Good to Know

x Where’s the best place to raise your family? Look no further than your own backyard.

Massachusetts is 2021’s Best State to Raise a Family in America, according to a new report by WalletHub. The personal finance website compared all 50 states using what they called “five key dimensions” – family fun, health and safety, education and child care, affordability and socio-economics. The Bay State came out on top, followed by Minnesota, North Dakota and New York.

Museums across America are offering free admission to active-duty military personnel and their families this summer.

The Blue Star Museum program runs through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 6. More than 2,000 museums across America participate in Blue Star Museums each summer. These include children’s museums, art museums, history and science museums, zoos, and nature centers. Locally, Blue Star families can visit: h Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge h Massachusetts State Police Museum and Learning Center, South Grafton h Ecotarium, Worcester h Worcester Art Museum, Worcester h Museum of Russian Icons, Clinton h Discovery Museum, Acton h Children’s Museum of Easton, Easton h Museum of Fine Arts, Boston h Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston h USS Constitution Museum, Charlestown h Springfield Museums, Springfield h Providence Children’s Museum, Providence

You can find all participating museums at arts.gov/bluestarmuseums. y Kids can read free e-books and attend virtual events with award-winning authors through the free Scholastic Summer Reading Program.

Now through Sept. 3, children can visit the Summer Zone in Scholastic Home Base (scholastic.com/homebase), a free digital destination which offers stories, characters, games, and a community of readers. Home Base is moderated for safety 24/7. They can read select, full e-books and watch author read-alouds, meet their favorite characters and engage with authors in special virtual events, and print reading achievement reports to share with their parents or educators. To learn more, visit scholastic.com/summer. x Mattel has a way for families to extend the life of these unused and outgrown toys – and keep them out of the landfill – with the launch of a new toy takeback program.

Mattel PlayBack will recover and reuse the materials from the old toys that families send to the company for future Mattel products. There’s no cost for consumers to participate, and the recycling program will initially accept Barbie, Matchbox and Mega toys. Other Mattel brands are likely to be added.

“Mattel toys are made to last and be passed on from generation to generation,” Mattel President and Chief Operating Officer Richard Dickson said in a statement. The company is innovating by finding sustainable solutions. “Our Mattel PlayBack program is a great example of this, enabling us to turn materials from toys that have lived their useful life into recycled materials for new products.” For materials that cannot be repurposed as recycled content in new toys, Mattel said it will either downcycle them or convert them from waste to energy. So how does Mattel PlayBack work? Go to Mattel.com/PlayBack to print a free shipping label, then pack and mail outgrown Mattel toys back to Mattel. Consumers without computers or printers can request a shipping label over the phone by calling 800-524-8697.

The collected toys will be sorted and separated by material type before being processed and recycled, the company said. Toys not eligible for the recycling program, including non-Mattel brands, that are in good condition can still get a new life and stay out of landfills by being passed on to friends or donated to charities.