Bus stop, wet day, let’s try WORD PLAY

Waiting is one of the toughest things for kids to do. WORD PLAY, a new bus stop game from The Fred Rogers Company, aims to make it fun and educational instead.

The game, for toddlers to first graders, was conceived as one way to help kids learn in informal situations. “It also sprang from a song, ‘Why Don’t We Think of Something To Do While We’re Waiting,’ a song Fred Rogers sang,” says Margy Whitmer, WORD PLAY project manager and media producer at The Fred Rogers Company.

WORD PLAY was piloted last year. It used posters sporting simple pictures and words at bus stops, asking parents to text for questions to discuss with their kids, such as, “How many words start with the letter J, three or five?”

Finding an unsatisfying response to that approach, Whitmer’s company used this year’s game posters to present questions and activities right on the colorful posters themselves.

Talking and reading to kids leads to an increase in their vocabularies, helping them get ready to be successful in school, Whitmer says. “Learning is easier for them, so life is easier for them,” she says.

The game also encourages the child and parent to create together. “One of the keys to good social and emotional development is the ability to develop relationships,” she notes. Parents are encouraged to take photos or videos of the game in action; a Facebook page and Twitter hashtags will also be provided on the September and October posters. The August poster is available at bus stops now.

The Fred Rogers Company is working today with libraries and community groups to tell parents about the program. “My fantasy,” says Whitmer, “is that cities do this everywhere. It seems so simple to me. When you learn something organically in the context of the relationship or when it us really important to you, then you really learn it.”

Learn more about the new WORD PLAY here.

Funding for WORD PLAY has been provided by the Sprout Fund, The Grable Foundation and The James F. McCandless Charitable Trust.

Writer: Marty Levine

Source: Margy Whitmer, The Fred Rogers Company