Top 4 Moments of 2024

As we close out 2024 and look forward to the new year, all of us at FableVision want to take a moment to reflect on and celebrate the remarkable year we’ve had. We’re extremely proud of the achievements, milestones, and fun times spent with friends and partners. Before we celebrate all the possibilities that come in the new year, here’s our top moments from 2024!

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A Very Shiny Year

FableVision’s Gary Goldberger and Liz Newbury of the Wilson Center accepting the award for The Plastic Pipeline at G4C!

2024 was extra sparkly as SEVEN of our collaborations garnered awards. From groundbreaking educational platforms to innovative sustainability projects, our work is recognized for it’s creativity, impact, and social good. Here are just some highlights

• Anthem Awards Silver in Education, Art & Culture - Education or Literacy Platform Product, Innovation, or Service for Nunaka: My Village (Chugachmiut) 

• Anthem Awards Bronze in Responsible Technology - Education or Literacy Platform Product, Innovation, or Service for Give As We Grow (GivingTuesday and Phillips Foundation)

• Anthem Awards Bronze in Responsible Technology - Film, Video, Television or Show for Heroes of Zero (Power of Zero)

• International Serious Play Award, Gold for GASHA GO! World (Georgia Public Broadcasting and GaDOE)

• GEE! Award Winner (Informal Learning): GASHA GO! World (Georgia Public Broadcasting and GaDOE)

• Stevie Awards, Bronze, K-12: MathBee (Stride/K12)

• G4C Awards, Best in Environmental Impact Winner for The Plastic Pipeline (The Wilson Center)

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Red Carpet Rolled Out

We hosted a few star-studded studio events in 2024! 

Creative Juices

In July, we kicked off the summer fun with our annual Creative Juices art show open house at the studio! The event featured original works of art created by staff and studio friends, a live band, and lots of laughs. 

Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Reception

This past fall the NCSS Conference was just down the street from us, what better opportunity to host a FableVision Studios reception?! We had lots of new faces in the studio and some old friends too. 

TLC Studios Opening

The Reynolds Center for Teaching, Learning, and Creativity recently debuted their latest offering: their brand new brick-and-mortar location, TLC Studios & Media Lab: Innovation & Creativity Center. To kick off its grand opening, partners, educators, and friends were invited to explore the space for themselves! 

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In Good Company

We have the best clients in the world. Our partners work with us to find creative solutions for complex challenges. Here are just a few of our big collaborations from the year.

Our collaboration with IGDILab on a new PreK storybook assessment brought us to the Gates Foundation! The platform captures key developmental domains in ways that prioritize equitable outcomes and moves away from harmful historical assessment traditions.

Nickelodeon and audiyo-yo’s launch of the Dora’s Aventuras podcast features rockin’ music, sound-based minigames, and exciting stories that inspire and entertain. Every day is an Aventura when you’re with Dora!

The Heroes of Zero continues to garner much-deserved recognition in various award competitions this year. The animated series, created with the Power of Zero, teaches 5-8-year-olds the skills needed for an increasingly online world. 

Stride/K12’s Learning Hub holds two collaborations with FableVision. The ELA Village world acts as a virtual lobby to their existing minigames and MathBee gameplay engages learners to solidify their math skills.

The National Gallery of Art’s Paint ‘n’ Play interactive, developed by FableVision, invites visitors to learn about the art around them by digitally creating their own.

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smart Cookies

Who us? You betcha! Our team traveled near and far to share our knowledge, best practices, and stories from behind the production curtain.

FableVision’s Anne Richards, Sarah Ditkoff, Kellian Adams Pletcher, and Steph Hoechst representing the studio on this year’s conference circuit!

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And looking ahead to 2025…

We’re hitting the road in the new year! We’ll be sharing insights, meeting new people, and growing our community. We can’t wait for what comes next! 

We’re headed to FETC this January! Check out Sarah Ditkoff, VP of Strategic Partnership’s panel, “How To Integrate Game-Based Learning into Curriculum Design.” She’ll be joined by Stride, Inc’s Chief Learning Officer Niyoka Mccoy, and i2e Edu’s Senior Manager of Customer Engagement Nathan Wells. 

