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Sandbox Summit

October 22, 2015 By Jesyca Durchin Schnepp

Last week I lucky enough to be asked to do a workshop on the connection between Play, Tech and story at the 2015 Sandbox Summit.  This event generally takes place on the east coast with MIT as the educational partner.  This year, Play Science worked with the University of Southern California and held the two days of workshops, lectures and networking at the California Science Center.  It was a terrific way to keep current on what is happening at the intersection of new technology, media and education and more importantly to stay inspired by the quality of people who really do care about how children learn and play.

While there were many outstanding speakers, one of my favorites was from 9 year old Dylan Siegel who decided (at the age of 6) to raise a million dollars to help his best friend Jonah fight a rare liver disease.  Dylan wrote a book and with his family’s help has raised $1.2 million dollars! Take a look at his speech from the second day at Sandbox Summit.  Trust me, my speech was no where near as polished nor as moving.  And if you find his story and mission as compelling as I did, click here.

Filed Under: Featured Posts, News

Please, DON’T Google Girls and VR

July 24, 2015 By Jesyca Durchin Schnepp

VRGIRLS

I’ve been doing some research on next generation virtual reality games and started looking at what is being created with brands-especially ones that might prove interesting to girls.  Big mistake….”vr” and “girl” combinations exposed link after link of porn.  I’ll admit, some of it was fascinating as I firmly believe new technology explored in pornography can often provide a roadmap as to where consumer tech will be heading.

I was, however, also great relieved to find this gem of an article about a terrific computer camp for (real) girls  at the University of Maryland featuring VR gaming. These middle schoolers are learning how to create next level video games using technology like  Oculus Rift and Unity 3D.  I hope this means that more and more computer science labs and classes will be offering all kids an active way to participate in this latest round of VR creative madness.  As many of you know, VR has been available for some time now.  It seems to me, however, that since Facebook’s purchase of Oculus Rift there is a whole new level of creative and business interest.  I hope camps like these will get kids excited about what the future holds in education and entertainment.

 

Filed Under: Featured Posts, News Tagged With: computer camp, girls, kids and virtual reality, virtual reality, vr games

The Power of Pink

August 12, 2014 By Jan Bozarth

her-pink-things

Girls love pink and boys like blue. Right? Is it biology or culture? In the early 20th century, an industry magazine wrote that “pink is for the boys … being a more decided and stronger color. Delicate blue was for girls.” In the image we show South Korean photographer JeongMee Yoon  presenting exactly how much things have changed today, after baby clothes manufacturers and marketers made the arbitrary choice to assign pink to girls.  On the biological side, a study in gender differences by Hurlbert and Ling, said that  ancient women became attuned to the reds of the ripe berries and other fruits. Women came to focus on the color red (and the rewards associated with it) in order to make their search easier. The doctors say that this would also come in handy for recognizing flushed faces, a sign of illness, among the women’s children. To explain the preference for blue found among both men and women in the study, Hurlbert suggested that to these ancients people, blue signified “good weather” and a “good water source” [source: The Guardian]. A 2003 study suggested that women prefer reds because their eyes are physically attuned to see reds better than other colors. This certainly supports Hurlbert and Ling’s idea of an evolutionary basis for color preferences. But their answer doesn’t encompass all of the data. It wasn’t until the 1920s that Western parents began dressing their children in colors. Before this, children of both sexes most often wore white, and both boys and girls of a young age were outfitted in dresses. Then color assignments among boys and girls evolved in the ’20s but the colors were reversed: pink was for boys and blue for girls. Somewhere in the 1940’s colors flip-flopped to the assignment we recognize today [source: The Guardian]. This lends support to the notion that the color preference between pink and blue comes from culture rather than biology. But times are changing and some parents refuse the color coding of gender roles siting that these stereotypes are limiting to the child.  It will be interesting to see the girls’ clothing and toy aisles in ten to twenty years.

 

Filed Under: News Tagged With: biological, blue, boys, clothing, cultural, gender, girls, pink, toys

DreamTab for Girls and Parents?

June 24, 2014 By Jan Bozarth

NabiDreamTab

The upcoming Nabi DreamTab’s ads show a group of young girls in a treehouse playing with tablets. Some have questioned the treehouse as a metaphor for this generation, but who doesn’t love the  treehouse? Or at least the dream of a treehouse? The new product is a partnership between Dreamworks Animation and Nubu and promises a closed and protected social network for kids. There is also the collaboration feature which I believe will be their strongest suit.  Kids can do animations, draw, and write together through their tablets. But everyone in your closed social network will need to have their own Nabi DreamTab to play!

Filed Under: News Tagged With: closed social network for kids, collaborations, Dreamworks, Nabi DreamTab, Nubu, parents, play, protected social network, toys, treehouse

Princess Leia- Girl Rising

June 11, 2014 By Jan Bozarth

Princess Leia Armed and Sexy
Princess Leia for President

What’s wrong with this picture? Princess Leia, the warrior, is true, but is that all there is? I’ve been a huge  Star Wars fan from the beginning. Princess Leia was important to me in 1977 and she is important  now, but for different reasons. Thirty years ago, she was our ONLY girl hero, our only Princess, our  only cinematic look at the fantasy fiction female, a girl with a gun on a very important mission to save  her world. She was tough and knew what she wanted. She had a look that other girls emulated- she  even started the double side bun thing. She wasn’t fluffy, but she was still pretty. She could fly and program the ship’s computers. She was a Jedi  Knight. Enough said. Now that the newest feature film is set for release by Disney, longtime fans of Leia have come out to be heard. They want more Leia for their daughters and grand daughters, the girls of this generation. Disney has responded  positively, but there is still one more thing. Is it enough to just make action figures of this character? Shouldn’t she have her own show? Don’t we want to know more about this woman in the 21st century? After all, girls are rising and are poised to lead the free world.

 

Filed Under: Featured Posts, News Tagged With: girls, leadership, power, Princess Leia, Star Wars

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