November FableFriday: Esther Tzau, Junior Developer

While most people tend to be right- or left-brained, Esther Tzau’s got it all. Her computer science degree and coding experience speak volumes about her left-brain logic and STEM mind, ensuring that she’s an excellent junior developer at FableVision. Meanwhile, her art portfolio consists of original designs, animations, and her own children’s book, continuously improving her right-brain creativity and storytelling.

“My interdisciplinary education pushed me to find connections and lean into those in-between spaces, and showed me how we can use technology to educate and tell stories in engaging and affirming ways,” says Esther.

When Esther works on FableVision tech projects, she brings more to the table than her coding abilities. She can look at the work through a critical and creative lens, leveraging the experience from her personal storytelling projects.

Read more to learn about Esther’s path to FableVision, unique projects outside of the studio, and the one game that she always wins.

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What’s your “journey to FableVision” story?
I first heard about FableVision in high school, when my graphic design teacher encouraged me to apply for FableVision’s internship program (thanks, Ms.Ciccolo!). When we learned that the internship was only open to college students, I put the application in my back pocket as I prepared for my first semester of college. Afterwards, this small but mighty studio mysteriously began to pop up in different conversations and circles over the next few years.

In 2018, I worked for an after school coding program for elementary school students and co-taught a class with former FableVision production artist and animator Taryn Johnson. She was the coolest—she had the best purple hair and was the best person to work with—and I was intrigued by her experiences as an artist at FableVision. Pursuing a career in animation and games? In Boston? I had no idea that my city was home to a thriving animation and gaming community.

FableVision spring 2020 interns

In 2019, after interviewing for the marketing internship, I asked Brian Grossman, FableVision’s technical director at the time, if I could shadow him and the developer team at FableVision. To my surprise, he said yes! I joined the spring 2020 intern cohort as a technical intern and developed Shared with 3 Others: a thoughtfully written, cleverly designed, and visually stunning game, alongside my talented fellow interns. As we developed this game and met other FableVisionaries, I confirmed that the role of “educational game and web developer” existed and that it was a possible path for me. 

The following summer, I was thrilled to work alongside the FableVision team as a freelancer. After graduating from Tufts University in 2020, Jordan Bach, FableVision’s current technical director, invited me to return full-time as a junior developer at the studio. It’s funny, now I’m the one telling people to intern at FableVision!

You majored in computer science and American studies! How did your educational background prepare you for this role?
I knew I wanted to study computer science after my summer with Girls Who Code, where I felt empowered to program creative educational experiences. For my final project, our team developed a prototype for a web app that helps immigrant kids practice reading English. The goal of that project was similar to the Spanish language updates I implemented for Project Here Games, my first full-time project with FableVision. Project Here promotes nonviolent communication skills and healthy decision making through social emotional learning. 

I encountered American studies during my first semester at Tufts, when I took a class on Asian America. American studies critically examines race, colonialism, and diaspora. It was a sort of therapy for me, as it gave me the language and space to process silenced histories and lived experiences within such a compassionate and active community. As I learned more about our broken education system, I became especially interested in different pedagogies and how learning can happen in and outside of the traditional classroom.

At Tufts, I also spent a lot of time in the Film and Media Studies Department (FMS), the School of Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA), and our student magazine’s multimedia team (check out Tufts Observer). My projects in those spaces helped me merge computer science and American studies in unexpected ways. For example, I took a web programming class, experimented with the Unity game engine and Maya 3D modeling in my game design class, and applied what I learned to the Observer’s multimedia projects as we explored interactive journalism. 

Boston Asian American Film Festival volunteering (photo with Princess Punzalan from Yellow Rose)

How do you work with the other creative teams at the studio to ensure that your work resonates with the audience?
I work closely with producers, designers, and artists, and I’m inspired by how the studio prioritizes accessibility at every stage of the development process. Our UI/UX designers intentionally design accessible experiences for users with different abilities, artists create assets with guidelines (like color contrast) in mind, and producers inform me about what technical accessibility standards need to be implemented. Making sure that our games and interactives can be experienced by as many people as possible, regardless of their abilities, is very important to us.

I enjoy being at the end of the pipeline, pulling together the great ideas generated by clients and team members. Since I get to do final screenings and build the finished product, I’ve found opportunities to speak up if I notice that members of our audience have been overlooked unintentionally, or lost in the margins, and I bring any suggestions to the production team.

