Children and technology go hand in hand, and while there is concern about the number of hours kids can spend in front of a screen, in the wake of the pandemic, where they mostly learned virtually, it generated a greater understanding of this tool that, well used, can be very productive. That is why the project, launched by Disney and Chicos.net with the collaboration of Eidos Global, seeks to enhance the skills of the XXI century, socio-emotional and literacy in children of Latin America; creating an application of free and open access, which also provides materials for teachers and families in a context of pandemic and digitalization.
Stories to put together is a digital-interactive platform that invites children from 8 to 11 years old to devise and create stories, and provides them with tools and proposals to tell them in various formats with digital media. It also has a mobile application for Android phones and its materials are available to be downloaded and taken advantage of without an Internet connection.
The proposal combines storytelling , digital media and maker culture through innovative and free resources, with a focus on gender, diversity and from a rights perspective, providing a response to the plurality of contexts in the region. The resources and contents are divided into three moments on the platform:EXPLORE, where you can watch an original fiction miniseries, with six episodes that introduce the art of creating stories, and that works content linked to citizenship and digital literacy. The miniseries rotates on Disney Channel and is available on DisneyLA’s YouTube channel. It was directed by Martín Saban, also Director of productions such as Violetta and Soy Luna, and the creative development was in charge of Emiliano Larre, in turn Director of the children’s program Junior Express.CREAR, an interactive digital experience that introduces and accompanies the process of creation and writing of stories with beginning, knot and end; helping children to be inspired and organize their ideas step by step, as well as invent their own characters and scenarios, with multiplicity of representations. TELL, which invites you to give life to these stories, offering a variety of simple projects to convert or expand them with digital media into video games, sound stories, animations, movies or comics. In turn, the platform enables a series of complementary resources to audiovisual content and the digital tool for educators and families to use with children. Both teachers and families will find tools to guide children, through:• A tour of the key concepts that pedagogically support the proposals.• A collection of tutorials “step by step” to replicate the stories in different formats of choice.• Work sheets, with ideas and proposals to use the “Creator of stories” and the projects of the TELL section at the service of school contents (linked to the different subjects and tasks).• The possibility for teachers to generate slogans for children to carry out in the CREAR section.• Proposals to create and learn as a family. Booklets with activities, from the simplest and without elements to those that require digital means, to encourage you to create stories at home.
What is Maker culture? From YouTube tutorials to Tik Tok challenges, the guys have shown great plasticity to cope with this difficult time by creating the things that interest them. Maker culture is about using technological resources to learn by doing. With this app, kids can interact and according to the preferences of each child generate playing their own content. Here we leave you 5 ideas of things that the little ones can do. Make a fanzineThe fan magazines (hence the term fanzine) are a great activity for tweens. Kids can create them from topics that interest them, such as music, fashion, video games, sports, etc. Here’s a guide to get started. Create a comic strip After learning the basics of how a story is told, the Stories to Put Together platform provides the possibility to create your own comic. It is about telling, in a few illustrated paintings, a small anecdote or the adventure of a character; usually a funny or exaggerated situation. Programming a video gameWhy when playing is not always obvious, video games are usually based on a story. Through Scratch, kids can learn how to turn the story into a fun video game. This application has its own gallery where you get the elements to start with. Film a music video Music lovers have the possibility to film their first video clip in this project. They can create them to tell an entire story, emphasize some part of a song, or describe a mood that conveys to them the music they like the most. Record a podcastThe most expressive can choose to tell their story through a fictional podcast using sounds, music and voices. They will be able to tell it in a single chapter or in installments, and publish it on the Internet for the public to hear. The themes are endless: intrigue, fantasy, drama, comedy, suspense, horror, romance… there are no limits!
