KIDS Clubhouse Adventures is a regularly scheduled half hour educational children’s program focusing on the pillars: go outside and play, use your imagination, read good books and eat healthy foods. Dedicated to fun, adventure and learning, the weekly series is set to support IPTV’s youngest audience. Each episode consists of segments featuring activities, guests and puppets. Host Dan Wardell and Abby Brown, and puppets DanBot and Caveman, visit communities across the state, making Iowa’s children the stars of the show.
The series can be enjoyed via statewide broadcast, the IPTV KIDS App, streamed on YouTube or at Iptv.org. Coordinating educational activities and resources are available to parents and children online. These include activity sheets that use program subject matter and continue the educational exploration beyond the screen. More than 100 clips from the program have been uploaded to PBS LearningMedia to provide easy access to these resources to teachers. Social media provides ongoing promotional support and engagement. The KIDS Clubhouse Adventures Facebook page shares all the fun things going on: program clips, community events, Dan Wardell’s Reading Road Trip adventures and more. Regular contests, quizzes, polls and videos encourage repeat engagement.
When the program launched in 2016, a special program preview intended for adults communicated the important educational and developmental mission of the series for parents, grandparents and caregivers. The preview also allowed viewers to get to know the many characters and concepts related to the program. A premiere party screening at IPTV’s studio invited children and families to screen an episode of KIDS Clubhouse, meet the cast, visit the Clubhouse set and participate in educational activities.
KIDS Clubhouse Adventures engagement has been further supported by an annual Reading Road Trip. IPTV partners with librarians statewide to promote summer reading each year. In Summer 2019, 29 Iowa communities received a visit from Dan Wardell, who welcomed kids and families with an engaging, interactive story time. Once summer is over, Wardell continues his Reading Road Trip story times throughout the school year as the show production schedule permits. Fans follow Dan Wardell’s year-long journey by visiting Iptv.org/Families or on Facebook at KIDS Clubhouse Adventures.