Cinema, cartoons and poetry: what to do with children this week
The silence of perinatal grief and the mental health of children and adolescents: what has caught our attention the most this week
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We offer you a selection of activities for this weekend as well as a review of current events through the section To think about and the data and statements that have caught our attention the most.
Cultural and leisure activities
Reconnection with the languages of nature
With autumn, going to the cinema feels more appealing. This Friday, Emilie and the Secret of the Storms is released by the Catalan children's film distributor, Rita & Luca Films. Emilie is an intrepid and sensitive eight-year-old girl who has just moved to the mountains with her family. She soon discovers that something strange is happening in the lush valley where she lives. During electrical storms, the village animals suffer inexplicable attacks and become ill. The film's protagonist investigates the phenomenon with Manon, her neighbor, to whom she confesses a secret ability: the storms emit music that only she can hear.
An enigmatic adventure recommended for ages 6 and up that awakens the senses and invites us to reconnect with the languages of nature and with what makes us special. It is also accompanied by four stories about diversity, acceptance, and empathy.
Puppets by the sea
The Firobi Festival is a cultural event that every year fills the streets, squares, and theaters of Vilassar de Mar with puppets. This very weekend, from October 16 to 18, 2026, the festival reaches its 30th edition.
For three days, you can enjoy family puppet and object theater shows, as well as some proposals designed for adult audiences. In addition, there is an Artisan Fair on Sant Joan Street, an ideal space to stroll and discover unique pieces linked to the puppetry universe.
Nature and sustainability
From October 15th to 18th, Tàrrega hosts four days of activities to learn, share, and enjoy ecological values. Its nerve center is the Eco and km-0 Products Fair-Market where you will meet small producers of organic and local food, and many other products made with natural elements.
However, in different spaces around the city, you will be able to take part in different educational activities for all audiences to understand the importance of preserving the natural environment and environmental values. Such as a workshop on decorating bird nesting boxes using hollowed-out pumpkins or eco-sustainable crafts. In addition, there will be large-format games, family shows, and music.
It's time to doodle
This weekend, a new edition of Barcelona Dibuixa arrives. More than forty cultural and local facilities open their doors to turn the entire city into a large space dedicated to the universe of drawing.
The programming of activities is guided by artists who are benchmarks in this discipline, and are an invitation to let your imagination fly and do so in a communal way. Are you ready to look, think, and create together?
Within the International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia
If you are going with children to the Sitges fantastic film festival, head over to the Espai Joan Tarrida. There you will find Fantastic Tales, a project created by about 300 students of visual arts and design, performing arts, and vocational training from 24 educational centers in Catalonia.
The backbone of this project, which combines virtual reality, physical scenography, and Catalan narrative, is the storytelling The Boogeyman's Hideout. In addition, there will be shows and urban dance workshops and face painting workshops for the little ones. A proposal recommended for ages 8 and up, advance booking is required.
Family theater at La Planeta in Girona
Within the Temporada Alta programming there are also shows for the little ones. This Saturday you can see Els Bufairons from the Centre de Titelles de Lleida, which this year recovers one of the company's first productions with a long history.
A table puppet and visual projections show based on the imaginary universe of Joan-Andreu Vallvé. The story follows two curious children who enter the underground world of tiny beings, halfway between goblins and little demons, that inhabit a universe invisible to our eyes. An invitation to discover the magic that hides underground.
Listening to verses with the family
We recently learned about the Poetry in the Parks cycle, which offers poetry and music in protected natural spaces. An initiative promoted within the cultural program Experience the park of the Network of Natural Parks of the Barcelona Provincial Council. A beautiful way to disseminate the work of poets linked to the landscapes of these environments, as well as the discovery of new voices.
Next Sunday, October 18th, this series offers a family poetry recital by the authors: Olga Colomer i Falguera and Raimon Portell. And with the musical accompaniment of Max Soler, from the Taller de Músics. Both young and old will discover that poetry is an authentic game of words. Attendance at all events is open and free.
Laughter in danger of extinction
The 21st edition of the Cornellà International Clown Festival - Charlie Rivel Memorial kicks off this Sunday, October 18th, with a big free street party. Throughout the morning, you will find workshops, games, and shows for the whole family.
Until October 25th, up to 44 shows by 52 companies, some local and others international, have been scheduled in the streets, theaters, schools, and other spaces in Cornellà de Llobregat. There will be galas and awards, and you will be able to see companies such as Cia. Albert Vinyes, the award-winning Txema Muñoz, or the French group Les Bleus de Travail.
Things that happen (to me)
Musical recommendations
Music and childhood tales
This autumn Tatatí has been released, a new artistic project in a book-album format by the musician VerdCel (Alfons Olmo Boronat). It is an immersion into the creative universe that symbolizes childhood through emotions, nature, bonds, play, imagination, and coexistence. In fact, the name Tatatí comes from how children refer to music when they begin to speak.
The proposal aimed at a family audience combines a book-object, a story, a comic, and music. It includes 28 musical pieces, 14 songs, and 14 sound capsules. Other artists have participated, such as Dani Miquel, Dàmaris Gelabert, Ambauka, Noèlia Llorens "Titana", La Tresca i la Verdesca, Aitana Ferrer, and Marcel el Marcià.
Food for thought
Loss that is minimized or not recognized as such
Grief over the death of a son or daughter during pregnancy, childbirth, or the first days of life continues to be silenced. When it happens, there is an initial shock, followed by hormonal changes linked to postpartum and logical emotional responses such as unreality, guilt, anxiety, and depression. This deep emotional process experienced by parents, especially mothers, tends to be socially minimized or not recognized with the same intensity as other losses.
Fortunately, there is already a Guide for perinatal grief and neonatal death care, and more and more hospitals are incorporating an updated health protocol which includes initiatives that allow families to have a voice, name the baby, create memories, and have a respectful farewell. On the day of October 15th, many families who have lived this same experience meet to share emotions. But for some time now, families and support organizations have been demanding a memorial space for perinatal grief in every town; many municipalities in Catalonia have begun to address this citizen request through their cemeteries or public parks, but there are still many that have not done so.