Latest / Beautifully Complex / 363: Raising Problem-Solvers: Lessons from the Co-Creator of Blue's Clues & Daniel Tiger, with Angela Santomero

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363: Raising Problem-Solvers: Lessons from the Co-Creator of Blue's Clues & Daniel Tiger, with Angela Santomero · Beautifully Complex

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: You know, me saying let's go, let's go to go,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: let's go, we have to go to school.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: Is never going to.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Work as opposed to literally creating some sort of adventure
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: to why we need to get there, or the adventure
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: of hopping into the car to race to it, you
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: know what I mean, Like just creating a story about
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: the situations if we can. Like we're also busy and
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: so much to do, but leaning into how they think
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: will totally help with everything.
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: Welcome to Beautifully Complex, where we unpack what it really
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: means to parent neurodivergent kids with dignity and clarity. I'm
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: Penny Williams, and I know firsthand how tough and transformative
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: this journey can be. Let's dive in and discover how
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: to raise regulated, resilient, beautifully complex kids together. Oh and
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: if you want more support, join our free community at
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: hub dot beautifully complex dot life. Welcome back everyone. I
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: am super super excited to have with me today Angela
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: Santa Mario to talk about what she learned creating Blues
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: Clues and Daniel Tiger and her new series which I'll
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: let her talk about as well, and what we can
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: take away from that in parenting our own kids and
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: educating our own nerdivergent kids. How do we interact with
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: them in a way that engages and also teaches skills?
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: And I know we're going to get to so much
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: good stuff, But Angela, will you start by letting everybody
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: know who you are and what you do?
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: Sure? I'm angel Santa Mera.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: I have a master's in child developmental psychology and create
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: educational media. So I Blues Clues was my first show.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: I come from a family of teachers, and so I
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: wanted to educate through media. Then I did Super Why
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and my newest is Princess Penelope's
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: Purse of Preposterous Things, which.
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: Is a mouthful, but I love it. I want to
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: start this conversation and by really talking about the format
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: that you have used over the years in creating these
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: characters in the television programming for children. I remember my
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: kids are twenty seven and twenty three. My twenty seven
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: year old daughter is like so crazy excited and talking
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: to somebody about Blues Clues because that was the thing
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: when she was younger. And I remember that it felt
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: different to watch that show than some of the other
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: kids programming. What can we learn from that, what can
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: we take away from that format?
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: Yes, thank you for saying that, because the intact to
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: format is probably my most my trademark, I think, but
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: it's also the most important with regard to practicing the
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: skills that we put into the foundation and the curriculum
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: of the show, and it allows kids to play. It's
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: that ping pong and child development are in developmental psychology,
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: where you're having a conversation and you're pausing long enough
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: for somebody to interact back to you, and then you're
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: adding to that conversation. And so when we were first
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: thinking about Blues Clues, what Nickelodeon wanted was a game show.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: So the idea of a game show for little ones
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: and I had been trying to get education into Nickelodeon,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: was this idea of this interactivity, this playing this like
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: I pitched it as a height and seek kind of phenomena.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: But then we did all the kindergarten readiness skills, and
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: what we found with our summative and longitudinal research is
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: that kids are literally practicing those skills.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: So kids who watched Blues.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Clothes Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood super why all scored statistically significantly
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: better on standardized tasks than kids who didn't watch, And
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: so those concepts were being mastered, which we were we
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: are so proud of.
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and strikes me is maybe problem solving skills most
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: of all. I remember and I watch some clips of
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: your new program too on YouTube, and just that asking
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: the child for their input, just knowing they're there and
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: asking for their input and asking what maybe they would do, right,
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: doesn't that also help to foster those problem solving skills?
