All news at a glance

Online voting is now open for the Audience Award of the Engagement Prize NRW 2025. Twelve projects from all over NRW show how diverse volunteering is - from offers for children and young people to social and cultural initiatives.

North Rhine-Westphalia wants to further strengthen quality and stability in child daycare. To this end, the state cabinet has adopted key points for a reform of the Child Education Act (KiBiz). The plans include less bureaucracy, more flexible structures, a personnel offensive and long-term financial stabilization.

A research project at the OWL Faculty of Medicine at Bielefeld University is investigating how much time 1- to 3-year-old children spend outdoors and where and how they come into contact with the natural environment. By taking part, you are helping to advance research into nature behavior and its influence on health.

About one in ten women in Germany is affected by endometriosis - a chronic, often painful disease that is still too little known. A new brochure now provides easy-to-understand information about symptoms, causes and support services.

Foster families offer children in difficult life situations a loving, safe environment - sometimes for a limited time, sometimes permanently. Anyone who wants to take this responsible step faces many questions. You can now find all the important information, tips, advice centers and contact persons under the topic "Adoption & foster families".

Long winter evenings invite you to snuggle up at home and immerse yourself in other worlds while reading together with your children. We have put together some tips for parents and exciting interviews for you that show how valuable reading aloud is for your child's development. Discover new ideas for reading time and: Read along!

The day of action is a great opportunity to talk to your children about what this means for them: because if you know your rights, you can stand up for them! Our tear-off poster "Your children's rights" is a great way to start the conversation with young children.

In winter, it gets dark earlier, rain and fog make visibility more difficult and wet leaves make roads slippery. For children in particular, this increases the risk of getting into dangerous situations on the road. With a few simple measures, your family can get through the dark season more safely.

When it comes to giving everyone an equal place in our society, we all have a role to play. A first step can be to familiarize yourself with the everyday challenges that come with an impairment. The Familienportal.NRW provides an overview for all interested parties and affected families.

From foster families to road safety in winter and reading aloud - the current December issue of our newsletter is all about topics that affect families in NRW. Not subscribed yet? Subscribe now and never miss an issue!

During the Christmas season, online stores often entice shoppers with cheap offers and promotions - fraudsters also take advantage of this with fake websites. With the free fake store finder from the consumer advice center, you can easily check whether the online store is reputable or not before making a purchase.

How do expectations, wishes and life circumstances in the year before graduating from high school influence decisions about future careers and education? For the level-up study, the Max Planck Institute is looking for 20,000 students from the 2027 Abitur class who will participate together with a parent or guardian from May 2026.