Without a doubt, education is key in early child development. Though teaching styles vary widely - from authoritative to demonstrative to facilitative techniques - what works best depends on each individual child and their level of engagement. However, if there’s one integral factor to driving engagement in children (and adults), it’s captivating and entertaining content.
Think back to the last time you went shopping, were dining out or navigating through an airport - how many times have you witnessed parents nonchalantly hand a child a phone or tablet with questionable content in a desperate attempt to silence whining or keep fussiness at bay? While it’s totally understandable that parents may need to employ a “quick fix” from time to time, there’s no reason why kids can’t be entertained while also learning.
For companies looking to quickly capitalize on the screen time for kids, the temptation to release vapid shovelware is tremendous; however, for content creators interested in utilizing tablets and smartphones to benefit children, here are a few things to keep in mind when developing apps, games and videos:
The content needs to be interactive. Children are more prone to watch interactive content that requires them to physically use their limbs to mimic a dance move, pose or to even touch the screen. This not only makes for more engaging content, but also reinforces critical thinking and encourages retention. For example, at Pinkfong, one of our most recognizable songs, Baby Shark, utilizes the interactive element of dance to encourage learning.
Colorful and repetitive content is intriguing. According to Sciencing, children’s eyes aren’t fully developed yet and are drawn to brighter colors rather than drab or pastel hues. When developing digital collateral, content rife with vivid color is more stimulating and interesting to children, which will in turn keep their minds locked-in and entertained. Repetition is also key. When they hear repeated sounds or words over and over again, children start to pick up on, mimic and eventually learn what words, numbers and ideas mean.
Retain attention by incorporating big illustrations and sounds. From large TVs to computer monitors to tiny smartphone screens, kids watch videos and play games on a number of different devices, and content needs to make just as big an impact across all mediums. To help achieve that, large-scale drawings and booming sounds are key. This helps children retain what they are learning, no matter where they view content.
Make high-quality content also accessible. Up until very recently, if parents wanted children to learn in an entertaining fashion, the choices were limited to books, magazines and building blocks. While those were the go-tos of past eras, and are still relevant today - Pinkfong’s content is actually sourced from a book-based curriculum by education professionals - today’s children literally grow up with technology, so it’s important to develop content which can be accessed via the medium most kids are familiar with. After all, according to a recent study done by Logitech, 92 percent of children are using tablets and mobile phones.
While handing over a smartphone to a crying child might be an easy method of stopping tears, it’s also a surefire way to reinforce absent-minded content consumption. When developing content for children, it’s important to not only factor in entertainment value, which is key, but to also marry that with learning.
