I, used to watch Arthur with my grandchildren when they were a little younger and always appreciated the diversity of the children portrayed on the show. Diversity of background and ethnicity as well as religion. Since its creation in 1976 the kids of Elwood City have even faced head lice, peanut butter allergies, blindness and dyslexia.
Now The PBS Kids show is inviting children between the ages of 6 and 12 to create a new character to appear on Arthur. According to the contest, the idea is to create a character “who can show the gang that children come in all shapes, sizes and abilities or rather disabilities.”
Through March 31, children can send in drawings and descriptions of their creations for a chance to appear on TV in a short live-action segment. The winner will also get to meet the author and illustrator of Arthur, Marc Brown, who has written about 70 Arthur titles that have sold more than 65 million copies in the United States alone.
Is your child a creative genius? Challenge him to draw a character for the Arthur show on PBS Kids.
To prepare your child in this activity you might want to discuss some of the following items:
Remind children that a disability does not define the person, and that having a disability does not mean there is something wrong with the person.
Talk to your children about adaptation. People with differing abilities had to learn to adapt to their environment or to using equipment, just like our children learn to adapt to changing weather.
Explain to them that it is alright to ask polite questions. Most people with disabilities are very willing to answer if the questions as respectful.
Help your child to notice that all around him/her friends, classmates and maybe even family members are different, that each person has unique or special attributes.
Show the child how to focus on the commonalities, what could your child have in common with a child with a disability?
The contest runs through March 31. The winner will appear in a segment on the show. There will also be mentions for 9 others entrants, who will also qualify for some prizes from the show and CVS Caremark All Kids Can, a program dedicated to making life easier for kids with disabilities.
While this is going to be a fun activity for children the intent of the contest is really to encourage parents and children to discuss some of the ideas previously mentioned about disabilities.
You can download the rules of the contest and the submission form
I wish you a fun creative time and good luck!
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