As a parent, it's not always easy to find activities that are both exciting for kids and truly educational.
I know the struggle all too well.
We recently tried Cocomelon Sing and Play with JJ on our smart TV and the change in our kids was immediate.
Instead of just watching, they were jumping up laughing, singing and clapping, along with JJ and the whole crew.
Thanks to the impressive technology, the characters actually reacted to our kids' voices and movements, making the whole thing more like playtime than watching a program.
Created with guidance from early childhood specialists Cocomelon, Sing and Play with JJ helps support vocabulary development, rhythm coordination and confidence.
The experience is safe, ad-free, and totally hands-free on the big screen.
Our kids loved feeling like part of the adventure and we loved watching them light up as they learned through upbeat music and playful 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.
It's Christmas Eve.
You're sitting by a warm fireplace listening to your family.
Read a story about a grumpy man named Ebenezer Scrooge who hates Christmas.
As the story unfolds, three ghosts visit Scrooge and show him the error of his ways.
By the end, he's a changed man who loves Christmas and helps everyone around him.
This is A Christmas Carol, one of the most famous Christmas stories ever written.
But did you know that the man who wrote it, Charles Dickens, had a childhood so difficult that it changed his life forever?
Let's discover the amazing story of Charles Dickens and how he created a book that changed Christmas for the whole world.
Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth, England.
He was the second of eight children.
His father, John Dickens, worked as a clerk in the Navy pay office.
When Charles was about five years old, the family settled in a town called Chatham.
These were the happiest years of Charles' childhood.
He went to school, loved to read books, and went on long walks with his father.
His father would point to a big house on a hill called Gad's Hill Place and tell him 'If you work very hard, you might live in a house like that someday'.
But when Charles was 10 years old, everything changed.
The family moved to London, and things got worse quickly.
John Dickens was not careful with his, with money.
He spent more than he earned, and the family fell into deep debt.
Then in 1824, when Charles was only 12 years old, his father was arrested and sent to prison.
After this, Charles was sent to work in a factory.
The factory was called Warren's Blacking Factory, and it made shoe polish.
Charles had to work 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, pasting labels on bottles.
The factory was dirty and not well lit.
Charles felt ashamed and forgotten.
He was supposed to be in school learning, but instead he was working in a miserable factory.
This experience hurt Charles so deeply that he never forgot it.
Years later he wrote.
After a few months, Charles' father inherited some money and got out of prison.
Charles was sent back to school, but the damage was done.
Charles never forgot what it felt like to be a poor, forgotten child.
He never forgot the other children who had no one to help them.
This experience would shape everything he wrote for the rest of his life.
Charles left school when he was 15 and worked as a law clerk.
In 1833, he started writing stories for newspapers.
People loved his writing.
In 1836, Charles published his first book, The Pickwick Papers.
It was a huge success, and suddenly Charles Dickens was famous.
Over the next few years, he wrote Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, and other books.
All of these books told stories about poor people and children who suffered.
Charles wanted readers to see how hard life was for poor people and make them care.
By 1843, Charles Dickens was 31 years old and already a famous writer.
But he needed money.
His wife was expecting their fifth child and he was helping to support his parents.
That autumn Charles visited a school called the Field Lane Ragged School that gave free education to street children.
What Charles saw shocked him.
He saw rooms full of children who were dirty, hungry, and desperate.
Many of them worked long hours in factories, just like Charles had when he was 12.
The visit haunted him.
Charles wanted to do something to help these children.
He decided to write a story.
Stories were powerful.
Stories could change hearts.
So in october 1843, charles sat down and began writing.
In just six weeks he finished the story.
He called it a christmas carol.
The story is about ebenezer scrooge, a rich, mean old man who hates christmas.
On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his old business partner, Jacob Marley, who's wrapped in heavy chains as punishment for being greedy.
Marley warns Scrooge that three more spirits will visit him.
The Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge his own lonely childhood.
The Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge how other people celebrate Christmas with joy, even when they're poor.
Scrooge sees his clerk, Bob Cratchit, and his family, including Tiny Tim, a sick little boy who couldn't afford proper medical care.
Finally, the ghost of Christmas.
Yet to come shows Scrooge what will happen if he doesn't change.
He sees his own death and nobody cares.
These visions terrify Scrooge and break his heart.
The story ends with Tiny Tim's famous words.
A Christmas Carol was published on December 19th.
The first edition sold out by Christmas Eve.
People loved it.
By 1844, it had gone through 13 printings.
Charles had written a story that showed how kindness and generosity could change someone's life.
He showed that Christmas was about caring for others, especially people who had less than you.
Charles Dickens wrote 15 novels in his lifetime, including David Copperfield, Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities.
But A Christmas Carol might be his most famous work.
It's been made into countless movies, plays, and TV shows.
The story changed how people think about Christmas.
Before A Christmas Carol.
Christmas wasn't celebrated as much, but Charles' story helped make Christmas into a big holiday focused on family generosity and helping those in need.
Charles Dickens lived to see his childhood dream come true.
In 1856, he bought Gad's Hill Place, that big house on the hill his father had shown him.
Charles died on June 9, 1870, at age 58.
He was buried in Westminster Abbey in London, a great honor.
The story of Charles Dickens teaches us something important.
That lonely 12-year-old boy working in a shoe polish factory never forgot what it felt like to be poor and forgotten.
Instead of trying to forget his painful childhood, he used it to help others.
He wrote stories that made people see and care about children and poor people who were suffering.
And A Christmas Carol reminds us what Christmas is really about.
It's not about how much money you have or how many presents you get.
It's about kindness, generosity, and caring for others.
It's about second chances and being grateful for what you have.
So this Christmas, when you see a version of A Christmas Carol, remember Charles Dickens and remember Tiny Tim's words 'God bless us everyone'.
Those words capture the true spirit of Christmas and they're Charles Dickens' gift to all of us.
