PlayIsTheWork.com

Like many children of the 1970s, I watched my share of television. I enjoyed both “Captain Kangaroo” and “Mr. Rogers,” although I was a little unsettled by some of the more surreal aspects of both shows. The ping pong balls hitting the moose puppet with the Captain and the people/puppet dichotomy inherent in the Neighborhood – both presented a combination of make believe and realism that made me slightly uneasy.

I never had such trouble with “Sesame Street.” I think a great deal of what I so enjoyed about Sesame Street were twofold – the children and the music. Okay, and also? I have always had a major crush on Mr. Fuzzy, Blue and Nervous himself - Grover.

I remember the music and the children and Big Bird and Mr. Hooper; it was whimsical and fun and silly. What I don’t remember is feeling as if I were being spoon-fed learning. I enjoyed the puppets and the world into which the puppets invited me. The children looked like me and like my friends; they were ethnically diverse and wore normal-looking clothes and acted in ways I could see myself acting.

Here’s an excerpt from The Tipping Point: How little things can make a big difference, by Malcolm Gladwell:

 ”Sesame Street was built about a single, breakthrough insight: that if you can hold the attention of children, you can educate them.”

Little learners don’t necessarily learn best with flashcards and drills and sitting in a hard backed seat. There are exceptions and there is a time and place for knuckling down, but not when they are small. It’s okay to have fun. Fun doesn’t negate learning. In fact:

“When the show was originally conceived, the decision was made that all fantasy elements of the show be separated from the real elements. This was done at the insistence of many child psychologists, who felt that to mix fantasy and reality would be misleading to children. [But the distractor showed that] as soon as they switched to the street scenes [with only real adults and children, and no muppets] the kids lost all interest.”
 

In other words, children enjoy fantasy.  They are intrigued by whimsy and impossible cloth puppets.  And they learn from those elements. 

 Braincandy was created by following many of the same markers: puppets and kids, a fully-realized world where children enter, not merely as observers, and good music and animation. It’s a formula that works, that is proven to work. Braincandy has populated their videos with a diverse range of of children, about which I am exceedingly pleased. A measure of any good children’s product is not just in the inherently overt educational value, but also in the more subtle messages children are given. I want my kids to know that learning is fun, that the world is wide and varied and juicy and children and experiences are fun and exciting and varied, too.

Posted on October 24th, 2007 by BarbaraCA
Filed under: Uncategorized