• President Gary Goldberger, VP of Development Rachel Reade Marcus, VP of moonladder Tone Thyne, and VP of audiyo-yo Anne Richards will be attending the Kidscreen Summit in February!

• FableVisionaries are setting off to Austin for SXSW EDU in March.

• Director of G.L.A.M. Innovation Kellian Adams Pletcher’s forthcoming book on building games in museums, published by Rowan and Littlefield, is set to release in 2025! Pulling from Kellian's work with museums and interactive exhibit production, the book provides a guideline for creating digital, analog, or digital/physical games tailored to museum settings. If you just can’t wait, check out Kellian’s article in the fall 2024 publication of AAM: A Museum Community Starts with Friends: Building Open-Source Prototypes for Audience Engagement with Project AMI.

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Let's Rewind: FableVision's Top Moments of 2022

Another year, another reflection! As we eagerly await the clock striking 12 and greeting 2023 with open minds and hearts, we want to review 2022’s highlights that were made possible by our incredible and dedicated staff, partners, and friends. 

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New Year, New Logo

To celebrate our 25th anniversary, FableVision unveiled its new, dynamic logo. Our fresh look pays tribute to the whimsy of our original logo, designed by FableVision founder and New York Times bestselling author/illustrator Peter H. Reynolds, with a contemporary and playful personality. 

Since one image couldn’t encompass all of FableVision, our spiral O is interchangeable with icon doodles including chicks, planets, aliens, and more. 

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Did You Hear About Our New Audio Division, audiyo-yo? 

With a desire to keep growing, FableVision launched audiyo-yo, our new podcast division dedicated to creating entertaining, engaging, and educational audio content for children and families. 

“Even though audio is a classic form of storytelling going all the way back to radio plays, there’s so much exciting new work happening in this space right now,” said audiyo-yo VP Anne Richards. “There’s a lot of room for innovation and emerging voices to make an impact.”

audiyo-yo celebrated the launch of its first two projects – first, the interactive, voice-activated Pinna Original Yes No Audio Escape series, where listeners co-create the story by answering “yes” or “no” to questions; second, Pinna Original Roasting Vegetables, a short-form audio series full of silly vegetable puns, original beets, and nutritious, delicious characters.

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Exciting Industry Recognition

We are honored to work with amazing partners to represent unique and educational projects. Check out the recognition we’ve received and how we reached a broader audience.

Reception on our roofdeck the night before MuseumExpo

• To help spread the word about audiyo-yo, Kidscreen featured articles about our audio division, how audiyo-yo tackles the future of kids’ podcasts, and audiyo-yo’s podcasts to keep on your radar. 

• Children can now listen to the Pinna Original Yes No Audio Escape series on Pinna’s app and to the Pinna Original podcast Roasting Vegetables in Pinna’s Surprise Box. Kidscreen also took a deeper look into the development of the interactive escape series in its online and print magazine.

NoiseFilter’s Doc Griggs stopped by to record in our studio

• Tone Thyne, FableVision’s VP of Creative, served as showrunner for Spin Master’s Sago Mini Friends, a new animated series for preschoolers on Apple TV+ based on the characters from the Sago Mini Friends app. In the adorable nod to gratitude, four friends play, explore, imagine, and celebrate daily in their joyful town of Sagoville.

• Guru Studio partnered with award-winning TIME Studios to develop FableVision’s new animated series Scoops, created by Tone Thyne. The lighthearted comedy tackles neighborhood news stories featured on best friends Ellerby and Olsen’s home-grown news show.

• FOX8 in New Orleans ran stories about two NoiseFilter animations – clinical trials with Irma Thomas and pediatric vaccines – while interviewing Doc Griggs.

• Animal Antics, created with Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Civics! An American Musical, created in partnership with Maryland Public Television, Maryland Humanities, and Tufts’ Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), were included in the 2022 American Library Association’s Notable Children’s Digital Media list.

