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PAX East 2024: A FableVision Studios Recap

FableVision was back at PAX this March!

“Unlocking the Positive Potential of Gaming for Kids and Teens” panelists present at PAX East 2024

As an Associate Producer at the studio, I got the chance to speak on a panel called “Unlocking the Positive Potential of Gaming for Kids and Teens,” organized and moderated by Sam Schwamm, a Research Manager at the Boston Children’s Digital Wellness Lab. The other panelists included:

  • David Bickham, PhD, the Research Director at the Boston Children’s Digital Wellness Lab

  • Jason Kahn, PhD, Chief Science Officer and Head of Product at Mightier, a studio that creates games for emotional health and regulation

  • Chris James, Audio Data Specialist at Modulate, a company that makes content-moderation software for online chats

Our panel’s goal was to educate parents, educators, caregivers, and game designers about the potential pitfalls of online spaces for young people, and (more importantly!) how gaming and interactive play can be an amazing tool for learning, problem-solving, perseverance, and self-expression.

Jason said something towards the beginning of the panel that I’m still thinking about: when you’re a kid, you can often feel pretty powerless – you have no control over your bedtime, or going to school, or what you’re having for dinner. Games, then, are an opportunity to flex those decision-making skills however you want within a world that’s built for you to explore. 

I’ve personally been inspired by how games, especially those with avatar creators, are also a place for experimentation with self-expression. Want to run around as a battle-scarred warrior with huge biceps and hot-pink lipstick? Sure! World’s your oyster.

From an educational perspective, games represent a scaffolded space for exploration and trial-and-error learning. Games have a unique ability to algorithmically adjust their difficulty levels based on how a player is managing a certain topic, tailoring a learning experience that meets a child where their skills are. A lot of the projects I work on at FableVision have this sort of leveling-responsive play that helps kids learn by letting them fail and come back to a topic once they feel they’ve gotten the hang of it.

Our design process at FableVision also includes consulting educators and kids a lot. The best people to tell you if your approach is resonating with kids…is kids. Getting students involved in testing throughout the development process helps us learn what’s working and what’s not, and on the panel, I encouraged people who are designing games for kids to test with them as much as they could!

When it comes to improving games and online spaces for young people, improving diversity in games is super important – both in character representations onscreen, but also in the people behind the screens who are responsible for creating safe online communities. Creating communities that support players – no matter their background – is key to getting people from diverse backgrounds involved in creating games, which in turn adds more perspectives and stories to the medium (and so the positive cycle continues).

I was really excited that I got to speak on this panel and share some of the work that FableVision does. Thank you so much for inviting me, Sam, and thank you so much PAX for having me!

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Our Creative Director's Top 10.5 Favorite Moments from the "GASHA GO! World" App Development

The launch of the GASHA GO! World app got me thinking about its origins and took me back to a document from May 10, 2017, with the header: 

GPB K-3 Project
Animation Song: A Nonsensical Musical Number About Number Sense

On the heels of producing several amazing projects together, we had just kicked off a new GPB “K-3 Math Project” with Andrew and Laura at FableVision’s Fort Point Channel studio. During the day-long “FabLab,” a creative brainstorming and production planning meeting with our teams, we came up with a game concept involving a Japanese-inspired “Gashapon” machine filled with round plastic capsules with mini toys inside (for reference, these are the ones at every supermarket that fills parents with dread and children with hope, relying on fate to grant them the one giant, swirly colored rubber hi-bounce ball in a sea of small, drab, monocolored ones. A mortgage payment in quarters later, sometimes fate delivered). 

At that point, we hadn’t totally nailed down the characters, story, and world that would eventually become GASHA GO! But we knew, as Gary Goldberger, FableVision’s President and my partner in creative crimes, is fond of saying, there was “a THERE, there.” The “Numbers are Everywhere” number sense video and the “Bubble Build” subitizing game were the first entries into the GASHA GO! universeIt was clear on the first day that we shared similar goals and ideologies around what making high-quality educational media entails, and that we had a lot of fun together doing it.