What’s a typical day like for a junior developer?
It’s common to work on multiple projects at a time, so I check the weekly schedule to see which project I’m on that day. Then I spend most of the day debugging code, developing online interactives based on design documents, and researching new tools. 

Throughout the week, I’ll check in with the producer(s) on a project, join a meeting with a client to gather feedback and share progress, and meet with fellow developers. During developer meetings and code reviews, the developers share challenges and helpful tools, bring questions, and discuss possible solutions. I’m truly blessed to learn and laugh with this development team. The developers are comedians and it always amazes me how their brains can store so much information.

You grew up in the Boston area! What do you like to do around here?
Eat, mostly. Whether I’m picnicking at Castle Island with friends, stuffing myself with a 10-course meal at a Chinese banquet with my church community, or hitting up all-you-can-eat restaurants with my family, you can probably find me eating somewhere with people I love. My favorite dessert spot is YoCha in Quincy!

We heard that you wrote and illustrated your own children’s book! Can you tell us more about that?
Coming soon to a library near you! At least, that’s the dream. This book is dedicated to my niece, my mom, and my Po Po (grandma in Cantonese).

Here’s a blurb: Mui Mui’s best friend and role model is her Po Po, but since she doesn’t have the language to ask, she knows nothing of her past. One day, during a visit with her grandmother, they bond, and she imagines all of the great things Po Po possibly could have done as a young woman. In a moment of magical realism, she learns the truth, and realizes how she inherited this gift of radical imagination from her Po Po. 

Stay tuned! I’ll let you know when it’s out.

Sneak peek of Esther’s book

What advice would you give to young people who are interested in pursuing a job as a developer? 
Computer science can feel isolating sometimes, so seek out community! It’s easy to get discouraged and frustrated, and experience imposter syndrome. Get comfortable with asking for help, whether from professors, teaching assistants, online forums, peers, or coworkers. Even if the person you ask is also stuck, it’s a lot more fun to problem solve (and/or commiserate) with another human being. 

Don’t let computer science turn you into a robot. Eat, sleep, rest, and take care of yourself. At school, it sometimes feels like everyone is pursuing a software development role at some Big Tech company, but if that’s not what you want, remember that programmers are needed in every field. Hold on tightly to your interests and don’t be afraid to make unconventional decisions.

Lastly, reach out to folks doing the kind of stuff that interests you. As you can tell from this FableFriday, people love to talk about themselves! You’ll learn so much from them and their connections. The worst that could happen is they say “no.” Once you get used to rejection, that's not so bad. :)

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Esther’s Favorites:

Favorite book: The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui. I love graphic novels and memoirs, and this one is really special.

Favorite artists: Shout out to my talented friends: @tanjoreenie, @camoot.journal,@maxinearts, and @mariafongtastic. Check out their work on Instagram!

Favorite movie: Hmm, I can’t choose just one, so Coco, Get Out, and Ip Man 4. The iconic Ip Man navigates the cultural appropriation of martial arts and racial violence in his fourth movie. I’m a big fan of the anti-villain Chairman Wan, who is fiercely protective of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Some of the acting is so bad, but that only serves to let our Asian actors and actresses shine, so I’m here for it.

Favorite game: The game that’s been a staple in my family and in all of my communities—Bananagrams! Try to beat me, I dare you.

Favorite museum: MOCA—The Museum of Chinese in America in New York City. Next time you’re in New York, go support this important collection of artifacts and oral histories! I promise you will learn so much.

Favorite place to travel: Portugal had a huge impact on me. Beyond the tasty seafood, majestic ocean and mountain views, lovely hospitable tour guides, and fond memories with my family, this was the first trip when I was hyper-aware of what it means to be a tourist in someone else’s home. I wore a critical historical lens everywhere I went.

August FableFriday: Kellian Adams Pletcher, Director of G.L.A.M. (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums) Innovation

Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums—this is Kellian Adams Pletcher’s world of G.L.A.M. and we’re all just living in it. With her large, bright smile and signature enthusiasm for immersive learning experiences, Kellian recently joined the FableVision team as the Director of G.L.A.M. Innovation. The studio has a long history of working with informal learning spaces, including museums, and Kellian’s background in imaginative, game-based work will help FableVision grow its partnerships with the G.L.A.M. community through the merging of physical and digital worlds when engaging the public.

