Daniel Choo
Earlier this fall, Microsoft announced that its Xbox 360 would soon offer special games and TV shows associated with several well-known children’s programs, including Sesame Street and Nat Geo Wild. The plan, says Microsoft, is to create shows that would foster a new kind of “playful learning,” tying them to the capabilities of the Microsoft Kinect device.
The timing of the news wasn’t great: the same day Microsoft unveiled its new toddler-friendly Kinect games, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a report urging no or limited screen time for children under age 2.
But bringing the Kinect to children’s television is an intriguing proposition. Microsoft say that it’s filming new TV shows and building new games that “seek to inspire kids and their parents to get off the couch and into the action, working cooperatively with their favorite characters to have fun and learn at the same time.” Fun, learning and even physical activity are often invoked when it comes to children’s programming — and it’s something that the American Academy of Pediatrics Continue reading