After more than six years and a half-dozen projects (and counting!) together, including the brand-new GASHA GO! World app that was a year in the making,  that partnership, and our commitment to serving children and educators in innovative and lasting ways, is stronger than ever. We are all so proud of this project and the ideals that the GASHA GO! World App and its team of creators embody: hard work, collaboration, communication, respect, kindness, inclusivity, and being brave enough to do something that hasn’t been done before. 

To celebrate the launch of this first-of-its-kind, early childhood computer science app (here’s some of our team at GPB’s “Be My Neighbor Day” in Atlanta, where GASHA GO! World had a booth and a giant, fuzzy, walkaround Pow!)  here’s some insight into the making of GASHA GO! World. As part of the OG GASHA GO! crew and the Creative Director, scriptwriter, and song lyricist for the new app, I’m excited to share a look behind the scenes, presented in the form of a top 10-ish list because that’s how Gen X’ers like myself roll. 

Leigh’s Top 10 and a Half Favorite Moments from the GASHA GO! World App Development 

One: Project Kickoff. We had an amazing time in Georgia meeting with the GPB team and educators. There was so much experience, knowledge, creativity, and passion in that room, and everyone was deeply committed to making something innovative, impactful, and FUN. We were able to leave with a project roadmap and the energy and momentum to start developing right away. 

Credit: Atlanta Magazine

Culinary champion: my first ever shrimp and grits

Libation low: “Moroccan Sunrise” 

Both deserve their own blog post, stay tuned. 

Two: The Upside Down. Speaking of roadmaps, I could have used one; I got lost in the GPB office for almost 30 minutes trying to subtly procure an iced coffee and couldn’t remember which floor the TV studio was on (this was on day two, mind you). To quote a very bemused Laura, “Didn’t the lack of a single window give it away?” 

Three: Swag. It was like every holiday rolled into one the day two GIANT cardboard boxes filled with Gashling plushies from GPB arrived in the FableVision office. We lost our collective minds holding these characters we’d come to love over many years in our hands. 

That’s another thing GPB gets: for young kids (and adult professionals, clearly) pairing high-quality digital tools with something tangible, like a toy or a book, not only reinforces educational goals, but enhances creativity, imagination, self-expression, and connection with the GASHA GO! World. 

Four: That’s So Meta. Gary, in a true example of “art imitating life,” was so inspired by the Gashling plushies that he built, from scratch, a life-size GASHA GO! claw machine for the studio to put them in that is not a distraction at all. 

Five (and a half) (this one is super long, plus fractions are mathy): Play Testing and Co-Design. GASHA GO! World is one of FableVision’s most extensively playtested products, and having the time, resources, and people to undertake this important process is truly a gift. At every stage, we were able to put the games and videos into Georgia K-2 classrooms with the actual teachers and students we were designing for. We gathered the educators’ feedback and observed the kids playing to make sure we were meeting our goals: 

  • Did the students understand how to play the game and want to keep playing? 

  • Were the language, reading level, and content developmentally appropriate?

  • Were the curriculum and pedagogy accurately represented? Our teachers were experts at presenting CS concepts and skills in ways that young children could understand, and we had to translate that into our games. 

  • Did we engage multiple kinds of learners and player types, and provide enough variety of scaffolding and feedback?

  • Were there opportunities for trial and error (“freedom to fail”), and motivation to keep going? 

  • Were the songs in the animated videos “catchy” and memorable? 

  • Did the Gashling characters consistently model the actions and values we want kids to embrace–like kindness, collaboration, curiosity, and grit—in ways that students could articulate? 

  • And most importantly, was it useful for teachers and would they be excited to use it in their classroom? 

The “magical” part of play testing and iterative development is that the participants get to see how their opinions and ideas get included in the final designs. In fact, the original five Gashlings (Zoom, Deejo, Pow, Tuft, and Bazzle), were named by Georgia students. One of the most effective ways to get kids engaged in STEM is to build their confidence and create a sense of belonging. What could be more empowering for our K-2 audience than actively doing the very things we want them to learn about, like the design process, communication, creativity, and collaboration, and seeing their ideas brought to life in the GASHA GO! World app? 

