RED Interactive Agency has worked in partnership with PBS KIDS, along with The Fred Rogers Company to create the Daniel Tiger for Parents app for parents.
The app provides one place for parents to have everything they love from the series – including favorite songs, videos of Daniel and his parents, helpful hints from child development experts and more – right at their fingertips. These tools can help parents to turn everyday experiences with their preschoolers into valuable, teachable moments and develop their child’s social-emotional skills.
The app features over two dozen Daniel Tiger songs, supporting videos from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, and helpful hints for parents about the important skills children need to be ready for school and life.
You can download the app below:
App Store: http://to.pbs.org/2kwmZF1
Google Play: http://to.pbs.org/2jAPx0x
The app, which is available in English and Spanish, also has a photo capture feature so parents can see how their family uses Daniel Tiger’s songs and notice the many little ways their child is learning and growing.
It was also recently featured in The App Store as a “New Apps We Love”.
DIVERGE talked to Sara DeWitt, VP, PBS KIDS Digital and Daniel Mizraki, Sr. Director, Business Development, RED Interactive Agency to find out more.
Where did this idea come from?
RED:
PBS KIDS was provided a research grant and after reviewing their findings, they saw a need to create a tool that allows parents & caregivers to teach Daniel Tiger’s life lessons to kids — at any given time. After finding a partner in RED Interactive Agency, RED, PBS KIDS, and The Fred Rogers Company worked closely together to create the vision for the app including UI, design, features, functionalities, and infrastructure.
PBS KIDS:
We hear from parents of Daniel Tiger fans all the time about how the catchy songs in Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood help their children learn “life’s little lessons.” In other words, parents have “just in time” access to the popular songs and videos from the series to help their children get ready for school and life.
How will this app help children? Why is it important for them to focus on how children feel?
PBS KIDS:
This app is designed to help children learn important social and emotional skills like responsibility, confidence and kindness. Being able to listen, wait for a turn, and get along with others are important skills for everyone to practice – both children and adults!
Many of the songs are about feelings – feeling disappointed, frustrated, mad and sad. Talking about feelings is particularly important for young children as they often have trouble both expressing and managing their “big” feelings. When children can talk with their parents and caregivers about their feelings, it can be the first step to managing them.
How will this app help parents?
RED:
The Daniel Tiger App for Parents will arm parents with a means to strengthen the lessons that their children learn on Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, particularly in times when a lesson is needed urgently. Parents do not know when that next ‘happy’ or ‘sad’ moment will be with their kids. So providing them with the ability to have immediate access to teach a lesson in any of those moments is incredibly useful.
PBS KIDS:
This app is designed with busy parents in mind, giving them quick access to the Daniel Tiger songs they and their children know and love. Each song is supported by related videos that model how Daniel Tiger and his family use them, and offers practical ways for parents to use them in everyday life. We hope this app empowers parents and caregivers in their ability to help their children learn important social and emotional skills.
Why was it a priority to have the app in Spanish and English?
RED:
The Daniel Tiger App was built in both English in Spanish to cast a wide net on the Daniel Tiger audience.
PBS KIDS:
We at PBS KIDS are committed to reaching as many families as we can in order to help children build the skills they need to succeed in school and in life. By providing the Daniel Tiger for Parents app in Spanish and English, we aim to make our high-quality content accessible to families across the country.
Who is the team behind the app?
PBS KIDS:
PBS KIDS and The Fred Rogers Company created the Daniel Tiger for Parents app with Los Angeles-based RED Interactive Agency. The app was made possible through the generous support of The W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
How much of a focus was diversity in this campaign?
RED:
Diversity was key in development of the app. Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood is an inclusive program, not exclusive. The app reflects those same values, as seen with the ability to toggle between English and Spanish language.
PBS KIDS:
It was a priority for the app to be available in both English and Spanish in an effort to be accessible to as many families as possible. The Fred Rogers Company has also made an effort to focus on diversity in many ways through the characters in Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. The neighborhood includes characters of multiple ethnicities, family structures, and abilities. One of the songs featured in the app, “Different and the Same,” addresses diversity: In some ways we are different, but in so many ways we are the same.
Why did you choose to include the feature for parents and children to share their own pics and experiences?
RED:
Photo capture and sharing functionality was an important feature for the app. We wanted the parents to have the ability to capture those special moments when they are teaching their children a valuable life lesson. So over time, parents will have a library of photo content to see the growth of their child as it relates to each lesson.
PBS KIDS:
A goal of this app is to create fun, shared experiences for parents and children. The camera and custom picture frames are an opportunity for families to capture important moments. Parents can choose to share the photos with friends and family, or parents and children can simply use the photos to remember the many little ways they are learning and growing.