“I’ve worked with museums across the country and across the world, and I absolutely love it,” says Kellian. “I’ve also always loved FableVision—I’m impressed by the projects, games, and everything the company builds. I’m excited for my new role and to build museum games for a large studio with an incredible team.”

Through her work at Active Chinese, SCVNGR, and Green Door Labs, Kellian joins FableVision with 12 years of experience in crafting immersive experiences through creative and strategic game design. As the mastermind behind Green Door Labs, a company that builds site-specific games and adventures, Kellian has created custom mobile games, cultural institution games, and interactive theater experiences, for clients like The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Smithsonian, The National Parks Service, The USS Constitution Museum, and many more. 

Kellian’s passion, creativity, and extensive experience makes for the perfect new FableVisionary. Read more to learn about Kellian’s G.L.A.M. journey, theater projects, museum knowledge, and love of swing dancing!

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What is your journey to FableVision story?
I’ve run into FableVision’s team and work a lot in the last ten years at Green Door Labs and I always had so much fun with them. I told myself that if I wasn’t at Green Door Labs, the only other company I’d really want to work with was FableVision. As an independent studio owner, I have to say I was pretty burnt out after the pandemic, and I considered entirely shifting directions. Luckily, I caught up with Gary Goldberger, and he told me I could do what I do, but with the support and energy of a larger team with FableVision! It had honestly never occurred to me that I could continue building museum games, such a niche profession, at a larger studio, so I’m really excited to imagine what we might be able to build together!

Why are informal learning spaces important?
Learning is social and it’s best achieved when people are relaxed. While a K-12 school is essential, it’s a pressure-cooker environment for kids. On the other hand, informal learning spaces allow children and adults to learn in a way that’s authentic and organic. People can discuss with each other why certain pieces do or do not resonate with them, while also learning their history. Museums increase empathy and kids that go to museums at least once per year show an increase in ability to empathize with other people. 

The secret of the G.L.A.M. world is that G.L.A.M people find magic in objects and they connect people to that inherent magic. It’s hard to throw away an old t-shirt or a childhood teddy bear because they have meaning to you—even if you know the object itself is monetarily worthless. Galleries, libraries, archives and museums help us understand which objects have the right magic for our times and how to make sense of it. G.L.A.M.s use objects to address deeper issues of how we attribute meaning and value in our lives—a concept that gets fuzzy sometimes in the world of intangible ideas. That’s also why museums can keep such gigantic collections—one never knows what will be relevant to people in the upcoming years. For example, objects created by and for American and European white men aren’t as salient in 2021 as they were in 2000. However, museums that have been wise enough to collect objects and art created by and for women and people of color suddenly have found that those objects have a whole new resonance for all people today!

What are you hoping to work on in the future at FableVision?
I have big ideas! I’m really excited about the European market because European museums (with the exception of Great Britain) have been traditionally more conservative than American museums when it comes to building game-based interactives or creative programming in their galleries. Now that they’ve seen how games and story-based exhibits in American museums have been reliably successful, European museums don’t think it's a  “crazy” new approach anymore and a lot of them are curious about what can be done there. 

I’m also interested in projection mapping, which is a fantastic way for visitors to interact with museum content. I was blown away by what was done with Connected Worlds at the New York Hall of Science a few years ago, and the technology has only improved and become more robust since then. Museums like the National Palace Museum of Taiwan’s Children’s Gallery 2.0 use this wonderful combination of animation and objects. Projection mapping is starting to appear in large, mainstream gallery exhibitions, like Tokyo’s teamLab Borderless or the traveling immersive projection Van Gogh exhibit. With FableVision’s incredible art and animation team plus our game design and development chops, I think we can create some interactive projection mapping installations that could knock your socks off! 

And what’s your approach to immersive projects?
I don’t want to get distracted by the perfect thing I could create if I had buckets of liquid cash because that’s seldom the situation in the G.L.A.M world. We want to figure out how to build the best possible project with what we have. I’ve developed a system to figure out what my design parameters are and that direction makes me more creative! It’s very seldom a blue sky so I systematically list out a project’s goals, resources, and restrictions and boil that down to a smaller subset of possible projects. We take a look at the funnest options that fit our design parameters and go from there. I find that the problem with creativity often isn’t too few ideas—it’s too many! A lot of it is the process of taming those big ideas into something that can really shine. 