Meeting with Georgia Public Broadcasting about GASHA GO!

• Echo Explorers, a born-accessible Cyberchase game created with The WNET Group, THIRTEEN, and Bridge Multimedia, was nominated for Kidscreen 2022 Best Learning App — Branded award in the Kids Digital category.

• Peter H. Reynolds’ book Be You!, published by Scholastic, reached the Top 10 List for The New York Times Children’s Best Sellers — Picture Books.

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Thought Leadership

Sharing our experience and insights while meeting experts in the field helps us strengthen our services and grow our community. Here’s where we presented this year.

Kellian (as Ms. Drizzle) at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute

• Sarah Ditkoff, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, presented Civics! An American Musical at the Middle States Council for Social Studies (MSCSS) Annual Conference, the National Council for History Education (NCHE) Conference, and the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS).

Paul and Peter H. Reynolds at FlipFest

• Director of G.L.A.M (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) Innovation Kellian Adams Pletcher took center stage at MuseumNext’s Museums, Games, & Play Summit to discuss how to learn from past failures in game production and what makes games succeed or fail. She also spoke about trends for museums and play for the Children’s Museum Research Center, China, created and implemented a team-building game at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and taught introduction to game design at Emerson College. 

• Ideas Last, a podcast hosted by Danielle Gillespie, featured FableVision President and Co-Founder Gary Goldberger to discuss the launch of FableVision, how to approach learning in a new way, and his advice for entrepreneurs. 

Peter Stidwill at YOU Belong in STEM

• Peter H. Reynolds and FableVision CEO Paul Reynolds presented about International Dot Day at Flip’s FlipFest at ISTELive22, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Boch Center’s Wang Theatre.

• Anne Richards spoke at the 2022 Games for Change Festival on how podcasts can meet the needs of children, parents, and educators, both now and in the future.

• At the Connected Learning Summit (CLS), Sarah Ditkoff and Gary Goldberger discussed the power of partnerships between academia, for-profits, and nonprofits.

• Executive Producer Peter Stidwill presented on supporting STEM education through small business innovation research at the YOU Belong in STEM National Coordinating Conference hosted by the U.S. Department of Education.

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To Wrap It Up…

It’s not all serious work for us. As we settled into our new space on the bustling and historic Newbury Street, we hosted a reception the night before the American Alliance of Museums Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo and a game design discussion with leaders from IDEO and Innova in Peru. Our staff and friends participated in our ninth annual Extra Life to raise funds for the Boston Children’s Hospital. 

Thank you to our wonderful partners and staff – old and new – who help us create incredible projects. Whether you’re stopping by for a meeting, recording in our sound booth, or attending an event, we hope to see you at our studio soon. We can’t wait to see what we accomplish in 2023!

FableVision Studios’ Top Moments of 2021

It was the second year of the pandemic but in many ways 2021 brought us hope. Producing “stories that matter, stories that move” has never been more important. 

We’re so lucky to have our incredible staff, friends, partners, and clients who collaborated with us on amazing educational animation, videos, games, and interactive projects. We can’t wait to continue working with you (spoiler alert!) from our new space! As we look forward to FableVision’s new chapter in 2022, here’s a look back at our top moments from 2021.

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1. Award Winners
We are honored to represent unique, creative, and educational projects. Thank you for your recognition!

• 2022 Kidscreen Award finalist for Echo Explorers (WNET, Bridge Multimedia)

• 2021 4-star review from Common Sense Media for Civics! An American Musical (Library of Congress, Maryland Public Television, Maryland Humanities, Tufts’ Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE))

• 2021 Serious Play Award, K-12 Education, STEM-Elementary Category, Silver for Cyberchase Fractions Quest, created with WNET and Education Development Center

• 2021 Serious Play Award, K-12 Education, STEM-Elementary Category, Bronze for Echo Explorers

• 2021 Cynopsis Award, Best Online/Video Game for Kids for Echo Explorers

• 2021 The EdTech Awards, Cool Tool Finalist for Cyberchase Fractions Quest

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2. Amazing Partners
We’re happy to work with current and new clients for immersive and educational collaborations. Here are just a few partnerships that we wanted to thank.