Six: Teachers are Everything: On a personal note, as the team’s resident lyricist, a HUGE shout-out to our GPB teachers for being some of the most positive and encouraging human beings I have ever met. Every time we would send over a new song and animation they gave us such joyful feedback that I would practically wait by my laptop for the Basecamp ping, and go back and reread it when I needed a self-esteem boost. 

Bungle with a snack

Seven: Team Bungle. “Bungle” is a new Gashling in the world of GASHA GO! He doesn’t have a ton of screen time, but when he is there, he leaves a lasting impression (you can see him in peak Bungle mode in the video about not oversharing and keeping information private). The FableVision team’s immediate reaction to this character–including naming him, suggestions for starring in a spin-off television show, and turning his name into an adjective and a verb–is just one example of what makes being part of a long-term project team so delightful. 

Eight: The Eras Tour, Kinda. We all work on multiple projects of varying sizes and production windows simultaneously, and the chance to work on such a robust app for a sustained time period with many of the same team members is a rare treat. We develop rhythms, a shared language, and inside jokes; a collective sense of responsibility and pride in the work; and the ability to sense when a morale boost or shot of inspiration is needed. 

Nine: The Final Countdown. That final sprint to the app stores is when the adrenaline really kicks in: bug fixes, copyediting, last-minute art tweaks, and testing new builds on multiple devices and platforms. It can be a stressful time for sure, but we are fortunate to have experience and a sense of camaraderie on our side, as well as the trust and support of our incredible partners at GPB and the Georgia DOE. We’re thrilled to share GASHA GO! World with the rest of the world. In the meantime, I will leave you with some sage advice from Bungle: Don’t comb food out of your mustache in a bathrobe at a job interview…wait until you get hired!

Ten: This FableFamily. We celebrated the app’s launch a few weeks ago with speeches, slideshows, and trivia (which was surprisingly ruthless given an entire category involved cats, but DM me if you want to know what team triumphed). Naturally, it was a company-wide event–full-time staff and our rockstar freelancers–because a project like this involves every single person, whether or not they were technically on the development team. 

We depend on each other to bounce around ideas, ask questions, take a stretch break, get coffee, get another viewpoint, vent frustrations, and celebrate small wins. That’s the FableVision ethos that has been cultivated over almost 30 years, and the one that will help us keep telling these “stories that matter” for the next 30…and beyond. 

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Project AMI: Interactive Art Education and Playful Prototypes

Three museums, 10 prototypes, 12 months: that’s the hefty goal for Project AMI, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Project AMI (Art + Museums Interacting), the brainchild of Kellian Adams Pletcher, FableVision’s Director of G.L.A.M. Innovation (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums), is taking the possibilities of interactive installations to the next level in Switzerland. With the sponsorship of the Max Kohler Foundation, Project AMI partners and collaborates with several Swiss museums to elevate art education by creating prototypes for innovative and interactive experiences. Switzerland serves as an exciting new arena for educational innovation due to its diverse cultural influences, tight-knit community, and burgeoning museum infrastructure supporting imperfect play and interaction. 

Project AMI has many goals but, most importantly, aims to help museums foster an idea from conception to completion that results in an engaging prototype. Each museum has 30 days to develop an idea and execute a prototype that helps it achieve its goals of play, community, and creativity, while utilizing available supplies. 

Kellian brainstorming with the team at Fondation Beyeler

“We wanted to expand the vocabulary of what a museum can do with games and programming in Switzerland and maybe get visitors (and staff!) to become more comfortable with the idea of casual, imperfect play in museums,” says Kellian. “It’s a way to give Swiss museum educators a little more freedom to be playful and fun.”