How did you get started working in the G.L.A.M. community?
I started out as a middle school teacher, which I suppose is not too hard to imagine if you talk to me for more than ten minutes. After teaching in Shanghai for five years, I received my graduate degree in teaching to launch my teaching career in the U.S. However, I also worked as a producer at an educational video game company in Shanghai that built language learning games and created fun stories. I got bitten by the game design bug! After you’ve done that, it’s hard to give up interaction design and return to a regular K-12 classroom. I wanted to continue creating crazy new interactives! 

SCVNGR, a 2008 start-up that focused on social location-based gaming for mobile phones and later launched LevelUp, brought me on as the head of museum projects. It was the wild west—no one knew about location-based gaming and museum games at the time. My education background allowed me to help museums express their learning goals. As I worked with different people from museums across the world, I realized that they were my people, my tribe.

How have you seen the G.L.A.M. spaces react to the pandemic and what does that mean to the future of informal learning spaces?
There’s a long history of museums in America battling between academia/curation and education. Some lean toward the idea that museums are academic institutions that publish papers and do academic research, while others focus more on how museums are living, public spaces that draw and educate crowds. The pandemic shifted museums toward collections and many laid off staff in the education space. Although it’s devastating, it’s not surprising, and educators hope that this will balance out in about two years. While museums suffered during the pandemic, because the U.S. has a lot of smaller, quirkier museums (like the Hammer Museum in Alaska that I visited), people rallied to save the spaces they care about. You have a lot of special diamonds in the American museum system.

Another interesting thing is that a lot of the laid-off museum staff have become freelancers over the last year. As opening museums think about their physical spaces and their limited staff, they’re turning to their former staff, who are now independent contractors. While museums previously created a lot of in-house projects, I predict they’ll now be turning to other companies or outside sources.

How did you go from designing museum games, like Murder at the Met, to immersive projects?
There exists more overlapping between the two than people expect. I’m part of the Boston Playable Theatre Project, I taught as an adjunct professor in game design at Northeastern University for four years, and I’m friends with a lot of game designers in Boston, like Lizzie Stark, Caro Murphy and Celia Pearce. Boston has an amazing games community and games became part of the immersive scene really naturally here. So it was a natural transition for me as well, especially since my specialty is location-based games that involve a physical space. I’m best at getting people interacting with technology in a physical space.

Can you talk about some of your immersive theater projects?
At my company Green Door Labs, a Boston-based indie game design and production company, our first immersive theater project was Club Drosselmeyer 1939. A recreated swingtime Nutcracker set during WWII, it has elements from live-action role playing, escape rooms, and immersive theater cabarets. Last year, due to COVID-19, we did an audio Club Drosselmeyer, where audiences would listen to a radio show online, call different telephone numbers as they completed puzzles, and reach seven different endings. I’m hoping to do a full, in-person Club Drosselmeyer again this year. My swing dance community has been such an important resource because I’d contact my friends and be like, “Danny, let’s rewrite Nutcracker in swingtime” or “Elise, let’s get an eight-piece swing band!” Last year we also created the American Society for the Protection of Magical Creatures, an online puzzle-solving game about a magical nonprofit working to protect the magical ecology.

And lastly—you love swing dancing?
Yes! Before COVID-19, I would go dancing in the evening until 11 p.m. and then we’d go out for ice cream—at least three times per week. I’ve been dancing for a long time and I have a team called the Boston Lindy Bomb Squad, which does Lindy Bombs that focus on music, fun, and community. Every summer, we also participate in the Roaring Twenties Lawn Party at the Crane Estate. Everybody brings picnics, we wear our 1920s hats, dresses, and gloves, and we dance all day to live music.

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More About Kellian

Favorite era or decade? Definitely the 1940s—it’s the first time in the U.S. when women see real agency and independence that’s recognized by U.S. law. They began to own businesses, take leadership roles, and enter universities at higher rates. As women were employed in industry, publishing, and computing, the establishments started to realize during wartime that women are an essential addition to the workforce and public life. It was also the first time that women in the U.S. were accepted into the military, starting with the U.S. Army Air Force. Women Air Force cadets, also known as WASPs, served in clerical and mechanical roles. Some women pilots even ran domestic flight routes! (Though the first American female combat pilot didn’t fly until 1993.) I love the music, art, and imagery that showcase a sense of rebellion and joy in this dark time in history.

