Your fave NBA star is about to make some new friends—on Sesame Street! The iconic children’s show will welcome basketball champ Stephen Curry and his super-talented celeb wife Ayesha to the neighborhood in a very special episode.
While you might expect the NBA star to focus solely on basketball, both Step and Ayesha use their co-starring Sesame Street roles to help the youngest of viewers to understand the benefits of a healthy breakfast. The pair team up for a “C is for Cooking!” challenge, whipping up pancakes along with Elmo, Cookie Monster and Grover.
Before the challenge starts Grover asks, Why are we talking about breakfast?” Ayesha answers, “Eating a healthy breakfast every morning helps you learn and play.” After Ayesha and Elmo win their pancake challenge (shh! don’t tell your kiddos), they head to the hoop to play a little basketball—of course!
This isn’t first time the Curry fam has focused on the benefits of healthy eating. Their nonprofit Eat.Learn.Play. is, according to the foundation’s website, “Committed to unlocking the amazing potential of every child by fighting to end childhood hunger, ensuring students have access to a quality education, and providing safe places for all children to play and be active.”
Catch the new Sesame Street episode on HBO Max starting Thursday, Mar. 25.
—Erica Loop
Featured photo courtesy of Sesame Workshop, Zach Hyman
Kristen Bell just inspired a new line of diapers! That is, the actress’s The World Needs More Purple People book is the real inspiration behind Hello Bello’s newest diaper style.
Bell’s best-selling children’s book celebrates what makes people special. According to the publisher Penguin Random House, Bell and co-author Benjamin Hurt’s The World Needs More Purple People is, “A hilarious and joyous read-aloud that offers a wonderful message about embracing the things that bring us together as humans. This book will inspire a whole generation to paint the world purple!”
Now you can do more than just page through the book. Bell recently posted her own reading of The World Needs More Purple People on Instagram! Watch the clip on HelloBello’s Instagram page here. As if that’s not enough, you can also outfit your littlest The World Needs More Purple People fan in diapers with the purple-y book theme.
Along with the IG clip and diapers, you can also do some good with Hello Bello’s “Purple People Challenge.” Bell’s IG post explains, “In the spirit of feeling Purple, we’d like to introduce the Purple People Challenge. Throughout the month of March, post a pic in your feed of your kiddo in their Purple People diapers with the hashtag #HBPurplePeople. Every photo submission = a donation of $1 to the Children’s Reading Foundation. Help us support @reading_foundation, a national nonprofit with community-based reading foundation chapters and early childhood education programs across the country.”
Find Hello Bello’s new diapers on the brand’s website here. Simply select a bundle type (diapers, training pants, or both) and pick a size!
If you’re wondering whether you should bother with teaching your baby a second language, the answer is a resounding yes. Despite not being able to speak, babies still begin hearing, retaining and pruning sounds as early as the womb, which will ultimately form the foundation of language.
Just like reading to your kids, the benefits of being bilingual are plentiful. Studies have shown that bilingual children are given a leg up in life, achieving higher cognitive and academic skills and receiving higher scores in non-verbal problem solving, grammar and mental flexibility.
Scientists have found that academic success is best predicted by early language interactions, including the integration of a second language. So what does that mean exactly?
While teaching your child more than one language requires work, it’s worth it in the end. Begin speaking to your child while still in the womb, speaking all the languages spoken in your home. Once your bundle of joy has entered the world, continue speaking to them in English and your other tongue when it comes to singing, reading and everyday conversation. The gift of language is truly priceless.
WubbaNub is doing its part to help The Children’s Heart Foundation. According to the organization, almost 40,000 babies are born with Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) every year in the United States, with 25% of them needing surgeries or other solutions to survive.
The Heart Warrior Collection by WubbaNub is an annual lineup that helps support babies born with CHD, with a portion of proceeds going to The Children’s Heart Foundation. This year it’s made up of The Heart Warrior Bear pacifier and lovey.
Both products come with a scar across his chest, just like the tiny heart warrior babies they support.
Carla Schneider, Founder and CEO of WubbaNub shares “We hope this will bring all the little heart warriors and their families some soothing comfort and joy when they need it most.”
Each WubbaNub is made with a medical grade, latex free pacifier that is BPA, PVC and Phthalate-Free. The plush animals help babies use the pacifiers on their own, and each one is hand or machine washable.
You can start shopping The Heart Warrior Collection on Feb. 7 starting at $15.99 each on WubbaNubOnline.com.
It’s been almost a year since Crayola released its line of newly formulate crayons that represent 40 global skin tones with the new Colors of the World collection. Now, the brand is back with new products for even more artistic fun.
In addition to crayons, kids can now get their little hands on new Colors of the World colored pencils ($4.99) and markers ($6.99)! Both products come in 24-counts and of represent 40 global skin tones.
