diff --git a/includes/class-newspack-blocks.php b/includes/class-newspack-blocks.php
index 2480798d9..666a91bab 100644
--- a/includes/class-newspack-blocks.php
+++ b/includes/class-newspack-blocks.php
@@ -628,16 +628,17 @@ function ( $acc, $block ) use ( $block_name ) {
 		if ( current_user_can( 'edit_others_posts' ) && isset( $attributes['includedPostStatuses'] ) ) {
 			$included_post_statuses = $attributes['includedPostStatuses'];
 		}
-		$authors             = isset( $attributes['authors'] ) ? $attributes['authors'] : array();
-		$categories          = isset( $attributes['categories'] ) ? $attributes['categories'] : array();
-		$tags                = isset( $attributes['tags'] ) ? $attributes['tags'] : array();
-		$custom_taxonomies   = isset( $attributes['customTaxonomies'] ) ? $attributes['customTaxonomies'] : array();
-		$tag_exclusions      = isset( $attributes['tagExclusions'] ) ? $attributes['tagExclusions'] : array();
-		$category_exclusions = isset( $attributes['categoryExclusions'] ) ? $attributes['categoryExclusions'] : array();
-		$specific_posts      = isset( $attributes['specificPosts'] ) ? $attributes['specificPosts'] : array();
-		$posts_to_show       = intval( $attributes['postsToShow'] );
-		$specific_mode       = isset( $attributes['specificMode'] ) ? intval( $attributes['specificMode'] ) : false;
-		$args                = array(
+		$authors               = isset( $attributes['authors'] ) ? $attributes['authors'] : array();
+		$categories            = isset( $attributes['categories'] ) ? $attributes['categories'] : array();
+		$include_subcategories = isset( $attributes['includeSubcategories'] ) ? intval( $attributes['includeSubcategories'] ) : false;
+		$tags                  = isset( $attributes['tags'] ) ? $attributes['tags'] : array();
+		$custom_taxonomies     = isset( $attributes['customTaxonomies'] ) ? $attributes['customTaxonomies'] : array();
+		$tag_exclusions        = isset( $attributes['tagExclusions'] ) ? $attributes['tagExclusions'] : array();
+		$category_exclusions   = isset( $attributes['categoryExclusions'] ) ? $attributes['categoryExclusions'] : array();
+		$specific_posts        = isset( $attributes['specificPosts'] ) ? $attributes['specificPosts'] : array();
+		$posts_to_show         = intval( $attributes['postsToShow'] );
+		$specific_mode         = isset( $attributes['specificMode'] ) ? intval( $attributes['specificMode'] ) : false;
+		$args                  = array(
 			'post_type'           => $post_type,
 			'post_status'         => $included_post_statuses,
 			'suppress_filters'    => false,
@@ -666,6 +667,14 @@ function ( $acc, $block ) use ( $block_name ) {
 				);
 			}
 			if ( $categories && count( $categories ) ) {
+				if ( $include_subcategories === 1 ){
+					foreach ( $categories as $parent ) {
+						$children[] = get_categories( array( 'child_of' => $parent ) );
+						foreach ( $children[0] as $child ) {
+							$categories[] = $child->term_id;
+						}
+					}
+				}
 				$args['category__in'] = $categories;
 			}
 			if ( $tags && count( $tags ) ) {
diff --git a/src/blocks/carousel/edit.js b/src/blocks/carousel/edit.js
index bec85d339..e69d0b91c 100644
--- a/src/blocks/carousel/edit.js
+++ b/src/blocks/carousel/edit.js
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ class Edit extends Component {
 			authors,
 			autoplay,
 			categories,
+			includeSubcategories,
 			customTaxonomies,
 			delay,
 			hideControls,
@@ -374,6 +375,10 @@ class Edit extends Component {
 								onAuthorsChange={ value => setAttributes( { authors: value } ) }
 								categories={ categories }
 								onCategoriesChange={ value => setAttributes( { categories: value } ) }
+								includeSubcategories={ includeSubcategories }
+								onIncludeSubcategoriesChange={ value =>
+									setAttributes( { includeSubcategories: value } )
+								}
 								tags={ tags }
