Leave it to the people at "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" to devise a way for children to learn while they are waiting for a bus.
The Fred Rogers Co. is field-testing a game that uses phone text messages to promote interaction between parents and preschoolers and develop children's literacy skills during what otherwise would be down time.
"When people are sitting in the bus shelters, there's nothing to do," said Margy Whitmer, a media producer for the company. She got the idea for Word Play while waiting at a traffic light in Oakland.
The parent sends a text message to a number shown on a poster at the bus shelter. Back comes a text message asking a question that the child can answer by studying the poster.
"Welcome! 1st clue: Look at the picture and count the words starting with S. Reply FOUR (text message) to guess 4 or FIVE to guess 5," reads the first message in one game. The next clue invites the child to find the lake on the poster and identify the first letter in the word.
The goal is as much to get parents and children talking as it is to hone literacy skills, Ms. Whitmer said. "Literacy research ... has shown that children who were talked to and read to from the start have incredible vocabularies."
"It's a project we're doing to carry on Fred's legacy," said David Newell, the company's public relations director who plays the Mr. McFeely character from the TV show.
Ms. Whitmer said the pilot project, which will continue for three months with three sets of posters at select bus shelters in the East End, was financed with a $10,000 grant from the Sprout Fund. Other partners are the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, which designed the posters, Songwhale, a Lawrenceville mobile technology company, and Lamar Advertising, owner of the shelters.
Olivia Hill, 5, of Squirrel Hill, a preschooler, tried the game one afternoon last week with her father, James Hill.
"I think it's great," said her mom, Theresa Hill. "She is at the age where they absorb all of that. Anything to trigger connections with letters and words. And they always want to play games on our phones."
Asked if she liked the game, Olivia shyly said yes. But asking if it was better than Chutes and Ladders brought a smile and a polite "no."
The game currently is available at bus shelters at these intersections: Frankstown Avenue and Bennett Street; Frankstown Avenue and East Liberty Boulevard; Hamilton Avenue and North Dallas Avenue; Hamilton Avenue and Fifth Avenue; and Penn Avenue's intersections with Highland, Brushton and East End avenues.
First Published: April 30, 2012, 8:00 a.m.
