This weekend Stella & Sam Online launches on Playhousedisney.ca to coincide with the premiere of the television series. At the heart of the micro site is a series of Online Adventures that seamlessly marry animated narratives with simple online activities. The idea is that pre-schoolers join nine-year old Stella, her four-year old brother Sam and their dog Fred on a quest – whether it’s finding their lost toboggan or searching for the Night Giant. There are a total of four stories with three activities each that will roll out over the course of the series. Each Online Adventure will also be available for the iPad.

We started developing the online property three years ago – generating ideas and falling in love with the characters.

Our challenge was to take popular books and a new television series into the online space and create completely original content. We had strong characters thanks to author/illustrator Marie-Louise Gay, beautiful animation from Mercury Filmworks and fun narratives from our television production partner Radical Sheep. We also had a healthy budget from the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund, the Canadian Media Fund and Playhouse Disney.

We were creating a property for preschoolers (3-5 year olds) so the other challenge was to keep it simple; not let technology get in the way of the online experience.

How did we do this?

Watched kids play

Unlike lots of pre-school television and online content, we discovered that Stella & Sam was a series that breathes.  There were no fast cuts, loud voices, bright colours or “hit me over the head learning.” Watching an 11-minute episode was like watching my four-year old godson play with his friends. It was unpredictable, real, fun and there was always something that was explored or discovered; whether it was finding an imaginary treasure or turning a bunch of boxes into a fort.

We wanted to get to know our audience so we visited pre-schoolers in their homes. We had them play with iPhone apps, websites and traditional games. We talked to parents – the gatekeepers – about how they pick content for their children and what activities they liked to play with their children.

We also read the books and watched all the episodes to come up with activity ideas. Since most of the series takes place outdoors with Stella and Sam exploring the natural world a lot of the online activities and narratives took place outdoors.

Built prototypes

We created prototypes for all the online activities – shifting from our original idea to make games with clear learning outcomes to games that were open-ended and that encouraged creative expression. We knew that if a game could capture a child’s attention at a basic level (using placeholder artwork) then once it was polished it would still be engaging.

At several stages of production, we invited children to our studio to test our games and give us feedback. We tweaked the games they enjoyed and tossed out the ideas they didn’t like or that didn’t work.

Then we came up with the framework for the Online Adventure so that the online property was not “just a bunch of games”. We sent the game prototypes to our writer and asked him to create a narrative so that the activities were tightly integrated with the story. Each Online Adventure lasts four to ten minutes and the child determines how long they want to play.

As we developed the online property we needed to ensure the content would work on the web as well as take advantage of the touch screen interface when ported to the iPad.

Collaborated with various creators

We were surrounded by a group of people who loved the property and who all had a clear vision for the  property. They had a respect for and understanding of pre-schoolers and their parents. We collaborated with them to create the online property.  Bob Ardiel, the series story editor, wrote original scripts for the Online Adventure narratives, Mercury Filmworks produced the animation and Rachel (the voice of Stella), Miles (the voice of Sam) and Tony (the voice of Fred) narrated the Online Adventures and the games.  Marie-Louise Gay, and Michelle, John and Jain at Radical Sheep reviewed the scripts, storyboards and animations.

Like the books and the television series, Stella & Sam Online encourages children to use their imagination and explore the world around them. By watching children play, testing our ideas throughout production and collaborating with the creators, we built an online experience that is simple but that remains true to the spirit of the books and the television series.

Why would a three-year-old want to play games on an iPhone? Actually, let’s re-think that—why wouldn’t a three-year-old want to play games on an iPhone?

iPhones and iPod Touch devices are extremely attractive to small users in the three- to five-year-old snack bracket. These devices are easy for small hands to use—much easier than computers, keyboards and mice. Children can also use them anywhere. Think of the possibilities: while waiting in line with you, while traveling or commuting, in the car, during quiet moments at home. Anytime your child is looking for an activity. Anytime you’d like your child to be engaged and interested instead of frustrated or bored and distracted.

But if you’re going to hand over your iPhone or iPod Touch to your child to play with, you’re going to need some entertaining apps for him or her to play. That’s where Tickle Tap Apps come in. Tickle Tap Apps are age-appropriate educational games that encourage learning through practice and exploration. They take full advantage of the iPhone platform in ways that make game play exciting. They’re also easy to use, with audio instructions and visual cues so preschoolers can pick them up and start playing right away.

The first three Tickle Tap Apps will be available very soon from the iTunes App Store. Visit TickleTapApps.com to learn more. Plus get sneak peeks at game play by watching demo videos of Sound Shaker, Count Caddy and Sort Slider.

Dewey was discovered in late 2005 by intrepid explorer, and builder of fine boogaloos, Jerrold Connors. Since then, Dewey has been hard at play hanging out with all sorts of kids online and at Toronto Public Library branches across the city. Each Dewey likes to do different things from reading, to bocce, to knitting, and they can also be distinguished by their handy numbered jerseys but no one has ever counted them all.