 								onTagsChange={ value => setAttributes( { tags: value } ) }
 								onCustomTaxonomiesChange={ value => setAttributes( { customTaxonomies: value } ) }
diff --git a/src/blocks/carousel/index.js b/src/blocks/carousel/index.js
index e91b4d69b..902232afa 100644
--- a/src/blocks/carousel/index.js
+++ b/src/blocks/carousel/index.js
@@ -64,6 +64,10 @@ export const settings = {
 		categories: {
 			type: 'array',
 		},
+		includeSubcategories: {
+			type: 'boolean',
+			default: true
+		},
 		tags: {
 			type: 'array',
 		},
diff --git a/src/blocks/homepage-articles/block.json b/src/blocks/homepage-articles/block.json
index 5c0119b26..5209b933d 100644
--- a/src/blocks/homepage-articles/block.json
+++ b/src/blocks/homepage-articles/block.json
@@ -100,6 +100,10 @@
 			"default": [],
 			"items": { "type": "integer" }
 		},
+		"includeSubcategories": {
+			"type": "boolean",
+			"default": true
+		},
 		"tags": {
 			"type": "array",
 			"default": [],
diff --git a/src/blocks/homepage-articles/edit.js b/src/blocks/homepage-articles/edit.js
index d6a0f6918..6959ed601 100644
--- a/src/blocks/homepage-articles/edit.js
+++ b/src/blocks/homepage-articles/edit.js
@@ -266,6 +266,7 @@ class Edit extends Component {
 			specificPosts,
 			postsToShow,
 			categories,
+			includeSubcategories,
 			customTaxonomies,
 			columns,
 			colGap,
@@ -359,6 +360,8 @@ class Edit extends Component {
 						onAuthorsChange={ handleAttributeChange( 'authors' ) }
 						categories={ categories }
 						onCategoriesChange={ handleAttributeChange( 'categories' ) }
+						includeSubcategories={ includeSubcategories }
+						onIncludeSubcategoriesChange={ handleAttributeChange( 'includeSubcategories' ) }
 						tags={ tags }
 						onTagsChange={ handleAttributeChange( 'tags' ) }
 						onCustomTaxonomiesChange={ handleAttributeChange( 'customTaxonomies' ) }
diff --git a/src/blocks/homepage-articles/utils.ts b/src/blocks/homepage-articles/utils.ts
index 31f6c5049..2559ab2fd 100644
--- a/src/blocks/homepage-articles/utils.ts
+++ b/src/blocks/homepage-articles/utils.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ const POST_QUERY_ATTRIBUTES = [
 	'postsToShow',
 	'authors',
 	'categories',
+	'includeSubcategories',
 	'excerptLength',
 	'tags',
 	'customTaxonomies',
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ type HomepageArticlesAttributes = {
 	postsToShow: number;
 	authors: AuthorId[];
 	categories: CategoryId[];
+	includeSubcategories: boolean;
 	excerptLength: number;
 	postType: PostType[];
 	showExcerpt: boolean;
@@ -87,6 +89,7 @@ export const queryCriteriaFromAttributes = ( attributes: Block[ 'attributes' ] )
 		postsToShow,
 		authors,
 		categories,
+		includeSubcategories,
 		excerptLength,
 		postType,
 		showExcerpt,
@@ -111,6 +114,7 @@ export const queryCriteriaFromAttributes = ( attributes: Block[ 'attributes' ] )
 			: {
 					postsToShow,
 					categories,
+					includeSubcategories,
 					authors,
 					tags,
 					tagExclusions,
diff --git a/src/components/query-controls.js b/src/components/query-controls.js
index b9983142a..d2a22e14e 100644
--- a/src/components/query-controls.js
+++ b/src/components/query-controls.js
@@ -223,6 +223,8 @@ class QueryControls extends Component {
 			onAuthorsChange,
 			categories,
 			onCategoriesChange,
+			includeSubcategories,
+			onIncludeSubcategoriesChange,
 			tags,
 			onTagsChange,
 			customTaxonomies,
@@ -290,6 +292,13 @@ class QueryControls extends Component {
 								label={ __( 'Categories', 'newspack-blocks' ) }
 							/>
 						) }
+						{ onIncludeSubcategoriesChange && (
+							<ToggleControl
+								checked={ includeSubcategories }
+								onChange={ onIncludeSubcategoriesChange }
+								label={ __( 'Include subcategories ', 'newspack-blocks' ) }
+							/>
+						) }
 						{ onTagsChange && (
 							<AutocompleteTokenField
 								tokens={ tags || [] }