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, Princess penelpe is all about critical thinking skills and
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: creative thinking skills, right. So the idea that that's what
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: I feel that little's physchoolers need now for when they're twenties, right, Like,
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: we don't really know what exactly they're going to need,
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  Speaker 1: but we know they're going to need to think critically
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  Speaker 1: to know that there's always a solution to the problem.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: To problem solve with kindness. And so this back and
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: forth and Penelope leaning into you and waiting a specific
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: amount of time so that you can think through the
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: question and formulate an answer and come back is really important.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: And the resilience of there's a new episode where Princess
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: Pinope doesn't get it right on the first or second try,
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: and so she continues to try and there's no real
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: I'm not showcasing that they're wrong answers, but there are
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: different answers for what it is that you're looking to do.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: And so I think that's also such an important aspect
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: of problem solving.
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: You've said that kindness isn't soft, that's actually a superpower.
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: Can you talk to us a little bit more about that,
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  Speaker 3: because I do like when I read that, I thought, wow,
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: we do think of kindness as this soft and gentle thing.
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  Speaker 3: How else can we reimagine it?
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so being nice and being kind are two different things,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: and sometimes the idea of being kind is a little
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: bit radical because sometimes we need the constructive criticism in
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: order to get the best results in terms of that
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: level of kindness. And so, for instance, for the how
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: I translate that to Little's is the idea that Princess
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: Penelope doesn't want to change our fire breathing dragon, she wants.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: To use his fire for good. How can you do that?
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: So this idea that you're choosing compassion and kindness to
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: help solve a problem by not changing somebody else, Like
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: that's an active kindness solution.
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and you mentioned creativity. Can you talk to us
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: a little bit about how we can harness maybe as
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: parents or educators, how do we harness creativity to help
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: to build skills to help to foster kindness. You know,
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: you're talking about the dragon and thinking of different ways that.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: That might be a benefit.
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: Like that's really what we need as parents of neurodiversient kids.
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: So how do we do that? How do we integrate
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: that in our day to day lives?
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: I think there's so many answers to that question, but
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  Speaker 1: I think the first one is that idea of the
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: fantasy reality and embracing the joy and the metaphor, and
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: that leaning into what kids are finding exciting or interesting
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: and letting them talk, letting them have the wrong answers,
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: letting them be imaginative and creative and thinking through something
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: before we correct them, right, Like we want them to
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: try pulling. I've been hearing that parents are giving kids
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: at black bags and pulling things out or paper bags
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: and pulling things out and being like, now, what do
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: we do?
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: You know?
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: And like there's no wrong answer really for how we're
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: going to use tape to solve something. So the idea
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: of just kind of flexing that muscle and realizing that
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: it might not be Obviously, we're not teaching kids to
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: go and deal with the fire breathing dragon, right, we're
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: using that as a metaphor to help kids do things
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: in the real world, but we're doing it in a
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: way that we're speaking their language of play.
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: And how do we help them to think differently? How
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: do we sort of you know, what you're talking about
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: is letting kids lead, but of course we also have
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: this role of guidance, So how do we help to
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: guide them into thinking about me this thing that they
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: pulled out of the bag in a totally different way
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: without really leaving them.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a scaffolding that we love so much and
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: teacher led play, so meaning we're not doing it for
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: them or answering the question, but we're adding a little
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: bit of information or we're adding a little bit of
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: a scaffold to hold them up. And so we're like, oh, well,
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: what else could we do with that? Or that's really sticky?
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: Is there something that we could you know, stick to it?
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: You know, so you're adding the expressive vocabulary, we're adding
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: a little bit of a thinking moment in what they're
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: already doing.
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  Speaker 2: And so we're doing that scaffolding. And you know, our.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Shows are so repetitive for a reason, and the repetition
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: obviously is the key to learning for all kids, but
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  Speaker 1: also the idea that we're repeating and elevating. So every
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: time we repeat, we're scaffolding that information a little bit,
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: so there's a rhyme and a reason behind it. And
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: I think that's also something that's really different in the
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: way we approach media and can help in their real
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: life because every time kids want to hear the same
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: story again at that time, it's because they're learning something new.
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  Speaker 1: So us understanding that level of repetition to gain that
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  Speaker 1: mastery of whatever it is if the kids are.
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: Trying to master, I think is really important and letting
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: them have the space. You know, as parents, I think
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  Speaker 3: we talk way too much. We do not give our
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: kids enough space to respond, to think critically, to think imaginatively.
