David Farnor | On 12, Jun 2018

Hopster, the preschool learning and entertainment app, has commissioned a new original preschool series, Saturday Club, a show that helps kids explore empathy and emotions.

Hopster have partnered with children’s media company Dog Ears, the producers of the popular animated preschool series Puffin Rock. Creative lead on the show will be illustrator and animator Robin Davey, whose distinctive colourful and geometric style will be familiar to fans of the CBBC favourite Hey Duggee.

Set in a makeshift den, the show will follow Jo, Suzy, Jamie and Tian, as they gather every Saturday to discuss their week. Guided by Granda, we’ll see the four friends leap into the lives of people they’ve seen or heard about and explore how they would feel in their shoes. Encouraging kids to recognise and imagine various emotions, the show will provide a fun way to develop kids’ emotional intelligence and build their capacity for empathy.

Saturday Club will be accompanied by a fun game featuring the familiar characters and helping kids practice their skills in recognising various expressions and related emotions. The game is being developed in consultation with EmpathyLab, a new organisation dedicated to helping children develop strong empathy skills.

The announcement of both projects arrives on Empathy Day, a nation-wide initiative by EmpathyLab that celebrates the power of empathy to make the world a better place.

Ellen Solberg, Content Lead at Hopster says: “It is so important that kids learn from an early age what it means to empathise with others. Understanding how others feel equips us with important social-emotional skills that help us form strong relationships. We feel there is not enough content like this on the market and we’re so excited to partner with Dog Ears to create our very own original animation and game teaching kids about empathy.”

John McDaid, Creative Director at Dog Ears, adds: “Hopster is the perfect home for Saturday Club. We’re excited to announce this partnership and bring this joy-filled show exploring empathy to life! The power empathy has to change how children see the world, and understand themselves better in the process, is something we’re passionate about.”

Saturday Club will arrive on Hopster in early 2019. Here’s a trailer:

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