Kid of the Year

Meet Orion Jean, TIME's Kid of the Year

By Angelina Jolie

Catching Up With TIME's 2020 Kid of the Year Gitanjali Rao

By Raisa Bruner

How We Picked the 2021 Kid of the Year

By Edward Felsenthal

Meet TIME's Top Kid of the Year Finalists

By TIME Staff
More in Kid of the Year

Kid of the Year Finalist Jayden Perez, 12, Collects Donations For Anyone in Need

Jayden Perez spent the weeks leading up to Black Friday asking anyone at the park or on the streets in his hometown of Patterson, N.J., if they’d heard of Giving Tuesday. “I’m not afraid to...

By Simmone Shah

Kid of the Year Finalist Samirah Horton, 13, Puts Her Anti-Bullying Message to Music

From the age of 6, Samirah Horton, also known as DJ Annie Red, was picked on by her peers for the things that made her different—her raspier voice, her unique sense of style, and her...

By Mariah Espada

Kid of the Year Finalist Mina Fedor, 13, Speaks Out For Asian Equality

For Mina Fedor, there was no other option but to speak up. The preteen had witnessed a harrowing rise in anti-Asian violence since the start of the pandemic, including a troubling incident that happened to...

By Cady Lang

Kid of the Year Finalist Cash Daniels, 13, Cleans Up Literal Tons of Trash

Cash Daniels once found a “creepy doll head” in the river. “We find more strange things than you’d think,” he says: a tiny Mickey Mouse figurine, two old cassette tapes with songs that dated back...

By Eliana Dockterman

Kid of the Year Finalist Ethan Hill, 11, on Helping the Homeless: 'If You See a Problem, Fix It'

Ethan Hill was on his way to school one day in 2016, when he noticed a man living under a freeway overpass. Despite only being 6 years old at the time, Hill was determined to...

By Jenna Caldwell

Kid of the Year Finalist Lujain Alqattawi, 13, Teaches English to Kids in Refugee Camps

For most kids, the early stage COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 meant one thing: boredom. Many took the chance to start a new hobby, watch superhero movies, or spend more time on TikTok. But Lujain Alqattawi,...

By Eloise Barry

Kid of the Year Finalist Lino Marrero, 15, Invented a Shoe That Can Charge a Cell Phone

Lino Marrero was leaving cello practice one day when he noticed several blisters on his fingers. The pain was so bad that the 10-year-old inventor from Frisco, Tx. wanted to quit playing the instrument for...

By Nik Popli

Kid of the Year Finalist Kai Shappley, 11, Takes on Lawmakers in Her Fight for Trans Rights

Kai Shappley didn’t feel scared when she sat before the Texas Senate committee in April 2021. Wearing a flowing yellow blouse, floral skirt and cowboy boots, the then-4th grader calmly introduced herself. “I love ballet,...

By Madeleine Carlisle

Kid of the Year Finalist Jenell Theobald, 15, Fights For Mental Healthcare

There’s a quote stamped on Jenell Theobald’s contact cards, which she hands out to new connections: “We are all unique, and have our own special place in the puzzle of the universe,” it says, a...

By Angela Haupt
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