Today’s Solutions: December 16, 2025

Education

Great minds lead to great solutions. Our education section features solutions and innovations directed at strengthening educational systems around the world.

Behold the drama and intensity

Behold the drama and intensity of nature with award-winning photo gallery

At the Optimist Daily, we love diving into photo galleries of nature and wildlife. They’re a wonderful reminder of the precious beauty we’re trying to preserve and regenerate in our world and of the drama that plays out in nature outside our day-to-day lives. During this year’s wildlife Read More...

Teach your kids about the plig

Teach your kids about the plight of endangered animals with this beautiful book

As depressing as it sounds, there’s definitely a need to teach children about the current state of our ecosystems and the endangered animals that live within them. That’s why New York Times bestselling author, Millie Marotta, has created a beautiful children’s book called A Wild Child’s Read More...

Your toddler can now attend an

Your toddler can now attend an outdoor preschool in Washington state

For many of us, the idea of wrangling several toddlers outside may seem like a nightmare, but at outdoor schools, this is exactly the idea. Although many parents are apprehensive about this alternative education option, outdoor preschools are gaining popularity, as they have been shown to be Read More...

Next time you need a boost in

Next time you need a boost in creativity, try this simple trick

We’ve all been there-you're sitting at your desk, trying to come up with some juicy new idea, only to find your creative pipes clogged. While sometimes we blame it on a lack of caffeine in our bodies, some of the most frustrating roadblocks to creativity can actually stem from being in a static Read More...

The discovery of ancient sippy

The discovery of ancient sippy cups could explain prehistoric baby boom

Time for a little history lesson: In Southeastern Europe, starting around 7000 BC, people began farming and raising livestock after millennia of hunting and gathering. Archaeologists studying ancient human remains noticed that around the same time, populations in early farming cultures started to Read More...

These displaced coal miners ar

These displaced coal miners are finding new, greener work in beekeeping

Do coal miners really love mining coal—and therefore, advocate to keep coal mines open? Or is it that they need the income that coal mining gives them to support themselves and their families? For most miners, the latter is the truth, but as more coal mines across the country shut down despite a Read More...

Chicago’s public libraries a

Chicago’s public libraries are the latest to do away with overdue book fees

The city of Chicago’s public library system is the latest and the largest library system to do away with late fees for overdue materials. The change comes as a response to the fact that late charges were disproportionately affecting the city’s lower-income residents, one in three of which has Read More...

Fat Bear Week is the greatest

Fat Bear Week is the greatest thing you’ll see on the Internet today

Hibernating to skip the cold months of winter may sound lazy, but the fact of the matter is, bears have a lot of work to do to prepare for their long slumber. They have to eat, then eat some more, and then eat a little more. Well, basically they just eat nonstop until they look giant stuffed teddy Read More...

A polka-dotted zebra has been

A polka-dotted zebra has been captured on camera in Kenya

When we picture a zebra in our minds, we all think of the wild African horse with its eye-catching black and white stripes. You can imagine how strange it was then for photographer Frank Liu when he came across a zebra in Kenya that did not have the signature black and white stripes, but rather, a Read More...

University of California dives

University of California divests from fossil fuels to invest in the future

In a big win for environmental activists and renewable energy advocates, the University of California investment management team announced this week that it will divest from fossil fuels this month. We think this is terrific news! While the announcement is seen as a victory for those lobbying Read More...