US public broadcaster PBS has announced that its PBS Kids Super Vision, the children’s educational media brand’s app for parents, is now available for Apple Watch.
The free app gives parents the ability to engage with their kids’ digital media time wherever they are – in the kitchen, at work or on the go. With PBS Kids Super Vision for Apple Watch, parents can limit their children’s screen time on pbskids.org by setting a simple Play Timer on Apple Watch.
The fully featured PBS Kids Super Vision App for iPhone and iPod touch includes the Play Timer and offers parents a tool to see what their kids are watching, playing and learning on pbskids.org, helping parents make the most of their children’s screen time.
PBS Digital senior VP, GM Ira Rubenstein said, “PBS is committed to innovating across media platforms to have a positive impact on kids and parents. At PBS, we look for learning opportunities in every new technology, and we have consistently been a first mover in the digital space. When we launched PBS Kids Super Vision last year, we wanted to empower parents with a first-of-its-kind tool to support their children’s learning and give them ideas to help them build on that learning beyond the screen. PBS Kids Super Vision for Apple Watch extends that capability, making it easier than ever for parents to transition their children from screen time to other activities.”
With the PBS Kids Super Vision App, parents enter a simple code on their iPhone or iPod touch to start receiving: Real-time information on what their child is playing, watching and learning on pbskids.org; The ability to remotely set a Play Timer from their Apple Watch, iPhone or iPod touch that will put pbskids.org to sleep on their child’s screen, easing the transition from playing online to another activity, such as dinner time or bed time; Related activities from PBS Parents that they can do with their child off-screen to extend the fun and learning goals of the games or videos their child plays on pbskids.org; An Activity Summary to view the top educational skills, shows, videos and games their child used on pbskids.org.
The multiple Webby-award-winning PBS Kids team designed PBS Kids Super Vision using open source tools. The app is built on a platform that allows for the seamless, real-time pairing of multi-platform experiences and content on any device with an internet connection. The connection doesn’t require physical proximity, making it easy for parents to see and connect to their child’s screen-time experience anywhere.
PBS Kids Super Vision is PBS Kids’ second app designed specifically for parents. PBS Parents Play & Learn, also available for free, offers parents activities that they can do with their kids to support math and literacy, themed around specific locations such as the grocery store or the park. PBS Kids also offers more than 35 apps for kids, designed to help build literacy, math, science and school readiness skills.