Autumn Adventures: FableVision's 2022 Back-to-School Guide

After a sunny and spectacular summer vacation, returning to school or starting school for the first time can be scary. Whether your family traveled, relaxed, spent time outdoors, or simply had a different schedule, it takes time to shift back to your school and fall routines. To help your children combat the “school scaries” and enjoy the fall, we’ve compiled a list of resources to ensure that they have a fantastic year full of educational and engaging learning. 

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International Dot Day

Empower kids to make their marks by celebrating International Dot Day on September 15-ish. Based on FableVision’s Co-Founder and New York Times bestselling author/illustrator Peter H. Reynolds’ book The Dot, International Dot Day encourages kids to connect and collaborate as they re-discover the power and potential of creativity in all they do. This year, join Peter at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City or watch the livestream of the event. September 15 doesn’t work for you? Here’s a little secret: you can celebrate Dot Day whenever you want! 

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UCAR’s SkySci for Kids

As we gradually add sweaters, scarves, and fuzzy hats to our wardrobe, check out UCAR’s SkySci for Kids to learn about weather, climate, and sky science. With humor, bright colors, and a clear breakdown of topics, FableVision-made animated videos and minigames featuring Yolanda the palm tree, Jeff the yeti, and Snacks the dog will teach kids about tornadoes, hurricanes, heat waves, and more. Visit the website to encourage your child to fight climate change.

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Cyber Fashion Challenge

Another great way to fight climate change – upcycling! Based on Cyberchase’s season 13 episode “Sustainable By Design,” born-accessible Cyber Fashion Challenge, created in partnership with FableVision, The WNET Group, PBS KIDS, and Bridge Multimedia, teaches 6-8-year-olds about avoiding fast fashion and encouraging the creative reuse of materials. Practice counting and shape identification by creating a sustainable fashion line for Fabio DeZine.

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Museum of Science “EiE Families” Website

Spark your child’s interest in engineering and computer science by checking out the Museum of Science “EiE Families” microsite, built by FableVision, with interactive features to support STEM learning at-home and on-the-go. Play Bye Bye Bug and create a way to lead a ladybug to safety, or explore the other activities, in both English and Spanish. Bonus: if you’re in Boston, take a field trip to the Museum of Science to see science in action.

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“Our State and the Nation: A Georgia Studies Course”

History fanatics – we have a treat for you. FableVision created a host site for Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB)’s online textbook, developing an online experience for eighth-grade students. In the revamped George history course, students can examine images, define vocabulary words, watch videos, and go on virtual field trips from the classroom or the comfort of their homes. 

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Pinna Original Yes No Audio Adventures

One of the best parts of fall? Halloween! Immerse yourself in spooky season by answering yes or no to questions in Escape the Haunted House, a Pinna Original Yes No Audio adventure, produced by FableVision’s audiyo-yo. Listeners are the main characters as they interact with the show and create their own story. If your kids aren’t fans of haunted houses, they can listen to Escape the Marshmallow Dream Forest or Escape the Sinking Ship. The 5-minute, voice-activated audio adventures provide a perfect, creative outlet during car rides, before bedtime, and more.

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Boston vs. Bullies Academy for Internet Champions

Join Bobby the Badger and his friends Ivy, Jordan, and Felix to score a touchdown, make a basket, and hit a home run with The Sports Museum’s bullying-prevention game. As kids continue to use the internet at younger ages and run into in-person and online bullying, Boston vs. Bullies Academy for Internet Champions, created by FableVision, helps kids navigate tricky situations, make smart choices online, and combat bullying. Learn how to stay safe by checking out the free game.

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“Friendlets” Animated Shorts

Besides stopping bullying, children should also see the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships to avoid abuse, love better, and find true friends. Created in partnership with One Love Foundation, “Friendlets” animated shorts showcase familiar, humorous scenarios to help elementary-aged kids understand the importance of communication and appropriate responses in healthy friendships. Visit One Love’s Education Center for the shorts and associated resources.

FableVision Studios’ Five Core Design Principles

As a mission-based studio, FableVision is committed to creating positive, story-driven educational media that moves the world to a better place. As a part of that mission, we pride ourselves on our people-first design process, always thinking about the needs of our end-user, the context of their learning, and the impact of our product.

When we approach a new project, no matter the topic or goal, we always prioritize accessibility, engagement, and play. Whether we’re creating a game-based app, animation, museum interactive, website, Augmented Reality experience, or any other form of media, our core principles stay the same. 

Want to pick our brains about your next media project? Reach out! We’d love to chat. 

1. Education is for Everyone

First and foremost, FableVision believes that every person—no matter their age, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status—has the right to a quality education. Therefore, the studio is committed to lowering barriers of access in educational communities, both in formal and informal learning spaces. Whether our end-user is an educator in Iowa, a preschooler in Maine, or a grandparent in Texas, we always ask ourselves three key design questions: Is this approachable? Is it relatable? Will it lead to learning, behavior change, or action?