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3. Thought Leadership
We love sharing our insights and learning from other experts at conferences. Here’s where we presented this year.

• Leigh Hallisey at the National Council for History Education (NCHE) and Sarah Ditkoff at ED Games Expo explained how primary sources can be used in the classroom in Civics! An American Musical.

• Shelby Marshall at The Learning Ideas Conference shared how to use online simulations to explore complex topics and apply systems thinking.

• Loren Lee-Flynn at Serious Play Conference and Connected Learning Summit explained accessibility and game-based learning as she shared how we created Echo Explorers.

• Kellian Adams Pletcher at Futur21 talked about limits and opportunities of game design in cultural spaces.

• Peter H. Reynolds at Microsoft Education’s E2 Education Exchange discussed how to bring innovation to the classroom.

• FableVision sponsored BostonFIG Talks and Learns, an annual game-creators conference with expert talks and hands-on learning. 

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4. Newsworthy Collaborations
Here’s how more people had the chance to learn about our projects.

• The Paper Girls Show, created with Global Tinker, is now available to watch on Sensical, the streaming app from Common Sense Media.

• FOX8 in New Orleans featured a story about the NoiseFilter vaccine animations, while interviewing Doc Griggs. 

• Peabody Essex Museum featured the story of Mahabharata and FableVision’s larger-than-life animation for the gallery.

• Harvard Graduate School of Education launched three early learning apps created by FableVision as part of Reach Every Reader to help children develop pre-literacy skills at home.

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5. Seasonal Banners
We welcome each season with beautiful banners created by our artists. We hope you love them just as much as we do! Doesn’t our winter one help us end 2021 on an especially cozy note?

Spring banner designed by FableVision Production Designer Julie Oliveira

Summer banner designed by FableVision Production Designer Julie Oliveira

Fall banner designed by FableVision Lead Artist Christina Kelly

Winter banner designed by FableVision Production Designer Julie Oliveira

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6. New Studio on Newbury Street!
As 2021 was FableVision’s 25th anniversary, we’re celebrating with the studio’s new location in one of Boston’s most iconic districts—Newbury Street! The original wood floors, vintage skylight, and spacious roof deck with beautiful Boston views will inspire us and give us that extra boost to continue creating wonderful projects together. We look forward to working with you and inviting you to our new home.

Thank you for following us in 2021. We can’t wait to make 2022 even better!

FableVision Resources for Social-Emotional Learning

Resilience, empathy, and compassion—these are the social-emotional skills that empower kids to speak up for themselves and their friends during difficult situations. However, that’s easier said than done—developing social-emotional and critical thinking skills takes practice and courage. To help kids grow into brave adults, FableVision gathered a list of resources for you and your family to explore.

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Sesame Street in Community Spinners
To aid Sesame Street achieve its mission of helping children grow smarter, kinder, and stronger, FableVision created two spinner engine interactives in partnership with Sesame Workshop. They’ll be used in Sesame Street in Communities, an online resource to help parent and educate 0-5-year-olds. Grover’s Playground Workout helps children have fun while exercising. After spinning the wheel and landing on a monster, children and parents imitate the moves of that monster. Using muppets, A Little Help from My Furry Friends teaches coping strategies for stress and anxiety. 

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Project Here Games
To help the state of Massachusetts’ Project Here initiative of changing the status quo of substance use prevention education, FableVision partnered with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, GE Foundation, and Health Resources in Action. The output of the partnership is Project Here Games. The game tackles coping methods, decision-making, communication, and myth-busting. As players travel through the games by applying their earned skills to solve life-like scenarios, they’re able to test their solutions in a safe space, while staying entertained.

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Galaxia
A missing professor, illegal substances, an online bully, and an evil plot that could put the entire school in jeopardy—these are the challenges students face in Galaxia, FableVision’s bullying prevention game. Created in partnership with National Health Promotion Associates (NHPA) for the LifeSkills Training middle school curriculum, Galaxia allows students to work through scenarios surrounding peer pressure, bullying, coping with stress, and more. The outerspace boarding school game helps students make smart choices in a fun way, and the choices in the game affect the trajectory of their path.

