A few weeks ago, Kids Listen, a nonprofit organization dedicated to high-quality children’s audio, announced the launch of Big Emotions: Kids Listen Mashups About Feelings, a limited podcast series. Created in collaboration with more than 40 members of the Kids Listen community, including such multiple award-winning podcasts as PJ Library Presents: Afternoons with Mimi, this groundbreaking production offers families and educators a rich resource for exploring feelings and building social-emotional skills through storytelling and sound.
Fans of PJ Library Presents: Afternoons with Mimi, one of PJ Library’s storytelling podcasts, will hear a familiar set of voices in the collaboration’s second episode: Mimi and Kiddo!
In an episode of the Fear & Bravery podcasts, Mimi and Kiddo join host Eric O’Keefe from What If World and five other popular podcasts for a playlist mashup on overcoming scary moments. (Kiddo, for example, must face a loud, barking dog). In addition to the six stories, the episode features guided reflection questions and hands-on activities for kids and grownups to do together.
“The beautiful stories highlighted in each episode, plus the guided audio from each host, offers families and educators practical tools to better understand emotions, foster empathy, and strengthen the five core social emotional competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making,” notes Alli Thresher, Director of Digital Content for PJ Library. “Kids and their grownups will be enjoying a great snuggle-up-and-listen moment while internalizing some important lessons within these entertaining stories.”
Big Emotions premiered September 16 and continues through the end of October with two episodes each on Fear & Bravery; Jealousy & Openness; Anger & Forgiveness; Belonging & Independence; Embarrassment & Pride; Love & Sadness; and Endings & Beginnings. Thanks to the series, fans of the other featured podcasts will get to meet Mimi and Kiddo—if they aren’t friends already—and encouraged to tune in to the Jewish children’s stories presented by this beloved PJ Library podcast.
“Helping children learn to understand, cope with, and communicate about emotions in themselves and others is essential for developing strong and caring relationships,” says Dr. Eileen Kennedy-Moore of the Kids Ask Dr. Friendtastic podcast. “This series features feelings-laden clips from over 40 different kid podcasts, to make learning about emotions engaging, meaningful, and actionable.”
With so many partners in the mix and stories to combine, Big Emotions was a year in the making. But the result, Thresher says, is invaluable.
“We have been lucky enough to be members of the Kids Listen consortium for the last few years,” says Thresher. “As an organization, Kids Listen is a community that champions high-quality audio content for children. As members we collaborate, share expertise, attend learning sessions, keep up on industry trends, and learn from our peers in the children's audio space.”