Can You Teach My Alligator Manners is one of those great shows that communicates important life lessons – like how to behave politely and the importance of being respectful of other people – in a way kids really understand. If there are Al & Mikey fans in your family, they’ll surely enjoy these Playhouse Disney coloring printables that reinforce many of the key lessons covered in the episodes while providing classic coloring fun for your kids.
The STA’s Summer Tips are ideas for projects and activities inspired by your kids’ favorite shows, to help them learn while the TV is on and after it’s off. Look for more tips all summer long, to OutSmart the 150% Summer Spike in childrens’ television viewing.
Have a budding Jon Stewart or Tina Fey on your hands? We don’t know what TV they watched as kids, but after the jump are the shows we recommend to cultivate your offspring’s own funny bone.
It’s amazing how much you can learn by seeking out the wildlife just outside the door. Go Diego Go! has created the perfect tool for tracking the neighborhood fauna, an Animal Science Book that you can print to create your very own nature journal.
The STA’s Summer Tips are ideas for projects and activities inspired by your kids’ favorite shows, to help them learn while the TV is on and after it’s off. Look for more tips all summer long, to OutSmart the 150% Summer Spike in childrens’ television viewing.
Educational media reporter Richard Kahlenberg’s got some answers for ya. He’s the mastermind behind TV Smarts, a site which gives a comprehensive rundown of upcoming TV programs that match or supplement middle and high school learning standards. It’s working so well that some schools now link to TV Smarts from their own websites. So, see? Kahlenberg knows what he’s talking about. Read more about the future of TV as an educational tool after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Have a young one who’s interested in plants? Even if a summer storm is brewing outside, Disney Game Café has gardening covered. Download Plantasia (there’s a free trial version for the commitment-phobic) and plant the seeds for a green paradise with over 35 types of plants.
The STA’s Summer Tips are ideas for projects and activities inspired by your kids’ favorite shows, to help them learn while the TV is on and after it’s off. Look for more tips all summer long, to OutSmart the 150% Summer Spike in childrens’ television viewing.
Aw, that’s not really fair of us. To not mention Sesame Street in the headline, that is.
Truth be told, we love Sesame Street. Love that it’ll be entering its 39th season on August 11. Love that the powers-that-be are revamping the website to include 3,000 videos…which you can search by muppet. Oh, and loooove that Feist is as an upcoming guest. It makes up for the fact that her songs get way too much air time.
What can we say? That whole oxytocin thing kicks in every time we hear Sesame Street’s theme song.
It isn’t summer without a trip to the beach! Dora and Diego have everything your youngster needs to plan a beach party…or to just enjoy some beach-themed word games for a little summer vocab lesson.
The STA’s Summer Tips are ideas for projects and activities inspired by your kids’ favorite shows, to help them learn while the TV is on and after it’s off. Look for more tips all summer long, to OutSmart the 150% Summer Spike in childrens’ television viewing.
A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Massachusetts and published in the July/August 2008 issue of the journal, Child Development, has found that leaving your TV set on (and on and on) disrupts young children while they’re playing.
But surely we’re not the only ones not surprised to learn that background TV is detrimental to children’s development…right? Just go to any popular franchise restaurant (you know who you are) for proof that TV cuts a wide and vicious swathe of distraction. You’ll see families alternately gulping down their meals and craning their necks to see the gigantor flat-screened TVs. Mounted. In. Every. Corner.
But yes, call it a newsflash if you want. The TV is not a radio. Thus, we highly recommend not treating it like one. Watch carefully. Get a TiVo or DVR so you can watch your own shows on your own schedule. Oprah will still be just as compelling after the kiddos have gone to bed, we promise. And turn off the TV when you’re not really, really 100 percent watching.
If you crave background noise from something other than your offspring, go to iTunes. Download some music. Or — you know what’s coming — listen to the real radio.
For the little Picasso in your family, Johnny and the Sprites has just the thing: An online art easel where young artists can draw and paint their hearts out. They can save and print their creations, and even send them in for Johnny to see. Move over, Etch-a-Sketch!
The STA’s Summer Tips are ideas for projects and activities inspired by your kids’ favorite shows, to help them learn while the TV is on and after it’s off. Look for more tips all summer long, to OutSmart the 150% Summer Spike in childrens’ television viewing.
If you grew up in the 70’s, you’re probably wiping away tears of nostalgia about right now. (For the uninitiated: Rita Moreno? Screaming her lungs out? To announce the beginning of The Electric Company?)
And now PBS is rolling out a new version of the kooky, slap-sticky, endearing watchable show which also attempted to help kids read. Over the weekend, critics attending the Television Critics Association Press Tour were given a bit of info about what the new Electric Company will look like.
Apparently, it will still be geared towards 6-9-year-olds, but will focus more on building vocabulary. That’s in response to recent research which shows more than half the nation’s kids are at risk of falling behind in reading. (Insert your own joke here about “No Child Left Behind.” We’re too discouraged to make one.)
The show’s slated to air in January 2009. For more info, check out this New York Times article. Although it dates back to May, it’s got the most show specifics we’ve found so far. Surprise bonus: it also boasts the absolute best first sentence of any newspaper article we’ve seen in months.
The Smart Television Alliance is a new coalition of national nonprofit organizations united by a shared commitment to improving what our nation's children see on television.
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Can You Teach My Alligator Manners is one of those great shows that communicates important life lessons – like how to behave politely and the importance of being respectful of other people – in a way kids really understand. If there are Al & Mikey fans in your family, they’ll surely enjoy these Playhouse Disney coloring printables that reinforce many of the key lessons covered in the episodes while providing classic coloring fun for your kids.
Educational media reporter Richard Kahlenberg’s got some answers for ya. He’s the mastermind behind 