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Different Kinds of Hurt: Isaac’s Story
In collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health and Walker Cares, FableVision created Different Kinds of Hurt: Isaac’s Story, a multi-media campaign consisting of a graphic novel (available for free to Massachusetts residents), animated film, and accompanying print resources. Featuring young Isaac and his friend Mia as they discuss their recent time in the hospital, the resources aim to normalize conversations about mental health and fight the stigma surrounding mental health issues.

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Civics! An American Musical
As children navigate U.S. history and analyze primary resources to produce their own musical, Civics! An American Musical teaches middle school students the power of everyday citizens in causing change. Developed in partnership with Maryland Public Television, Maryland Humanities, and Tufts’ CIRCLE as a part of the Library of Congress’ Teaching With Primary Sources Program, it aims to motivate the next generation of activists. The Hamilton-inspired games allow students to adapt true events from U.S. history to the stage, such as the desegregation of public schools, the National Parks, the FDA, and the Chinese Exclusion Act.

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Quandary
Can a game include complicated ethical problems while engaging children on a narrative level? In collaboration with the Learning Games Network, FableVision answered yes to this question by creating Quandary, an ethical decision-making card game. Students play as the captain of the new space colony Braxos and use their listening and moral decision-making skills to keep the peace among colonies. The game aims to help players make difficult decisions where there are no right or wrong answers, like most conflicts in everyday life.

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Say Something!
Written by FableVision founder and New York Times bestselling author Peter H. Reynolds and published by Scholastic, Say Something! reminds children that their voices can inspire, heal, and transform. To provide movement to the message and art of the book, FableVision created a trailer and animated film that encourage children to be brave and speak up against injustice. Using the uplifting words and actions of the characters as inspiration, the trailer and film follow them striving to make a positive difference in their world.

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Welcome to FableVision’s Summer Camp!

As sunlight fills the days after 15 months of COVID-19, we’re looking forward to an engaging and exciting summer. To ensure that your children continue to learn while they’re on break, we created FableVision’s Summer Camp—a compilation of resources, including educational animated series, games, softwares, and videos.

Help your children have a fun summer by supporting their creativity, sparking their imagination, and encouraging their interest in new things. Whether they enjoy animals, engineering, or meteorology (just to name a few)—we’ve got you covered with a variety of free/low-cost activities that can be enjoyed by your family! 

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PBS KIDS Parent Activities Videos
Saturn’s rings, puzzle boxes, Yup’ik dance fans, and more—these live-action videos produced for PBS KIDS’ website for parents provide fun and educational crafts to create with your children using household materials and art supplies. In tandem with their favorite PBS KIDS shows, like Molly of Denali or Elinor Wonders Why, families can complete hands-on activities, while learning about central themes of the shows and discussing important questions. Grab your crayons, glue, and scissors and follow the easy steps in the videos—it’s time to make butterfly costumes and periscopes.

The instructional videos are available for free on PBS KIDS for Parents.

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The Paper Girls Show
How about a summer trip to Confetti, a beautiful world built entirely out of paper? In the FableVision and Global Tinker animated series The Paper Girls Show, best friends Cailey and Reese travel to Confetti to visit their paper friends Kami and Dev. Together they creatively invent solutions applicable to the real world. Each episode features a new type of technology, such as 3D printers and robots, and the series infuses STEAM curricula that inspires young girls to explore arts, science, programming, and engineering. 

Watch the series for free on YouTube.

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UCAR Animated Atmosphere
As summer brings heat waves and hurricanes to New England, help your children understand the weather by watching Animated Atmosphere videos, created for University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). To describe extreme weather and how to stay safe, the animated videos feature a weatherman yeti showing cold weather conditions, a dog demonstrating how to take care of pets, and a palm tree illustrating the effects of tropical storms. Humor, cute visuals, and an approachable script allow children to understand weather phenomena and get introduced to discussions on climate change.