2. Using Research-based Design to Create Safe Spaces to Learn, Explore, and Discover

Our design process and media are crafted to engage and impact audiences in all contexts—including consumer, classroom, family, and museum markets. We believe learning media should provide a safe space for learners to practice, experiment, fail, and grow from their mistakes. With the appropriate scaffolding, learners can reach their full potential, proving to their educators and themselves that anything is possible.

3. Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

FableVision Studios believes that representation matters. Whether a project uses human or non-human characters, takes place on Earth or an imaginary planet, or utilizes fantastical or magical elements as plot drivers, believable, relatable characters are critical. Media should present an accurate, inclusive reflection of the audience consuming it. In that spirit, FableVision takes pride in writing and designing diverse characters. We also take care to cast diverse voices when selecting talent for voice over.

4. “Designed for One, Beneficial for All”

In all our work, FableVision strives to maximize accessibility in ways that are seamless to the user experience. The studio has worked with The Perkins School for the Blind, the Helen Keller National Center, National Braille Press, and Bridge Multimedia, among many other partners committed to accessibility standards. In addition, we have incorporated Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in our work for many years, and we apply those principles in creative ways to ensure the interactive experience is appealing and engaging to a wide range of visitors.

5. Playful Learning for Any Content, Any Platform

No matter the learning area, engagement lies at the crossroads of vetted content and research-based design. We have created learning environments that teach social-emotional learning, literacy, STEM, financial literacy, substance use prevention, civics, and more. FableVision works to ensure that all learning experiences match the content, spark curiosity, and offer an open invitation to playful exploration.

Nightmares!: A Dream Project with Jason Segel

My mom had a trick for battling nightmares – let the credits roll. I’m serious. When I was startled awake, she would come to my bedside and explain that every nightmare could be a movie and if I let the credits roll, the nightmare was no longer real. This is a technique I still use. And maybe it’s something Charlie Laird could use as he battles his dreams in Jason Segel’s new book Nightmares! 

Nightmares! is the actor’s first novel and FableVision – as Jason Segel super fans – had the adventure of building the book’s site and the You Snooze You Lose game featured on the website. 

In the YA novel, co-written with New York Times bestselling author Kirsten Miller and published by Random House, Charlie Laird is convinced his stepmother moonlights as a witch. On top of that, he now lives in a big purple mansion and he can’t remember the last time he’s had a restful sleep. With the help of his nonconventional family, Charlie takes on his nightmares that have started to seep into the real world. 

The excitement for this project really started during the proposal. Bob Flynn, FableVision’s Director of Art and Animation, explained a bit about the initial creative brainstorming. 

“During the proposal we came up with all sorts of kooky ideas,” Bob said. “We knew nothing about the book and wanted to think of what nightmares we had had and translate it into something that was fun and relatable.

The lawn mower sketch came from a nightmare Leigh Hallisey, Creative Director, had. She asked: ‘What would a monster's nightmare be? Doing boring human things.’ That would be the ultimate worst.”

As the project developed, the art direction for the Nightmares! website really came from the book, as producer Danielle Gillis explained.

“The goal was to make the Nightmares! website feel a little bit cinematic by adding introduction video,” she said. “We used the book’s cover design and music, so from the minute you entered the site, it felt like you were inside the world of Nightmares!”

FableVision Lead Artist, Renee Kurilla, was trilled to be on this project. She’s the creative brain behind the site design. 

“Going into the site design, we already had all of this amazing art from Karl Kwasny who is an incredible illustrator and hand-letterer,” Renee said. “I learned a lot trying to mimic his style for the website interface, but most of the site design was basically taking his cover art and rearranging it for web dimensions. If you look a little closer at all those little embellishments, you'll see spiders, bugs, and mushrooms amidst the flowers – just a little bit of Karl's creepy genius there that I enjoy.”

To add a burst of fun to the site, FableVision built an endless runner game. 

“We knew we wanted to make a game that was close to the book’s story,” Danielle said. “The purple mansion is a central feature of the book. In the story Charlie doesn’t want to fall asleep because of his nightmares. We liked that idea, so we made the concept into a game.” 

In You Snooze You Lose, the player assumes the role of Charlie and must collect items to stay awake. A set of eyes shows the progress as Charlie races up a staircase collecting cups of coffee and candy, while avoiding fluffy pillows and teddy bears. The game starts off slow, but trust me, it picks up speed and it becomes difficult to dodge bad stuff. 

“The game’s challenging, so kids will want to come back and try to beat their last score,” Danielle said.

From the opening screen to the moving staircase in the game, technology pulls the entire project together.  

“We used a lot of technology for a small site: HTML5, Photoshop, Maya, Flash, and After Effects,” Renee shared. “Possibly my favorite piece of the puzzle was working on the intro splash animation in After Effects. It was challenging to create a movie that would transition to a basic HTML5 home page...but I think we made it work really well. FableVision’s Production Assistant Jordan Persson's music and sound design tie our site together in a similar way that the book design does.”

Nightmares! (Random House Kids) by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller is now available in stores and online. Take a look inside in the video to the right here.