The project’s first year will focus on three Swiss museums – Museum Rietberg, Creaviva Children’s Museum, and Fondation Beyeler – with a special feature on the U.S. museum, SFMOMA. Totaling 10 prototypes, each Swiss museum has three opportunities to go through the prototype process and exhibit an interactive experience. The first round of prototypes is complete with the second round already underway, and we are eager to share what each museum has created.  

Museum Rietberg

Museum Rietberg is a non-western art and anthropology museum located in Zurich. Its first project, Ragamala Lab, had participants react to art by documenting their feelings through creative responses on postcards. Traditionally, Ragamala combines Indian music, poetry, and painting and is the focal point for Rietberg’s interactive experience. Participants would listen and look at the Ragamala and then use their encounter to inspire their own artistic response of words, poetry, or drawing. 

Traditional Ragamala

Rietberg’s Second Prototype

Their second prototype was inspired by a popular German TV show in which children have to describe objects and adults try to understand them. Museum Rietberg's interaction designer went one step further and proposed to develop both a physical and digital game where players see the content on a screen but can react with physical objects. The final prototype combined RFIDs (allowing contactless data exchange) and Phidget controllers with videos and a game rating mechanism. A truly playable prototype emerged, with players reaching out for descriptions of Ragamala paintings, competing, carefully listening, and discussing. Additionally, players played once in their native language and again in a foreign language to practice their language skills.

Creaviva Children’s Museum

A part of the Paul Klee Center, the Creaviva Children’s Museum is a contemporary art museum in Bern. The goal for its first prototype was to make something accessible to all people, even outside the museum. The museum used Instagram to source volunteers’ photos of colors, shapes, and textures found in everyday life and then compiled those images to make an NFT. To share the NFT, pillows with QR codes were placed in the parks surrounding the museum so that the larger community could appreciate the collaborative art piece.


Fondation Beyeler

Fondation Beyeler in Basel took this opportunity to target the untapped demographic of young teenagers through Project 13. With the premise that something special about 13-year-olds helps keep the Fondation Beyeler Museum alive, Project 13’s first prototype used art challenge cards secretly tucked away in labeled envelopes to ignite ingenuity through simple prompts. Participants had limited supplies and specific directions, such as “Draw what’s in the window, but only use three colors,” to spark their unique creativity. The responses to the challenge cards varied drastically, demonstrating the infinite possibilities of a well-cultivated imagination. 

Project 13 Art Challenge Cards

Scavenger Hunt Clue

Planning on testing in the near future, Project 13’s second prototype is a scavenger hunt-based mystery game. Players must decode symbols hidden around the museum grounds to reveal clues to their next location and clue. Through this prototype, Foundation Beyeler’s goals are to teach kids how information can be shared through images instead of words and have families engage in the outdoor museum grounds and its art pieces. 

SFMOMA

As a special feature, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) had the opportunity to participate in Project AMI. SFMOMA took the challenge head-on and created an interaction that included digital and theatrical elements for an alien adventure scavenger hunt. Its goal was to create a safe and inspiring place for visitors to socialize, and it drew in more than 600 participants. 

While Project AMI has already accomplished a lot, the next round of prototype testing begins soon and more museums are planning to join the project in the near future. The featured museums will have the opportunity to learn from and improve on their past prototypes by repeating the brainstorming and creation process to make another immersive exhibit for their patrons. FableVision looks forward to creating more immersive experiences and collaborating with museums looking to promote play through prototype building in the future. Check out our portfolio of other museum interactives, contact Kellian with questions, and be sure to stay tuned for more Project AMI and G.L.A.M. Innovation updates!

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FableVision Shines at Games for Change

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the Games for Change (G4C) Festival in New York City brought together industry leaders, game developers, executives, and fans to share best practices from the best impact-making games and the creative minds behind them. 