The videos are available on UCAR’s YouTube.

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FableVision Games
FableVision Games, a research- and educational-game-based platform, engages students and improves their learning outcomes in STEM, social studies, literacy, and social-emotional skills. Math, history, puzzles, and more—FableVision Games has something for any child’s interest.

• Cyberchase Fractions Quest: Deepen your understanding of fractions by embarking on an adventure to save Cyberspace from the villain Hacker. Created in collaboration with THIRTEEN/WNET New York Public Media and Educational Development Center’s Center for Children and Technology, the immersive math game uses a series of quest-like challenges to keep students engaged.

• Zoombinis: Help small, blue creatures escape evil Bloats and return to Zoombiniville by playing Zoombinis. Created in partnership with TERC, a not-for-profit leader in K-12 math and science education, the math and logic game teaches computational thinking through a series of puzzles.

• Civics! An American Musical: In preparation for the Fourth of July, brush up on U.S. history and create a Broadway musical from scratch in Civics! An American Musical. By teaming up with the Library of Congress, Maryland Public Television, Maryland Humanities, and Tufts’ Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), FableVision created a game where middle-school students have fun analyzing primary sources while learning how to become responsible citizens. 

The games are available on the FableVision Games website—play for free through June.

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Echo Explorers
Speaking of Cyberchase, Hacker is up to his usual tricks. He trapped some bats and the CyberSquad needs your help to free them. Created in partnership with THIRTEEN/WNET and Bridge Multimedia, Echo Explorers, a born-accessible game, follows guidelines from child disability, math, and environmental science content experts. It can be tailored to each child’s unique learning needs and sensitivities through settings in sound, captions, background visuals, difficulty, and control modes. Children of all abilities learn about echolocation and coordinate mapping with their favorite characters from the PBS KIDS show.

The game is available on PBS KIDS.

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Go Wild! With Ranger Rick
Who can better excite children about wildlife than the beloved raccoon Ranger Rick? The FableVision-created mobile app for National Wildlife Federation (NWF)’s Ranger Rick teaches 4-8-year-olds about animals through three activities. In “That’s Wild!,” children engage through jokes and riddles about their favorite animals. In “Mystery Animal,” a set of clues helps children guess the unknown animal. Lastly, in “Rick’s Pix,” children create a scrapbook of animal photos decorated with stickers, frames, and nature backgrounds. The app excites children through fun activities, vibrant colors, and NWF’s extensive database of information. Next time you’re at the zoo, aquarium, or backyard, learn more about the animals you see through Go Wild! With Ranger Rick.

The app is free to download with a Ranger Rick subscription.

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Reach Every Reader Apps
Help your young children begin their literacy journey! FableVision-created mobile apps, Photo Play and Animal Antics, for Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE)’s Reach Every Reader initiative, turn everyday routines into learning opportunities for 2-4-year-olds. In Photo Play, children decorate their own photos with stickers, emojis, and talk balloons, which helps them facilitate conversations with caregivers about the photo memories, locations, and details. In Animal Antics, children and caretakers use their imaginations to role-play as different animals. Reach Every Reader works to bridge the literacy gap by providing learning opportunities and word acquisition in low-income families.

The apps are available to download for free.

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FabMaker Studio
Spark your child's interest in engineering through FabMaker Studio, an easy-to-use, web-based program that allows children to engage in STEM and STEAM learning. From idea to reality, children build paper prototypes and final designs with this researched-based application. FabMaker Studio is part of the national Make To Learn research initiative, a unique for-profit/non-profit collaborative founded by Glen Bull, Co-Director of the Center for Technology and Teacher Education at the University of Virginia and The Reynolds Center for Teaching, Learning, and Creativity. 

The online-tool provides a low-cost, accessible way to design and invent 2D and 3D projects. As children progress through the program, they transform their creativity into building their own working machines. FabMaker is perfect for creating at home, in the classroom, and summer programs. 

 If you click here for more information, you can also receive a free activity!