"Grown-ups of PBS KIDS" introduces parents, caregivers and teachers to the diversity of the people and jobs that create PBS KIDS television shows. We spend a day with show creators from "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood" and "Odd Squad," puppeteers from the Jim Henson Company, voice actors from "Molly of Denali," game developers, education curriculum advisors, storyboard artists for "Let's Go Luna!," and an astrophysicist from "Ready Jet Go!" Parents and teachers were encouraged throughout the story to watch each takeover with the children in their lives and work together to brainstorm questions that these PBS celebrities would answer during the week.
The takeovers were published on @PBSKIDS and @PBSTEACHERS during 2019 heritage months: Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Asian Pacific Islander Month, Hispanic Heritage Month and Native American Heritage Month. We also featured a special takeover for the 50th Anniversary of the moon landing!
PBS KIDS programs, games and apps are designed to reflect the diversity of communities across the nation and encourage a love of learning along the way. We used these takeovers to showcase the diversity of the people that it takes to create all of PBS KIDS' offerings on television, games and apps. The takeover stars were tasked with showcasing the show or digital property they work on, the educational path they took to get to where they are, and the advice they have for kids who are interested in reading, writing, computers, or puppets!
We also took advantage of the Instagram Stories engagement tools to engage with our followers and learn how we can improve the programs, games and apps. The PBS KIDS and PBS Teachers shared which features they want to see added to the PBS KIDS video app, scenarios they’d like to see “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” tackle, cities they’d like Luna to visit in “Let’s Go Luna!,” and much more.
One of the best comments we received from a parent came during Women’s History Month (May 2019) when we featured a member of the PBS KIDS digital team. "Thanks for sharing I enjoyed learning the specific steps in which games go from idea to launch. ... As a mom of a 6- and 4-year-old, I often find myself slightly obsessing over my kid’s screen time. When Meghana expressed her interest and studies in computer science it really opened my mind to the educational possibilities that "gaming” can provide. Thanks for this!"
This campaign was completely organic and did not included any paid social ads or boosts to reach our audience.
