Tips to help your kids understand the COVID-19 pandemic

Every kid present, including my daughter, understood her just fine and understood in the moment why they wouldn't be returning to school the next day.The weeks since, though, have grown increasingly peppered with her frustrations: "Why aren't we going back to school?" "Why can't my friend come over?" "Why can't we go to the beach in June?" And perhaps most poignantly: "Why won't the stupid coronavirus just go away?"The guidance for parents in the modern era—for any topic—is to help your kids by answering their questions fully when they ask them, in an age-appropriate way, but without explaining too much.It's a tricky line to walk. Further ReadingDon’t Panic: The comprehensive Ars Technica guide to the coronavirus [Updated 4/5]Global organizations, including UNICEF and the World Health Organization, have prepared simple lists of Frequently Asked Questions parents can use to look up the answers to their kids' questions about what COVID-19 is, where it came from, and what you can do about it. Kids under three are adorable but so extraordinarily gross.) Explaining the actual science of viral contagion and the human immune system is a bit trickier.For school-age kids who can read, or for parents who would like something already in simple, kid-friendly terms to read aloud, National Geographic Kids has a dedicated page explaining the basics of the novel coronavirus. Looking something up together with your kids is great, because you can help teach them how to find trusted resources and look for an answer when they're stumped, too.Many of the questions a kid might be asking right now don't have clear answers, though, and it's OK to be honest about that: yes, we can watch the Storybots about the immune system again.