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  Speaker 3: Do you have tips for parents of how to sort
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: of pull back, to override that instinct that we have
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  Speaker 3: to say too much and try to fill in the
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: blinks or find the right answers for them, especially in
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: these situations where there aren't right answers.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that pause, which is how we solved
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  Speaker 1: the idea of interactivity right back in the day. I
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  Speaker 1: mean still now we're talking about what is interactive media
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  Speaker 1: or how can we literally use it for good? And
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: the idea that we're using this four beat pause and
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: that wasn't scientific. It was literally me on set being
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: like when Steve would ask a question on Blues Clues
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  Speaker 1: and I'd wait until I was ready to answer him.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: And that's kind of what we need to do in
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: real life. We've been hearing from parents back in the
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: day we did and still now that they're like, oh,
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: that reminded me what happens when I take a break
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: and I do pause. Because what's so interesting is it
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: can be uncomfortable in any situation with adults to adults,
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: but with kids, when you do that in the first
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: time they say something that is a genius because they
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: always come up with something adorably genius, you're like, oh
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: my gosh, I need to do that more often versus
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: what we sometimes do. It says house school, good, okay, great,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: what did you have for lunch? Did you you did
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: what I mean, like we're just like ye, moving so fast.
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah, just slowing it down and giving them space to
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: be themselves and to surprise us. You know, I think
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: we lean on those assumption that our kids aren't going
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: to have the answer, they aren't going to know what
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: to do, or maybe they won't have the answer that
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: we think they should have. Right, all these things that
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: get in our way of just letting them be themselves
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: and discover themselves. I love that that out of the
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: box thinking too. What other skills does that really help
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: to build in children? We've talked about that problem solving skill.
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: What about things like decisions, creativity, confidence, all of that
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: does that come into play too?
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and it's higher order thinking skills too, right,
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: So yeah, it's that idea that we're.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Showcasing all of it.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: Right, So in those little bitty moments, we literally are
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: doing that. Like we're also thinking about the three things
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: that are in the person having to let's say, for
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: Princess Malty, remember what we're doing and what was in
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: the purse for one, we have another situation, so like
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: we're constantly adding to that. There's expressive book fabulary and
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: there there it depends on literally what we're using the
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: interactivity for and everything from socio emotional, kindergarten readiness, pre literacy,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: pre math, which is also kindergarten readiness, you know, all
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: of those learning skills and communication skills I think are
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: really important and learning how to communicate. The other thing
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: we did a lot with Blues Clues little harder when
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: it's an animated character is that expressiveness when you're asking
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: a question, so it doesn't always have to be audible.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: It's also in the way you're looking and intently looking,
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: so we're not asking a question and like looking away,
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: we're actually waiting for a response, or we look like
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: we're interested, we look like you know. So those kinds
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: of things we were able to model as well, which
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: is also why as a live action narrator on Princess Penelopia,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: I do that as well and ask questions of the
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: book that I'm reading.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: And that is based on.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: A study White Hairst study that did to teach parents
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: how to read to their kids with that level of
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: pausing and that level of follow up question, which is
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: the same kind of methodology that we put into the shows.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: M Hm.
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: You said expressiveness, and it made me think about you know,
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: a lot of times we're trying to teach our nerdivergent
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: kids about nonverbal communication, nonverbal cues, and we do that
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: sometimes through talking about their favorite characters or talking about,
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: you know, something they just read or watched, And so
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: these programs can really help with that aspect as well, right,
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: with talking about how the characters handle different things and
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: talking about expressions and so forth. I love that.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a little easier, right Daniel Tiger especially, there
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: was a disappointment episode the first one, which is when
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: something seems bad, turn it around and find something good.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: And because he's an animated tiger, it is so much
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: easier for the kids to kind of bring that in
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: and realize how that affects them in their real life.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: And so we've heard where kids like we've heard.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: From from a mom who said their son was getting
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: very upset every time the cheese on the pizza would
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: kind of slide off, and he sang himself the strategy
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: in order to put it back, and she couldn't figure.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: Out how to fix that, Like, how do I help with.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: That level of perfection and needing things a certain way?