As frequent festival presenters, attendees, and award nominees and winners, FableVisionaries are no strangers to G4C. FableVision has attended and been involved with the festival from its early years, as it perfectly aligns with the studio’s mission to move the world to a better place through positive media. We’ve proudly collaborated with G4C in the past and have been honored to showcase our work in its arena. In previous years, FableVision’s Caduceus: Staff of the Alchemist, created with Children’s Hospital Trust, was nominated for the Direct Impact award, while Quandary, created with Learning Games Network, won the 2013 Game of the Year award.

FableVision shone at two studio project briefs, featuring our games Nunaka and The Plastic Pipeline. Read on for a recap. If you have questions about these projects, please reach out! We’re happy to chat.

Nunaka!: Games for Indigenous Cultural Heritage Preservation
FableVision Presenter: Anne Richards, Producer, Game Designer, Co-Creative

Created with Chugachmiut, a non-profit that serves Native tribes in the Chugach region of Alaska, Nunaka is an early childhood mobile game that excites 3-5-year-olds about the Alaska Native Sugpiaq culture, teaches the Sugt'stun language, and targets key school readiness goals. The game recently won the Formal Learning (Elementary) award at the James Paul GEE! Learning Game Awards. 

Anne Richards, who produced the game, has deep expertise in developing children’s media for television, publishing, games, edtech, and more. Her experience and game design background contributed to creating a fun, engaging, and beautiful game. Anne’s presentation emphasized the importance of making communities like G4C more accessible to the Indigenous people who are inspiring conversations around representation in the edtech space – also how we can travel to meet knowledge holders where they are.

In the story-driven game, players take on the role of a Sugpiaq child living with their grandparents, Emaa and Apaa, in a fictionalized version of a community based on villages in the Chugach region. Players create an avatar and explore the village, completing activities and minigames, while collecting items and interacting with other residents, including human characters and animals from the region. 

To make the game as culturally accurate as possible, FableVision co-designed and co-developed Nunaka with Chugachmiut and the Sugpiaq people during virtual Elder meetings. Studio members also visited Alaska multiple times for meetings to get feedback in person from the Sugpiaq Elders and village Head Start students. 

Nunaka stands out from other cultural games by preserving an endangered language. “There were a lot of intricacies of working with Sugt’stun,” said Anne. “This language has been passed down via oral tradition rather than as a written language, and there is an extremely small number of master speakers remaining, many of whom have lost some of their knowledge of the language over time.”

To ensure that Nunaka captured Sugt’stun correctly, FableVision gathered groups of speakers to help each other with script translations and to collectively navigate dialectical differences, which could be significant even within a small geographic region. It was also important to investigate the cultural context behind translations to make sure details weren’t getting lost in the process. “One of our favorite examples: ‘Akutaq,’ which is translated as ‘Sugpiaq ice cream’ in English, is a dish of potatoes and seal oil. Very different from the ice cream we are used to,” said Anne.

Anne acknowledged the limitations of her ability to represent the Sugpiaq perspective on Nunaka’s creation process. “I’d like to challenge attendees and the larger G4C community to engage with ways in which these conversations can be more accessible to Indigenous people themselves,” she said. “It was not possible for our Alaska Native partners to travel a long distance for a brief conference presentation. I encourage the community to consider how to make our spaces more genuinely accessible to Indigenous and marginalized people.”

Play Nunaka today! The game can be downloaded on iOS and Google Play.

The Plastic Pipeline
FableVision Presenter: Jonah Gaynor, Producer

Considering that the world is producing double the amount of plastic waste as it did two years ago, the Wilson Center partnered with FableVision to create The Plastic Pipeline, an online game that educates and encourages policy change to combat leaks in the real-life “plastic pipeline.” 

FableVision producer Jonah Gaynor utilized his game design background to design Nurdle Alert!, a minigame that teaches players about nurdles and their impact on the environment. “Nurdles are the ‘lego bricks of the plastic world,’ the smallest unit of melted down plastic,” he said. “Staying consistent to the art and style of the game, the minigame centers around capturing these nurdles with a net before they damage the environment and creatures.” 

