The circus posters are all over town, colorful commercials are running during your child’s favorite TV programs, and the local elementary school is handing out coupons for free tickets. How can you help your children understand why they won’t be going to the circus when it seems that so many other people are? The following are some tried-and-true suggestions from kind moms:

Tell the truth. For very young children, explain that circuses are cruel to animals: They keep tigers, elephants, and other animals chained and confined to cages and hit them in order to force them to do tricks. School-age children will want to know specifics, so tell them that people who have worked in circuses have documented on videotape that animal handlers were beating elephants, shocking them with electric prods, and jabbing them with a bullhook—a heavy stick with a sharp metal hook on the end.

Explain that not everyone knows about the cruelty of the circus. Children will wonder why their friends and teachers are going to the circus if it’s so inhumane. Tell them that many people still don’t understand that animals suffer in circuses. These people aren’t bad—they just don’t know yet.

Offer another activity instead. It’s easy to convince children that circuses aren’t the only option when it comes to having fun. Suggest a trip to a new museum, an animal-free amusement park, a Saturday afternoon picnic at a park, an IMAX movie, an hour at an arcade, a family softball or chess tournament, a weekend camping trip, a Sunday hike through a local nature area, an early-morning bird-watching trip, or a visit to a botanical garden or a planetarium—there are dozens of activities that kids will find entertaining and that will help them to feel great about being wonderful, caring people.