November 10,2016, New Delhi: Sesame Workshop India’s flagship TV programme, Galli Galli Sim Sim, which reaches an estimated 18 million children every year[1], is now available on a brand new digital application for kids launched by YouTube. With this debut on the newly launched app, kids will be now able to watch their favourite muppets Elmo, Chamki and Grover on their smartphones and learn important life skills from them. In addition to the videos, the app also houses exclusive parenting websiodes hosted by the renowned Bollywood actor, columnist and writer Twinkle Khanna.
Through this platform, Galli Galli Sim Simaims to provide a wide range of content through its fun and learning videos on varied topics ranging from literacy, nutrition to cognitive and executive functioning skills. The parenting webisodes by Twinkle Khanna are aimed at equipping parents with the appropriate language and strategies to deal with child-centric issues like bullying, conflict resolution, the importance of listening, fear of the dark, separation anxiety and good touch – bad touch among others.
Sashwati Banerjee, Managing Director, Sesame Workshop India says, "The YouTube's Kids application will provide an easier access to a variety of kids’ content in a safe space. We are thrilled to reach out to our young audience through a contemporary and popular platform like YouTube. Our content engages and entertains kids in the preschool years helping them grow smarter, stronger and kinder. Kids can now watch their favorite muppets- Elmo, Chamki, Grover and others on the application when they want, where they want. At Sesame India we believe in the power of engaging parents and caregivers with strategies and language around dealing with child-centric issues. We have recently launched a series of webisodes for parents hosted by the popular Bollywood actor, Twinkle Khanna on topics like self-confidence, bullying, resolving conflict, consent and much more which will also be available on the YouTube Kids’ application. We believe this synergized effort will expand our outreach and help build new practices for children’s learning.”
Speaking at the launch of YouTube Kids in India, Malik Ducard, YouTube’s Global Head of Family and Learning, said, “YouTube Kids is our first step in reimagining YouTube for families, an experience that gives you a world of video in your pockets, and a world of possibility and knowledge at your fingertips. India already has a very diverse and rapidly-growing creator base for kids and learning, with content in this category growing 100% year over year. YouTube Kids comes to India at a great time for millions of Indian families, as it provides children access to content that will enrich their lives and create new opportunities for learning. It also provides the perfect platform to showcase India’s incredibly vibrant, growing community of content creators, from animation studios to edutubers.”
Today’s parents and caregivers are also highly dependent on digital media to engage and educate children whether it is to teach them the alphabet and numbers or to just keep them occupied with age-appropriate songs and videos. However, they are often worried about the irrelevant and inappropriate content that kids may be exposed to while watching videos online. The YouTube Kids application is the perfect solution for parents as it hosts all popular kids’ content under one roof giving the child a variety of video content to choose from. It aligns very well with Sesame’s philosophy of providing ‘safe spaces’ for children.
Smartphones have penetrated into urban families and have reached the hands of the youngest family members. Kids are becoming more and more digitally savvy which is evident from the recent Nielsen study by Cartoon Network which shows that the internet usage has increased to 15% for the 3-8 age group, 27% in the 9-10 age group, 39% in the 11-12 age group to 51% in the 13-14 age group. There is no doubt that kids are not far behind when it comes to getting a hang of new and emerging media.