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: And watching Daniel Tiger deal with it actually made a
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: little bit of a connection, and so that I think
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: is so important because we sometimes we don't talk about
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: their fantasy and their play at the dinner table because
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: we think it's trivial, or we think that we want
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: them to be focused in reality. But they're using it
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: as a bridge to reality, especially at this preschool age
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: and sometimes as they get a little older. It's also
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: easier to watch animated shows than live action, So I
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: think using it to our advantage is a great thing.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: It's a great tool.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah, there's so much packed into these programs, more than
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: I even realized, so much more thought and leaning on
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: the research and all of these things that you know,
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: as parents, we should watch some of this programming with
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: our kids, and when we do that, we can also
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: learn how to approach building these skills in these different ways,
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: how to take that pause, like you were saying, talk
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: to us a little bit more about Princess Penelope and
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: where where the idea came from, and a little more
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: about her purse of preposterous things such a tongue twister.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: I love it.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: So basically I was trying to think about blues clues
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: in reverse.
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: So with Blue clues.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: We were looking for three things, and so what happens
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: if we have those three things and they're preposterous and silly?
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: Which creates my ability to write multiple.
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: Episodes, right because there could always be there always be
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: new things in the purse and also can be translated
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: to somebody else. We're introducing a pirate character who then
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: also will have his little pouch of preposterous that you know, like,
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: so there's other ways to look at this idea that
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: we're having these three things, and so it just all
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: started to kind of percolate. And then because of the
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: thirty years I've been doing this, I know the play areas,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: the fantasy areas.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: Right, there's like a little bit of a castle.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: In medieval times and leaning into that, and then there's
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: you know what a good like what would I say
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: or define as a princess?
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: Like what does that actually mean? And how can she
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: use her kindness to solve problems? And so there's other
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: areas of storybook meadow of the you know, the mermaid cove, Like,
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: there's all these fun areas that I know kids will
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: get excited about and introduce these new characters that will
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: then take you on those journeys through fairy tales or
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: through through the stories that we're telling, and this love
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: of reading, which I didn't mention earlier because again, like
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: reading for me was huge as a kid. It helped
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: me so much. And so the idea that we're opening
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: a book at the beginning of every episode and then
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: we end after each chapter of a story, so that
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: you have to think about what's going to happen next
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: was another thing that I really wanted to get across,
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: and I was trying to figure that out. We know
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: that reading is down right now, and how hard it
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: is to catch up that. How do we showcase that
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: adventure inside reading, not just teaching them the tools to read,
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: which I did with Super Wide. So this was more
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: about the adventure inside a book.
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: Talk to us a little bit about using humor and
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: silliness and play in general and teaching our kids.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I love using the expressive vocabulary and the vocabulary
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: in a different way. So the idea that things are
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: silly and comedic and surprising and curious.
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: Is this word preposterous?
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: Right? When my oldest was three, she would you have
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: her little meltdowns and I was like, well, I guess
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: it's your prerogative, you know to And she was like,
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: so you know, there she is a two and a
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: half three year old using the word prerogative. And I
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: just think that once it makes sense to them, they
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: just right, so preposterous is going to make sense to
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: them over and over and over again. But silliness, enjoy
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: and being surprising is so much fun to get them invested,
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: To get kids invested in something and to realize they
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: can diffuse with humor, realize they can try something and
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: even if it's wrong, it's silly like those that kind
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: of building resilience and confidence. I think in the humor
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: and the silliness would happen. So it's inherently in the show.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: In the books, also, we add so many visuals to
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: add to that experience because we also know it's cuddle
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: Like I like to say it's cuttle TV when you're
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: watching something, but we know when you're reading it's cuttle time.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: And so the idea that parents will be also leaning in,
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: so we add even more of that in the books.
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I want to talk a little bit more still
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: about imagination and how can parents lean more into it,
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: Like we can provide the opportunity to read books like yours,
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: to watch programs like you're creating. What else can we
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: do in our regular, like everyday life to really just
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: lean into more of that imaginative play. We have so
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: many things that we need to get done right, and
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: we have so many places that we need to be
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: and we have to be there at a certain time.
