood experts, Cocomelon.
Sing and Play with JJ supports vocabulary growth rhythm, coordination and confidence.
The experience is safe, ad-free and completely hands-free on the big screen, which means no fiddling with remotes.
Our kids loved being part of the action and we love seeing them light up while learning through joyful music and movement.
So if you want screen time that feels like playtime you can feel good about, give it a try.
Available now in the Volley app on your smart TV.
Just search Volley in your TV's app store and start your free trial of Cocomelon.
Sing and play with JJ today.
Volley.
Welcome to Bedtime History.
Hello, this is Breck.
So I have to tell you a funny story.
The other day I was at the store with my son.
He really wanted a new toy.
He just had to have it.
You've been there as a parent.
Then I said, okay, you have your own money.
You can buy it.
He thought about it for a moment and then said, nevermind.
I guess I don't want it that much.
I had to laugh afterward but I love that the Acorns Early app and debit card teaches my kids to manage their own money.
They can earn money with the in-app chore tracker, practice real life budgeting with automatic allowances and even set their own savings goals.
One of my children is now an adult and I believe teaching her financial literacy skills as a child made all the difference in how she manages her money now.
Ready to join over 12 million parents and kids who've unlocked their kid's potential with Acorns Early.
Get your first month on us when you head to acornsearlycom forward, slash bedtime history or download the Acorns Early app.
That's one month free when you sign up at acornsearly.com forward slash bedtime history.
Acorns Early card is issued by NBKC Bank, member FDIC, pursuant to license by Visa USA.
Free trial for new subscribers only.
Subscription fee starting from $5 per month unless canceled.
Terms apply at http://acornsearly.com forward slash early terms.
Imagine walking through a beautiful garden in France over 100 years ago.
The air smells sweet, with blooming flowers and colorful water lilies float peacefully on a quiet pond.
You notice an older man with a white beard sitting by the water's edge, paint on his hands as he makes quick, bold strokes on a canvas.
He's not trying to paint every leaf perfectly, but instead capturing the way morning light dances on the water and makes everything shimmer.
This artist is Claude Monet, and he's about to change art forever.
Claude Monet was born in Paris France, in 1840, but his family moved to the seaside town of Le Havre when he was five years old.
Growing up by the ocean had a huge impact on young Claude, because he became fascinated watching how light changed throughout the day.
Sometimes the sea would be deep blue, other times it would sparkle silver, and during sunsets it would glow orange and pink.
These constant changes in light and color would later become the most important part of his artwork.
As a teenager, Claude became famous around town for drawing funny caricatures that exaggerated people's features, making their noses bigger or their ears stick out more.
People loved these drawings so much that they paid him good money for them, which was very unusual for someone so young.
Everything changed when he met an older artist named Eugene Boudin, who taught him something revolutionary.
Instead of painting inside dark studios like most artists did, Budin showed Claude how to paint outdoors in natural light.
In the 1800s most artists thought this was crazy, but Claude discovered that painting outside allowed him to capture true colors and feelings in ways that studio painting never could.
Claude became one of the leaders of a new art style called Impressionism.
The name actually came from one of his paintings called Impression Sunrise, which showed the harbor at Le Havre in early morning mist.
When this painting was first displayed, art critics made fun of it and said it looked unfinished.
They mockingly called Claude and his friends impressionists, meaning their work was just rough impressions rather than real art.
But Claude and his artist friends liked this name and decided to keep it.
Impressionist artists like Claude painted in a completely different way than anyone before them.
Instead of mixing colors carefully on a palette, they put pure colors directly on the canvas and let people's eyes mix the colors when looking at the painting.
They painted quickly with visible brush strokes, trying to capture a moment in time rather than every perfect detail.
Most importantly, they were obsessed with light and how it changed everything it touched.
Claude's most famous paintings are his Water Lily series, which he painted in the garden of his home in Giverny, France.
He actually designed and built this garden himself, including the famous lily pond that appears in so many of his paintings.
Claude painted this same pond hundreds of times, but each painting looks different because he painted it at different times of day and in different seasons.
Some show the pond in bright summer sunshine, others in soft evening light and some in mysterious morning fog.
One of the most amazing things about Claude was his dedication to showing how light changes everything.
He would paint the same subject over and over at different times of day.
He created a famous series of haystack paintings showing the same field in morning light, afternoon sun and evening shadows.
Each painting of the same haystack looks completely different because the light makes the colors and mood change dramatically.
Claude Monet lived to be 86 years old and never stopped experimenting with his art.
Even when his eyesight began to fail in his later years, he continued painting, creating some of his most bold and colorful works.
Today, his paintings hang in museums around the world, and millions of people visit them every year.
Claude showed the world that art doesn't have to look exactly like a photograph to be beautiful and meaningful.
Instead, art can capture feelings, emotions and the magical way light makes everything around us come alive.