To engage young adults with the game, players act as influencers in Plasti City who have the power to create change by learning from characters in different locations who interact with the pipeline at every stage and represent different voices within the discussion of what to do about the plastics crisis. The game centers around policy decisions to show that the largest burden of responsibility for lessening plastic pollution falls on legislatures and policy makers, rather than individual consumer actions. 

Director of Wilson Center’s Serious Games Initiative Dr. Elizabeth M. H. Newbury and Director of Wilson Center’s China Environment Forum Dr. Jennifer Turner presented with Jonah to explain the game development process – policy research, iteration and design, and testing, and the next steps, which would involve more testing and further building out of the game. 

While Nurdle Alert! starts out fairly easy, the levels get exponentially challenging, mimicking the real difficulty of the clean-up process, and encouraging replayability. “The levels of the game demonstrate that the clean-up process doesn’t have a simple solution,” said Jonah. “While that is frustrating, players keep returning to the minigame hoping to improve their score. That also allows them to keep exploring the game, furthering its mission in educating players about the plastic pipeline.”

Check out the game and stay tuned for its further development.

In Summary – More Highlights & Takeaways

The G4C movement promotes using games for social change, and changemakers discussed how games can be more than great entertainment, but can also unite communities, improve players’ well-being, help players express themselves, foster creativity, provide education, and more. To spark change and make the most impact, speakers encouraged game developers to broaden the community by looking into emerging markets, making games available to a larger audience, and creating games with players’ interests in mind.

Among other topics, this year’s festival discussed how games can raise awareness about sustainability and social justice issues. Games like Endling: Extinction is Forever by Herobeat Studios (Game of the Year and Most Significant Impact) and Terra Nil by Free Lives (Most Impact) confronted environmental degradation and restoring nature. 

Meanwhile, Go Nisha Go: My Life My Choice by Howard Delafield International, LLP (Best Learning Game) and (val)iant: or, val’s guide to having a broken vag by Cactus Studio (Best Student Game) focused on sexual and reproductive health, empowering women to make informed decisions about their bodies. The festival’s winners from this year represented eight countries – check out the full list of winners and nominees. 

Grace Collins, a former FableVisionary and founder/CEO of Snowbright Studio, was recognized as the 2023 Vanguard recipient for their work in bringing the game industry to new places, such as the Smithsonian and U.S. Department of Education, as well as their advocacy for LGBTQ+ voices. We congratulate Grace on all of their amazing work! 

Thank you G4C for a great festival. Until next time!

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A Baker’s Dozen of Summer Learning Activities

The recipe for a perfect summer includes a myriad of activities for you and your kids to enjoy together, whether at home, on the beach, at a campsite, another country, or grandma’s house. FableVision compiled a list of top notch ingredients, including games, interactives, videos, and more for kids of all ages. Check out our recommendations and start cooking up a fun and educational summer.

Young Learners, Ages 0-5

My S.T.E.M. Adventure

With the help of Leila Diaz, take your children on an adventure through 10 place-based activities in My S.T.E.M. Adventure, created with Bridge Multimedia and STEMIE. The born-accessible app promotes STEM learning skills for 0-5-year-olds with disabilities as players engage with science around them, emphasizing that science and learning can happen anywhere. Players are prompted to take photos and write descriptions of items, which get compiled at the end for a customizable storybook.

Learn with Sesame Street

“It feels so good to be kind!” Learn with Sesame Street, an educational app created by Sesame Workshop and HOMER Learning, helps 2-4-year-olds build social emotional (SEL) skills with the help of Sesame Street’s beloved muppets. As kids play through the app that helps them navigate big feelings and everyday challenges, check out the FableVision-created animated music videos written by VP of Moonladder Tone Thyne, each focusing on a specific SEL content area.

Sago Mini Friends

“Leaf pools, mustache finders, thankful trees, and singing a lullaby to a loaf of bread are entirely commonplace in Sagoville,” says Tone, showrunner and one of the executive producers of Sago Mini Friends. Read his interviews in Animation World Network and Animation Magazine to learn more about the adorable show for 3-4-year-olds focused on gratitude, and watch the series on AppleTV+.