Favorite museum? Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum—I love the story of Isabella and what she collected and how. She was such a force of nature. For instance, the Rape of Europa is one of the most valuable pieces of art in the world and it’s not sequestered in a perfect room with perfect lighting. Isabella hung it right above a swatch of fabric from her favorite dress. Why? Because she really liked that dress. And the Titian was OK, too. She was so human, and there’s nothing like a regular person to add some humility to a great Titian masterwork. I love that humanity and the fact that the museum can’t rearrange her collection from how she set it. The Gardner allows you to see the art for what it is, not what it’s supposed to be. The Peabody Essex Museum is a very close second. I love that it’s the oldest museum in the U.S. and that it includes so many wonderful things—I could stay there forever! Fashion, natural history, classical art, Asian art, Asian export art, an actual house from China, contemporary art, oddities, and historic New England buildings—the PEM has it all! 

Favorite game? Quandary—it teaches the process of decision making, demystifies compromises, and helps kids understand the difference between fact and opinion. It’s a perfect game for middle schoolers because it’s so clear and logical. I think adults could stand to play it as well!

Favorite book? Baroness Orczy’s The Scarlet Pimpernel—what isn’t there to love? There’s a hero husband, a genius wife, secrets among them, secret identities, and the saving of nobles in France. Recently, I’ve been reading Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.

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!

FableVision and AETC Collaborate to Promote COVID-19 Vaccine Literacy

With COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and vaccination hesitancy on the rise, educating ourselves remains a priority. By combating false information and taking the time to learn about COVID-19 and other health topics, we can improve the health of us, our family, and our friends. 

To bring humor and movement to complex scientific concepts, FableVision and the AIDS Education Training Center (AETC) partnered together to create an animated series based on the NoiseFilter Podcast and Live Show, featuring infectious disease specialist Dr. MarkAlain Dery and community health expert Dr. Eric Griggs (Doc Griggs). The podcast aims to distill COVID-19 information, debunk misinformation, and correct health literacy.

To extend NoiseFilter beyond a podcast, FableVision created a video series with animated versions of Dr. Dery and Doc Griggs as they digest complicated scientific concepts into bite-size chunks. By using humor, storytelling, and punk rock spike proteins, they provide an easy way for the general public to dispel myths and understand COVID-19 and mRNA vaccines. As Dr. Dery and Doc Griggs’ personalities, dynamic, and humor come to life, FableVision artists use fun visuals, whimsy, and fairy tale analogies to help the doctor duo captivate audiences and explain medical concepts in an easy-to-understand way. 

“Dr. Dery and Doc Griggs have an amazing wealth of pop culture knowledge and a super-cartoony sensibility, which makes the brainstorming sessions ridiculously fun,” says Leigh Hallisey, FableVision’s Creative Director and Head Writer. “They aren’t afraid to push the boundaries with trippy visuals and humor, as long as the science is accurate and engaging for our audience. You’d be hard pressed to find anything else like it in the world of health PSAs, and that makes us really proud.” 

As a studio committed to telling “stories that matter, stories that move,” FableVision is proud to team up with AETC and NoiseFilter to produce a series that aims to reduce health disparities and achieve health equity through creative educational methods. Read on for more information.

A Look Inside

Episode 1: Valiant Vaccine Versus the Vicious Virus
Animated versions of Dr. Dery and Doc Griggs provide a simple way for healthcare workers and the public to discuss COVID-19. With fast-paced cartoons, engaging punk rock music, and superhero antibodies, the pair details how COVID-19 makes people sick, how mRNA works, and how mRNA vaccines fight Coronavirus.

Episode 2: The Big Bad Variant and the Three Little Griggs
The second video uses a Three Little Pigs analogy and more humor to demonstrate how the mRNA vaccine fights COVID-19 variants. By comparing the human body to the three pigs’ houses and COVID-19 to the wolf, the animation delves deeper into how COVID-19 mutates and how the mRNA booster shot helps the body update its security system to fight the mutating virus.

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Established in 1987, AETC aims to improve the quality of life of persons with or at-risk of HIV through high-quality professional education and training.

To stay informed about COVID-19 and to follow Dr. Dery and Doc Griggs’ journey of promoting health initiatives, watch the first two episodes on AETC’s YouTube Channel, the NoiseFilter website, and other platforms. Stay tuned for more episodes to come.