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: How do we sort of take the pressure off.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, it's a great question. There's a couple of things,
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: Like one would be in the play corner, right. I
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: used to take what we've been told, take the old
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: toys that they're not playing with, or items, right like
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: dress up items, and take them from the bottom and
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: put them in the top. So there's always something new
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: to look at, and that's going to add the imagination.
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: So it's like you're just kind of resurfacing and reputting,
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: and then it is not being embarrassed to lean into
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: the play.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: Like when we would go to Costco, we would.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: Call it that we were on some sort of pirate
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: treasure hunt for the snacks, right, because then that was
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: what we were they were invested in seeing when there
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: was another little what is that?
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: Call them and they give you the little you know,
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: samplers little samples and they were so excited and so
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: of course they would go around the entire store with that.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: So it's like those kinds of things of leaning into
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: reinterpret a situation. You know, me saying let's go, let's go,
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: let's go, let's go, we have to go to school
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: is never going to work as opposed to literally creating
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: some sort of you know, adventure to why we need
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: to get there, or the adventure of hopping into the
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: car to race to you know what I mean, Like
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: just creating a story about the situations if we can
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: like look like we're all so busy in there and
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: so much to do, but leaning into how they think
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: will totally help with everything we did an Amelia, I
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: think it was a million bid dealing. No, maybe it
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: was different book where when my daughter was having nightmares,
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: we put a little magical potion to do the no
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: dream you know, the no nightmath, you know, And it's
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: just that power of you know what is it called
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: when you're like hoping for something to happen.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: It's going to come to me after our podcast.
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: But basically that kind of thing where we're leaning into
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: the to the play self fulfilling prophecy, that's what I think.
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, And we can use it too
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: to help kids regulate, right, to regulate their nervous system.
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: So much of like these exercises that can regulate us
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: could also be really imaginative play. Is there any of
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: that interwoven into Princess Penelope?
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: Have you?
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, moved at regulation too, I'm sure, yeah, of course.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: I mean for Daniel Tiger as an example, just because
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: it's something that people probably have seen, the idea that
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: when you feel so mad that you want to roar,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: take a deep breath and count to four, and then
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: he literally counts and we see Mom Tiger do it too.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: Same thing for Penelope in her rituals and what she
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: does and how she thinks about a problem and how
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: she leans in to do it. Taking a beat as
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: opposed to reacting right away. All of that helps to
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: regulate and self regulate because we're watching her do similar
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: things in a heightened scenario. Because I also know, we
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: also know from the research, is that when you're stressed,
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: you're not going to retain any of that information anyway, right,
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: So we might as well have them take a beat
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: before they're going to answer a question or solve a
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: problem as the character as well, in addition to the
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: interactive format, so that in the face of a fire
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: breathing jag and she's still thinking about it, she's not
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: just like freaking out. And I feel like that's also
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: really important to model, because modeling is amazing, and we
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: definitely do a lot of the modeling as the good behaviors,
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: but of course the interactivity is when I think that
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: those skills are actually going.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: To be sick as sticky as possible.
