Granny Ranny's Coming Attractions

Expanding its PBS KIDS Lab site, which offers more than 50 cross-platform games designed to help children ages 2-8 build critical math skills, PBS today announced new additions that will provide even more support to caregivers and teachers. These include bilingual translations of parental instructions and resources like a “Home Activities” section, math tips for families to use in their daily activities, and a new blog series with content related to kids and media.  PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) are partners on this project, which is part of the Ready To Learn Initiative, a U.S. Department of Education-funded effort that aims to help kids build the skills they need for school success.

“Parents and caregivers play a critical role in supporting their children’s learning,” said Lesli Rotenberg, Senior Vice President, Children’s Media, PBS.  “At PBS KIDS our goal is to offer families resources to help make anytime a learning time – whether it’s through an online game, or activity ideas that parents and kids can do together while they are out running errands.  The PBS KIDS Lab offers parents tools that are flexible to spark their kids’ imaginations and excitement about learning, and to help them build skills for success in school.”

Math has typically been a challenging curricular area for parents and caregivers to help their children better understand.  According to a recent study1, parents “may create fewer opportunities for children to learn about mathematics than language” and “concrete examples of how to maximize children’s mathematics interests would help parents overcome their mathematics anxieties and show parents why early mathematics education is important.”  To help parents support their children’s math learning, PBS KIDS recommends introducing number, counting and basic mathematical concepts by adding simple activities to a family’s daily routine like these five easy ideas, with more available on the PBS KIDS Lab site.

When driving in the car, count the trees as you pass by.
Call out street signs and identify their shapes.
Count aloud the seconds it takes for a child to brush his/her teeth.
Cook with the kids; count ingredients.
Play grocery store with household items. Count out the change.

“By taking activities that children already enjoy and adding elements of play that foster a better understanding of math, we are bringing mathematical thinking into everyday life in a fun and natural way.  The combination of playing games through the PBS KIDS Lab site and then extending the games at home or in the neighborhood helps to create lifelong students of math,” said Debra Sanchez, Senior Vice President for Education and Children’s Content at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.   “Through the support of the Ready to Learn Grant in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education, we are providing programming and content that actively engages young children in learning.”

Available for free, the PBS KIDS Lab (PBSKIDS.org/lab) is the largest offering of interactive math content for preschoolers to date with games that comprise several suites, each of which is centered around a beloved PBS KIDS media property – from CURIOUS GEORGE to THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT!.  Each suite links a set of games across different devices and is built around a math framework, leveraging games on a variety of platforms to support key math skills. The Lab also aggregates games by age and skill area so that adults can search for the games that will be the best fit for their kids. Additionally, the site helps parents and teachers learn how the games support learning by providing details on the games’ curriculum-based content.

The PBS KIDS Lab furthers PBS KIDS’ efforts to innovate across platforms to both educate and entertain America’s children.  PBS KIDS is increasingly serving children wherever they live, learn, and play – online, on mobile devices, on TV, and in the classroom.

PBS KIDS will feature the broadcast premiere of the original Curious George movie, which will air as part of the CURIOUS GEORGE Holiday Spectacular on Wednesday, November 23. A three-movie on-air event that is sure to be a new family tradition, the Holiday Spectacular kicks off with Curious George, featuring the voices of Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore and Dick Van Dyke, as well as the music of Jack Johnson, followed by Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey and Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas. Encore presentations of the Holiday Spectacular will air on PBS KIDS throughout Thanksgiving weekend (check local listings).
“We’re excited to extend the fun and engagement of CURIOUS GEORGE, the #1 preschool series in the U.S.*, into this special holiday movie event,” said Lesli Rotenberg, Senior Vice President, Children’s Media, PBS. “George has a natural curiosity and eagerness to learn, making him an ideal trusted guide for our young viewers. We hope that the CURIOUS GEORGE Holiday Spectacular will take families on even more adventures with their favorite monkey, fostering excitement in exploring the world around them.” CURIOUS GEORGE Holiday Spectacular Program Descriptions
Curious George Curious George follows everyone’s favorite spunky monkey as he sets off on a series of (mis)adventures. In the film, after the Man with the Yellow Hat accidentally brings back George from a business trip to Africa, the unlikely twosome embarks on a fun-filled journey through the big city, and ultimately finds their way to a lasting friendship. Featuring gorgeous and old-fashioned two-dimensional animation that echoes the simple colors and shapes of the books by Margret and H. A. Rey, Curious George includes voice talents Will Ferrell (as the Man with the Yellow Hat), Drew Barrymore, and Dick Van Dyke, as well as all-original music from Jack Johnson.Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey
In Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey, the fun-filled sequel to the hit animated movie, Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat set out on a madcap cross-country adventure to reunite Kayla, a homesick elephant, with her family. This unlikely trio faces all types of comic calamities and colorful characters and in the end learns that with family, friends and determination you can achieve anything. Curious George 2 features the voices of Tim Curry, Matt Lauer, Jamie Kennedy and Jerry Lewis.

Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas
In A Very Monkey Christmas, Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat are having a wonderful time getting ready for Christmas. There’s only one dilemma – neither of them can figure out what to give the other for a present! In the end, both gift-giving predicaments are simply and beautifully resolved, revealing the true spirit of the holiday season.

Tips for Creating Family Traditions

PBS encourages families to take part in traditions new and old. PBS Parents provides additional ideas to create meaningful traditions for the family such as:
1) Write an annual letter to your child. The holidays are an appropriate time to mark your child’s growth with a special message that will be cherished for a lifetime. Seal letters and store them in a keepsake box until they are old enough to read and enjoy them.
2) Do a Secret Santa gift exchange for charity. Turn the tables this year. Instead of buying a present, make a donation or spend time volunteering for a charity of the giftee’s choice.
3) Make a family walk an annual event. Walking is a great way to spend time with each other, and work off those extra gingerbread cookies! Set aside time — even if it’s 30 minutes — to get outside and stretch your legs with the family.
4) Leave a legacy that lasts (and helps the environment). Each New Year’s Day, plant a tree in honor of your child(ren). Hold a special ceremony in which everyone in the family plays a part in planting that year’s tree, and take lots of pictures, both when the tree is planted and over the years as it grows.
5) Take part in a community service project as a family. Designate a day that will be devoted to serving others in your community.
6) Select a recipe and make it a tradition to make it together as a family, giving each family member a task in preparing it. In honor of the CURIOUS GEORGE Holiday Spectacular, make monkey bread or a banana dessert.
More details and ideas can be found on PBS Parents.

The Second Annual National STEM Video Game Challenge, which aims to encourage interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning, opened for entries this week. Students and educators can enter their original video game concepts and designs in four categories, middle school, high school, college, and educators at StemChallenge.org.  A new sub-categories being introduced this year is the PBS KIDS stream, which invites entrants from all four categories to design educational math-based video games for kids in pre-k through grade four. Read on for details:
Inspired by the “Educate to Innovate Campaign,” President Obama’s initiative to promote a renewed focus on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, the Challenge is an annual competition to motivate interest in STEM learning among America’s youth by tapping into students’ natural passion for playing and making video games.

The 2012 Challenge features four entry categories: Middle School, High School, Collegiate and Educator.  Within each category, PBS KIDS and CPB are challenging participants to develop educational games for children ages 4-8 that focus on specific math curriculum skills. Contestants can find insights and more information about the challenge on  PBSKIDS.org/stemchallenge, including resources that help guide game production for young children and interviews with top PBS KIDS game producers.

The Middle School and High School winners will each receive laptops, game design software packages and other tools to support their skill development, and youth sponsoring organizations will receive cash prizes and educational software. A prize of $10,000 will be awarded to each of the winners in the Collegiate and Educator categories.

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and E-Line Media launched the 2nd annual Challenge in partnership with the Digital Promise, a new initiative created by the President and Congress, supported through the U.S. Department of Education.  Entries will be accepted from November 15, 2011 through March 12, 2012 at www.stemchallenge.org.   At the end of the competition, the winning games for the PBS KIDS and CPB track will be featured on the PBS KIDS Lab and PBS LearningMedia websites.

PBS KIDS and CPB are participating in the 2012 National STEM Video Game Challenge as part of the Ready To Learn Initiative, a grant program managed by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement.

Calling all kids who love movies and love to talk about them. KIDS FIRST! has launched its 2012 search to find eight kids to become official KIDS FIRST! Film Critics. The lucky winners – who will serve a twelve-month term – will attend Red Carpet events and advance film screenings where they will review new family films, interview celebrities, and blog about upcoming films.

To enter, applicants submit both a written and videotaped review of one of the official KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Search titles: Happy Feet, Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer, Glee!, Season 2, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World and Barbie: A Perfect Christmas which are available for purchase at Amazon.com or wherever DVDs are sold and available on VOD from Comcast.

Each of the current film critics has garnered their own fan club and seems to have established an identity of their own. Raven Devanney, from Denver, excels in her role as host of KIDS FIRST! Coming Attractions radio show on VoiceAmerica Kids Gabriella Chu from New York has attended many advance screenings and interviewed celebrities including Jordana Beatty (star) and Megan McDonald (author) of Judy Moody & the NOT Bummer Summer. Anthony Aranda has attended two red carpet events – for the Disney release of Winnie the Pooh and the indie film, This is Your Ocean Sharks and just interviewed John Lasseter, director of Cars 2 on the Pixar lot. Makai Weber Colvin says her best experience was, “interviewing Travis Oats, (voice of Piglet) on the Honey Colored Carpet at the Winnie the Pooh premiere at Walt Disney Studios” during the KIDS FIRST! 2011 Film Critics Boot Camp.