Colors of the World includes 24 colors that children of all ethnicities, cultures and races can use to better represent themselves through their creativity. Crayola spent over eight months researching and working with a founding partner of MAC Cosmetics, Victor Casale, who has over 30 years of experience in creating diverse foundation colors.
Together, Victor and Crayola’s product development team designed crayon colors with three undertones: Rose, Almond and Golden. Additionally, the crayons include a range of skin tone colors from Extra Light to Deepest.
Each crayon box includes side panels with color references and crayons that are wrapped with a skin tone label. Realistic color names will be listed in English, Spanish and French.
Crayola Colors of the World crayons come in a 24-count pack and are available now at Crayola.com. You can also snag the 32-count box sold exclusively at Walmart that has four additional hair and four eye color crayons. You can find them at Walmart.com for $1.77 each.
The world leader in jigsaw puzzles is partnering with the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation in celebrating the creativity of kids during Puzzle Month with a contest that runs from Jan. 1 through 30. Kids are encouraged to create a puzzle design that inspires hope and 10 lucky winners could take home the ultimate prize.
The top 10 entries will have their have their designs incorporated into a limited-edition, one-of-a-kind jigsaw puzzle sold on Ravensburger.us! All puzzles sold will help raise money to support pediatric cancer research.
To enter, contestants must be 18 years and younger and must create a hope-inspiring piece of art that includes the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation’s sun logo and a puzzle piece shape. All submissions must be received by Jan. 31, 2021 at 9 p.m. EST.
A new study by researchers from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM, in its Spanish acronym) say they have developed a video game that allows the identification and evaluation of the degree of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents. Read on to learn more about this potential new rapid test that will provide for early diagnosis.
How is ADHD currently diagnosed?
According to Science Daily, ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder with an estimated prevalence of 7.2% in children and adolescents. Currently, Science Daily reports that ADHD is clinically diagnosed, meaning the symptoms are identified by health care professionals using the child’s medical history, often supported by scales completed by caregivers and/or teachers. There is currently no diagnostic tests to identify ADHD.
What to know about the study
The study was carried out in collaboration with a group of 32 children, between the ages of 8 and 16, diagnosed with ADHD by the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit in the Psychiatry Department at the Jiménez Díaz Foundation University Hospital. When the children took the test, they were observed by trained professionals, and caregivers filled out a behavior classification scale, which helps evaluate the severity of ADHD symptoms. Each test only takes seven minutes to complete.
What’s the Game?
In the game a raccoon has to jump over 180 holes that are grouped into 18 blocks. “We hypothesize that children diagnosed with ADHD inattentive subtype will make more mistakes by omission and will jump closer to the hole as a result of the symptoms of inattention,” says Inmaculada Peñuelas Calvo, another author of the study, psychiatrist at the Jiménez Díaz Foundation University Hospital and professor at the UCM’s Department of Personality, Evaluation and Clinical Psychology.
What did the study conclude? The study states: “Our results suggest that the number of times the avatar does not jump, as well as the median and interquartile range of the jump distances, show a significant correlation with the severity of patients’ inattention. In addition, this correlation tends to be greater when the time between stimuli increases. This could be explained because when the time between stimuli is short, the patient is immersed in the game, whereas whenever this time is longer, ADHD patients have difficulty maintaining the attention.” In short, this new study opens the door to exploring whether a 7 minute video game can be used as a diagnostic tool to help identify the severity of ADHD in children. And, since it’s an actual video game, the possibility of conducting tests like these remotely may be possible in the future.
Families living in a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh are receiving critically needed early education resources. Sesame Workshop unveiled its first Rohingya Muppets as part of its Play to Learn Humanitarian Program. The new characters, Noor and Aziz, are 6-year-old twins that love to learn and play using their creativity and imagination.
The new Muppet characters will be featured in groundbreaking Rohingya-language educational media as part of the Play to Learn program in partnership with BRAC, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and New York University’s Global TIES for Children. Made possible by the LEGO Foundation this program aims to support children and families affected by the Rohingya Refugee crisis. The Cox Baxar refugee camp is home to more than 800,000 Rohingya refugees who fled conflict in neighboring Myanmar. More than half are children.
“Noor and Aziz are at the heart of our efforts to bring early education and learning through play to children and caregivers affected by the Rohingya refugee crisis, who have been impacted tremendously by the dual crises of displacement and the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Sherrie Westin, President of Social Impact, Sesame Workshop. “These are two very special Sesame Muppets—for most Rohingya children, Noor and Aziz will be the very first characters in media who look and sound like them. Rooted in the rich Rohingya culture and informed by extensive research and input from Rohingya families, Noor and Aziz will bring the transformative power of playful learning to families at a time when it’s needed more than ever before.”