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: I want to talk about kindness more because I think
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: that we're really worried about that. I know I'm worried
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: about that in the world right now, and we want to,
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: of course raise kids who are kind, who are empathetic
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: to others. What advice do you have for parents, especially
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: of the littles who are really coming up during this
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: time and learning so much developmentally, How do we really
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: just make that a natural part of who we are
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: in our family, culture and our life in general.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think part of it's the modeling, but it's
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: also that we want them to be intrinsically motivated, right.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: We don't want to be like say thank you, say
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: thank you. We want to tell a story of you
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: know what grandma did. She had to think about what
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: you would like. She had to go to the store,
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: she had to use her money, she had to purchase
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: that present. She came home, she wrapped it up. You know,
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: it's like going through all of the steps so that
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: they understand and feel the gratefulness is kind of something
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: over time that we can do so that we're not
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: skipping any of those cognitive beats.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: And we do that in.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: Preschool TV right, Like we really take very small steps
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: to showcase all of the pieces of something so that
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: you really understand it. And I think that that really helps.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: But that sense of kindness is not weak. And as
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: a leader, like as someone who ran a show of
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: eighty people full time, you know, ten years, and then
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: again twelve hundred people, as I was in a business,
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: It's like I always led with that vision and letting
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: people into the why behind everything. Why are we here,
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: Why are we doing this, why this show? Why is
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: it important? And understanding that why helped me to have
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: so many of the same people stay forever, become friends,
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: become people who are passionate advocates for what we're doing.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: And I think that's really important to showcase that it's
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: not weak, it's actually successful to be kind and to
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: see it come back and there's a true loop. There's
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: a true kindness loop, right, like when you're kind and
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: then it comes back to you.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: Like we can show that in the research.
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: As well, and it feels us. It increases that energy
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: when you put it out there and it comes back.
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: It's like, oh, like I can receive that too, And
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: the more I put out that more it's going to
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: come back, and it's amazing.
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: And those stories we tell, you know, when somebody has
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: kind and did something that we didn't realize, Like people
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: tell those stories for like weeks, you.
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: Know, yes, yes, yes, for sure, they really stick with us. Yeah.
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: And you mentioned like slowing down, and I just wanted
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: to kind of highlight that that's really a good strategy,
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: not just for the littles, but for like, you know,
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: even if we have teenagers, young adults, you know, tweens,
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: in middle school whatever, it is, like slowing things down,
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: giving them space is a really powerful strategy to give
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: them the room to develop these skills. It's never too late, right,
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: to develop these skills.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: Never too late.
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: No, And I have to say, like, it hit me
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: once when we were rushing to get the kids out
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: for a holiday, a family holiday, and I wouldn't even
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: stop to take a photo, a family photo before going
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: to an event.
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: And I was like, I'm.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: An adule who talks about this all the time, and
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: yet it was more important for me to get there,
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: you know, at a certain time, than it was to
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: take two seconds to take a family photo.
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: And then I don't have it.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: You know. It's like that kind of thing of like
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: that reminder of what is the most important thing. And
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: once we let go of what other parents are going
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: to think or do what's best for our family. I
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: think that's when the right decisions start to be made.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: And obviously we have to go through it in order
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: to realize it. It's you know, all of us, but
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: I do think it makes a huge difference.
• 26:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so much good stuff. Talk to us about Princess
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: Penelope and where everybody can find the books and the
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: program and how they can be a part of that
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: experience with their kids.
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: Oh thank you. Princess Penelope is on YouTube.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: All kids are on YouTube right now, So I wanted
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: to I don't love everything that's on YouTube for kids,
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: so I wanted to elevate that content. So that's where
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: Princess Penelpe is on Princess Penelope Official on YouTube.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: Please subscribe, Please.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: Text me, email me on social media, tell me what
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: you think. I'm at Angela's Clues. And then the books
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: are wherever books are sold in Amazon, Walmart, Target, all
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: the places, and I have two of the four books
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: out now and then the other two will come out
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: in November.
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: Amazing. I just want to thank you for the work
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: that you've done in the world. It has impacted my
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: own family. You know, my own kids are still talking
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: about Blues Clues and still just amazed by it, and
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: so it's really really powerful stuff, and I appreciate you,
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: and of course I appreciate you being here and sharing
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: some of your time in wisdom with us.
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you so much for your interest.
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: I will see everybody next time. Take good care. I
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: see you. You're doing hard and meaningful work and you
• 27:46
  Speaker 3: don't have to do it alone. If you found this
• 27:49
  Speaker 3: episode helpful, share it with someone who needs it and
• 27:52
  Speaker 3: leave a quick review so others can find this support too.
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: When you're ready for next steps, the Regulated Kids Project
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: is here with the tools, coaching, and community to help
• 28:03
  Speaker 3: you raise a more regulated, resilient child. Get more info
• 28:08
  Speaker 3: at regulated kids dot com.