Combining fun and useful tasks
Previously we wrote about how Gamification can make the world a more sustainability place, but beyond gamification, there are many more ways to make sustainability more fun and exciting.
Another key example is the term Edutainment.
Humans have an innate desire to learn
I believe that learning should be a pleasurable activity for people. However, the school systems have somehow made it agonizing for many kids to learn.
If you ask them, “What is boring work?” They will say, “School and homework!” This is a huge problem in our society as a whole. What happened to self-motivated learning?
The issue here is, effective learning should be associated with a chemical in our brain called Dopamine, the main mechanism that controls Rewards-Driven Learning. If learning comes with pain or stress, learning is hampered. But if learning is pushed forward by joy and fun, absorption and retention grows exponentially.
Great examples in Edutainment for Sustainability
There are many great examples in Sustainability within Edutainment. One great example that I have personal interactions with is BALANCE Edutainment, the creators of Pacha’s Pajamas. Pacha’s Pajamas is a children’s story/music brand where animals on a little girl’s magical pajamas will go into her dreams and discuss how humans are destroying the planet. The little girl pretends to be a monkey and participates in their world music festival to inspire and bond all the animals to protect the planet.
Research has shown that children in hospitals who listen to their CDs recovery faster, so BALANCE Edutainment also created a program called Imagination Heals, inspiring and helping children in hospitals.
The project attracted the involvement of many celebrities, including Mos Def, Cheech Marin, Kendall Schmidt from Big Time Rush, Disney, Nickelodeon Stars, football legend Jim Brown, and many more.
During Earth Day 2013, BALANCE Edutainment is also launching the ”Heal the World <-> Heal Ourselves” campaign with an exciting urban dance video. The campaign got 50 organizations onboard - including the CSSC - as well as numerous celebrities and leaders/influencers taking a stand for uplifting children’s entertainment. They are releasing a great dance video this weekend to raise awareness for this campaign.
Another great example is From Wine to Worms. From Wine to Worms is the bubbly tale of one young boy’s observations about his parents energy usage. With little more than a kindergarten education and a bold intuition, he is moved to reconcile the wastefulness of his mother and father — starting with their morning routine and extending all the way to their caloric and alcoholic intake.
How can you bring more edutainment into the world?
There are many ways to help this world, but impacting the leaders of tomorrow is arguably one of the most essential things to do. This is the core mission of the CSSC, and we hope to bring things full-cycle: producing new generations that can inspire even more children to become leaders of sustainability.
hey, remember meeting Cedie and myself at SF rally on Climate? We were there on behalf of SJSU. I was thinking about other ways to reach people besides talking to adults about issues, or getting them to sign petition. I know an organization that has a toddler learning space for sustainable agriculture. I shouldn’t underestimate the power of low key approach to spreading sustainabilty.