Noor Yasmin, known as Noor for short, is a 6-year-old Rohingya girl who loves to learn and play. She lives in the Cox’s Bazar refugee camp with her twin brother, Aziz, and their family. Noor loves to make up fun and funny new rules for the games she plays with her friends and family. She is deeply curious about how the world works and uses play to help her understand her world. Her passion for asking questions and finding answers often inspires her and Aziz to try new ways of playing (and learning). She’s a confident girl who believes that there is no problem too big for her to try to solve.
Aziz, Noor’s brother, is a playful 6-year-old Rohingya boy. Aziz is a natural performer and storyteller; he loves to use his imagination to create and act out stories about kings, queens, and animals. His creativity sometimes distracts him from accomplishing a task, but Noor and friends help him focus. He enjoys assisting others with tasks like household chores and values the importance of helping his family and friends. He relies on his sister for support, laughter – and finding new ways to play.
The two new characters, along with familiar Sesame Street friends like Elmo and Elmo’s dad, Louie, will be featured in new video segments on social-emotional learning, math, science, and health and safety. In every segment, the duo will engage in a learning activity centered around the five characteristics of playful experiences that help children learn best—experiences that are joyful, meaningful, actively engaging, iterative, and socially interactive. In partnership with BRAC, video segments will be shared through BRAC’s Humanitarian Play Labs and additional direct services. Facilitator trainings, storybooks, and printed educational resources will accompany the new video segments and be integrated into BRAC and IRC’s direct services in the coming year.
“Investing in learning through play is even more crucial now, where thousands of children affected by the Rohingya refugee crisis, now face the additional unforeseen challenges posed by the global pandemic. Noor and Aziz not only share similar experiences with many of the children who find themselves in this crisis, they will also help these young children to overcome trauma and stress, and build resilience, while engaging in fun play-based learning activities,” said Sarah Bouchie, Chief Impact Officer at the LEGO Foundation. “Learning through play also helps children to develop the holistic skills, including creativity and social-emotional skills, which are vital to survive and thrive in this rapidly changing world.”
In addition to supporting families affected by the Rohingya refugee crisis, both in displaced and Bangladeshi host communities, Play to Learn is also reaching children affected by the Syrian refugee crisis in Jordan and Lebanon as part of Sesame Workshop and the IRC’s Ahlan Simsim program. In both Bangladesh and the Middle East, Play to Learn combines educational media with direct services reaching families in their homes, community centers, and play spaces to infuse children’s daily lives with playful learning opportunities that are essential to their healthy development and empower them to become creative, engaged, lifelong learners. By designing program approaches and educational content that can be adapted for different contexts around the world, Play to Learn is laying the foundation to transform how the world supports children in humanitarian crises, wherever they may be, for generations to come.
Need a bear in a hurry? Build-A-Bear Workshop and Shipt have partnered for this beary special reason!
The bear superstore and same-day delivery service provider have announced a new partnership that brings your furry friends straight to your doorstep throughout the week before Christmas and even beyond. Not only that, Shipt and the Build-A-Bear Foundation will be donating 10,000 teddy bears to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals to bring teddy bear hugs to children this holiday season.
photo: Build-A-Bear
Sharon Price John, Chief Executive Officer of Build-A-Bear Workshop, “As Build-A-Bear continues to execute our digital transformation to drive e-commerce revenue, we have continued to look for innovative solutions to fulfill the high level of order demand and deliver our furry friends to our guests. Therefore, we are pleased to partner with Shipt to provide another delivery option that can allow our furry friends to arrive in homes in time for Christmas gift-giving, especially with many areas seeing restrictions on traditional shopping activities.”
Guests can head to the Build-A-Bear Workshop’s online “The Bear Builder” configurator to start customizing their own bears ASAP, with same day delivery. Just like when you build a bear in a workshop, you can choose from sound chips, scents, clothing, and accessories.
Build-A-Bear Workshop’s same-day delivery is powered by Shipt Driven. When you place your online order, Build-A-Bear Workshop associates will package the order at your local store and it will be picked up by a Shipt Shopper and delivered to your home of your beary special someone.
The Parents’ Choice Foundation has released its 2020 selections for the best toys of the year. The list of 50 includes puzzles, toys and games that inspire creativity and fun for kids of all ages.
Making the list is one of Red Tricycle’s favorites, Fat Brain Toys. This year, three activities took home the silver awards and make the perfect gift ideas this holiday season. Keep scrolling to check them out.
Dimpl Digits
Great for littles, this squishy silicone toy is fun for kids to touch, push and pop. Each dimpl comes with numerals and words for one through 10 and comes with Spanish on the other side.