PBS Parent Activity Videos

For a rainy day, dust off that old box of craft supplies in your attic and check out PBS KIDS’ series of “Find Ways to Play'' educational videos, including 20 live-action videos created by FableVision. The activities, ranging from crafts to games to printables, inspire and guide parents and caretakers through fun, hands-on family activities that are aligned to their favorite PBS KIDS series.

Children Ages 6-12

Cyber Fashion Challenge

Don’t throw out outgrown clothes this summer; instead, upcycle them. Using favorite characters from Cyberchase, born-accessible Cyber Fashion Challenge, created with The WNET Group, PBS KIDS, and Bridge Multimedia, teaches 6-8-year-olds about avoiding fast fashion and encouraging the creative reuse of materials. Players design new pieces by reusing materials, while learning counting, shape identification, and shape characteristics.

When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left

If you or your kids ever had frustrations, doubts, fears, or worries, check out When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left, written by Marc Colagiovanni, illustrated by FableVision founder and New York Times bestselling author/illustrator Peter H. Reynolds, and published by Scholastic. In their second collaboration, Peter and Marc created an inspirational and optimistic story about overcoming adversity and pursuing dreams. Watch the FableVision-created trailer to learn more and read the book.

Roasting Vegetables

How do you ensure that your kids eat their veggies? By bringing those funny vegetables to life, of course! Created with audiyo-yo and Pinna, Roasting Vegetables is a rollicking, silly, pun-filled trip into the crisper drawer to see what happens when two vegetables meet in an epic battle of wits and words. The podcast for 8-10-year-olds brings together original beets, a ton of puns, and a cast of characters that are as nutritious as they are delicious.

Pinna Original Yes No Audio Escape Series

Speaking of podcasts, check out audiyo-yo’s other collaboration with Pinna – the Pinna Original Yes No Audio Escape Series. Your 7-12-year-old kids are stuck in a spooky haunted house, the creaky cabin of a ship, or a magical marshmallow dream forest, with five minutes to escape. They can respond yes or no to activate their own audio adventure and change the course of the story. Start your 7-day-free trial. 

Tweens, Teens, and Young Adults

“Digital Connections” Video Series

Created by Common Sense Media in collaboration with AT&T and Public Library Association, “Digital Connections” is a free online video series for tweens and families to learn the competencies of good digital citizenship and how to use technology safely and responsibly. FableVision is proud to have worked with Common Sense Media to help bring this project to life. Watch “Digital Connections” today to help young people connect with balance, kindness, vigilance, and purpose.

Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman Documentaries Website and Interactives

Encourage your 6-10th graders to journey through the history and impact of social change. Maryland Public Television (MPT) and FableVision created a website and two interactives highlighting the PBS documentaries Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom and Becoming Frederick Douglass. Check out the multimedia timeline with more than 70 landmark moments in American history, complete the narrated self-assessment “Map Your Role for Social Change,” and watch the documentaries.

Forest Quest

For older teens thinking about their careers, Forest Quest, created with Project Learning Tree Canada (PLT), provides an engaging and educational online experience about green jobs, sustainable forest management, and wildlife biology. Hear from foresters, wildlife experts, biologists, and Indigenous peoples to discover the secrets of forests.

Start It Up!

In lieu of a forestry career, maybe entrepreneurship is your teen’s calling. Start It Up!, an online business simulator created in partnership with GPB Education and Georgia Council on Economic Education (GCEE), teaches high school students and young adults the ins and outs of creating a business, while adding mentorship, customization, humor, and vibrant design to the experience.

That Bonus Activity

Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ “King of a Land”

After a long day, relax by listening and singing along to Cat Stevens’ new album, “King of a Land.” FableVision created animated lyric videos for two songs (stay tuned for one more) – “Take the World Apart” and “King of a Land” – featuring artwork by Peter H. Reynolds, who brings the message of finding inner peace to life. Is your entire family ready to sing?

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