The focus of the film critics program is teaching children healthy media habits, as well as strong critical thinking, writing and public speaking skills that will stay with them for a lifetime. The KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Search began October 25 and runs through December 31st. It is open to all children between the ages of six and fourteen.

Of the twenty-four finalists, twenty are selected by public voting determines and four additional finalists are selected by special committee. The public voting site is www.wonderworldcity.com/kidsfirst. Be sure to vote for your favorites.

The celebrity judges will select eight winners and 4 alternates, one for each age group. Judges for 2012 search are Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theaters and Magnolia Pictures, Ben Lyons, E! film critic and frequent contributor to ‘Good Morning America,’ Thelma Adams, whose debut novel Playdate, was an O Magazine pick, was the film critic at Us Weekly for 11 years following six years at the New York Post and George Pennacchio of the ABC7 Eyewitness News team in Los Angeles KABC-TV.

The current KIDS FIRST! Film Critics have had a busy and successful year. Their reviews are posted regularly on AOL Kids, WorkingMother.com, KIDSFIRST.ORG, HPUB (Huffington Post Union of Bloggers, parenthood.com, a host of local web publications and KIDS FIRST! Coming Attractions, a weekly radio show on Voice America Kids, which was just rated the #2 show on the network.

Industry supporters of The KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Campaign include Amazon.com, Anchor Bay Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video, and WonderWorld Entertainment. Campaign support also comes from national nonprofit organizations that include the National Education Association, National Association of Elementary School Principals and the National Council of Women’s Organizations, with a cumulative membership of over 17 million.

For more information about the KIDS FIRST! Film Critics campaign, visit the campaign landing page.

Congrats to The Space Race web series and interactive site, at www.spaceracekids.com, which was just awarded a 2011 WebAward for Outstanding Achievement in web development by the Web Marketing Association. Each year, the WMA presents awards to various websites in a multitude of categories. Space Race was selected in the Education Category for outstanding website together with their development partner Speakaboos.

The website achieved above average scores in all categories including design, content, and innovation. The website has received over 28,000 visitors since it was launched as part of Speakaboos “Journey to Space Month” on March 14 and has expanded its fan base all over the world.

“Many families have written thanking us for making a kid-friendly web series focusing on space education,” CEO and Executive Producer Richard Schweiger says. “They also appreciate the fun and entertaining learning tools we offer – the 3D Space Race game, trivia, coloring pages – all of which makes Space Race a truly interactive website.”

Space Race’s Chief Space Scout and social media guru Matthias Schmitt explains that “the space race is a marathon, and we want to plant the seeds of knowledge about exploring our solar system and beyond as early as we can. One way we’ve done this is by taking our main character, Eagle, on a journey along with us to shuttle launches, museums, and schools, where we’ve met new fans and generated excitement about Space Race and space education.”

Space Race launched as an animated web series focusing on space education, space travel and racing, with the goal of teaching children about space and the solar system. Space Race features eight characters, each in spaceship form, as they race through space, merging unique comic relief with breathtaking excitement and adventure.

According to new consumer research from Leichtman Research Group, about 44% of American TV households now have at least one digital video recorder and 62% digital cable subscribers now use video-on-demand at least monthly. However, about 90% of all TV viewing in the U.S. is still via live TV, says the report.Additionally, 73% of all digital cable subscribers have ever used Video on-Demand. Overall, about 62% of digital cable subscribers used on-Demand in the past month.
Additional significant findings show that:

• 80% of DVR owners rate the service 8-10 (with 10 being excellent),
• 62% of cable VOD users rate the service 8-10
• 74% of Premium on-Demand users rate VOD 8-10
• 63% of all Netflix subscribers rate the Watch Instantly feature 10 (on a 1-10 scale with 10 being an extremely important feature or benefit of the Netflix service)
• 20% of Netflix subscribers use Watch Instantly daily, and 57% weekly
• 78% of Watch Instantly users use it to watch movies and TV shows on a TV set
• 86% of Netflix households subscribe to a multi-channel video service, and 43% with a multi-channel video service subscribe to a premium service

These findings are based on a survey of over 1,300 households throughout the United States, and are part of LRG’s study, On-Demand TV 2011: A Nationwide Study on VOD and DVRs.

More information may be found in the LRG PDF file available here.