Disney & Sesame Street Project

I'm currently enrolled in Health Communications and Interactive Media by the same professor here at school and the students and I are all very lucky to be doing a project for Sesame Street and Disney who will actually review our projects for consideration as future projects for the company. Actually having these gigantic corporations look at our projects is an amazing opportunity not only academically but professionally! For sesame street we are looking to create an online interactive game that focuses on health issues such as the common cold, washing your hands, and preventing the flu. Out target audience: Preschoolers ages three to six! WTH! It is so difficult trying to come up with a game that is so simple yet involves some sort of lesson with health issues. Luckily I was able to do it! My rough ideas are:

1. Health Issue: Common Cold: Elmo & Zoe's on Snow Day!
Help Elmo or Zoe dress for the winter so they can play outside and build snowmen and snow angels! We want to be sure that they were the proper clothes so they don’t get attacked by the common cold! If players are able to choose the right clothing like jackets, gloves, bonnets, and snow pants, Elmo or Zoe will be happy! If they chose the wrong items of clothing from their closet, then Elmo or Zoe will begin to shiver, cough, or sneeze, which indicates that they may get the common cold. Help Elmo and Zoe to stay warm, enjoy the snow, and stay away from getting the common cold!

2. Health Issue: Healthy Lifestyle: The Kooky Cookie Monster Cook!
Help the Cookie Monster pack Elmo, Zoe, and Oscar’s lunch by making sure they get the right foods to make sure they stay happy and healthy! By picking fruit, vegetables, a juice/milk box, and sandwich (bread), the characters will feel happy and healthy by showing the player so. If players choose items such as pizza, hamburgers, or other greasy foods, the characters will show the player that they are tired, have stomachaches, etc. This game will show how healthy lifestyles such as diet, help kids be more strong, healthy, and happy!


3. Health Issue: Exercise: The Ernie and Abby Cadabby Marathon!
Help Ernie or Abby Cadabby stay in good shape by helping them exercise! Help them maneuver an exercise course and pick out the activity you want them to do (IE: run, skip, walk, jump, hop, etc.) If players choose a less active exercise, players will see how Ernie or Abby Cadabby may become overweight (?)

Being that I am a student at a research university, I have to incorporate theories to back up game design and elaborate on the idea of my game being influential and cognitively engaging for preschoolers. For Disney, I am practically doing the exact same thing but without the focus of health issues, so I'm designing games about animals, colors, and numbers. Still, it's a bit difficult trying to create a game for preschoolers, I don't know how people at Sesame St. and Disney do it! But kudos to them! These are my ideas for Disney:

1. Game: Common Cold: Mickey’s Wonderful World of Color
Help Mickey or Minnie fight the Evil Queen and stop her magic! Player must color a black and white scene that was caused by the magic of the Evil Queen according to the subjects of the scene. (trees = green, sky = blue) Players will find cards with a picture of a subject and what the color of the subject is. If the player cannot remember what the color is or chooses the wrong color before they have reached the subject in character, the Evil Queen will come and shrink Mickey or Minnie.

2. Game: Zoo on The Loose!
Help Donald Duck or Daisy find the animals the evil Jafar has let loose into the city! Donald Duck or Daisy need to make sure they get the right number of animals back where they belong before the evil Jafar comes back to the city. Players will locate animals in the city, read the animal kingdom book located in their handy backpack, which helps them learn the animals, and count the particular animals until the player has all those that have escaped. If they pick he wrong animal or number of animals, Mickey encourages them to try again.

3. Game: Count Dracula
Help count Dracula aka Goofy in vampire costume, count the alphabet candy he gets from visiting each haunted house!

I'd get into logistics, but that's the last thing I need to blogging about. But i'm actually looking forward to my designs and seeing what these huge corporations have to say!