Podcasts and Playtime Can Create a More Immersive, Fun, and Enriching Experience for Families

by Andrew Quartin | View Bio
and
Nicole Blake | View Bio

Andrew Quartin

Andy is the CEO of Thames & Kosmos, a prominent publisher of educational toys and games. He oversees the North American business unit of Kosmos GmbH, a privately held publisher that has been operating for 200 years and specializes in books, educational toys, and games. In addition to his daily responsibilities, Andy also serves on the Kosmos Executive Board, where he contributes to the development and implementation of strategies for the global organization.

From 2002 to 2012, Andy held various roles in the financial sector, managing investment portfolios of media, retail, technology, and diversified consumer products companies.

Before that, Andy was President of Turn up the Music, North America's leading party music publisher and distributor. Through innovative marketing and merchandising strategies, Turn Up the Music achieved eight consecutive years of record revenue and profitability, over 25 million records sold, and multiple gold and platinum records.

Andy currently serves as the chairperson of the Toy Foundation board of trustees and previously served as a member of the Toy Association board of directors.

Nicole Blake

Nicole Blake is a dynamic leader with a proven record of success in unlocking potential and building long-term value at global entertainment and consumer goods companies. With over 20 years of experience launching category-defining brands, reigniting nostalgic brands, extending brands into new businesses, and managing multi-generational fandoms, Nicole is laser-focused on the fan and driving a positive end-to-end journey.

As Chief Brand Officer at Wondery, the leading podcast studio and distributor, Nicole is responsible for building franchises by both extending existing IP and partnering with Content and Marketing on inventing new IP. Since joining Wondery in 2021, she has developed the brand positioning and identity for Wondery Kids, launched eCommerce, and put in place a pipeline of Collaborations, Consumer Products, and Live Experiences to delight fans.

Prior to joining Wondery, Nicole held various executive positions at major media companies, including Warner Bros. and DreamWorks Animation. At Warner Bros., Nicole was SVP, Harry Potter Global Franchise Development, where she oversaw global strategy, insights, and fan experience to drive growth for one of the world's leading entertainment franchises and fandoms. While at WB, Nicole spearheaded several firsts -- the first long-range, global franchise plan; the digital transformation strategy to move the franchise to a direct-to-fan relationship; and the first territory expansion plan for China. This work led to 30+ new brand extensions driving increased fan engagement, expanded market share and a more diversified financial profile.

Previously, as Head of Franchise at DreamWorks Animation, Nicole drove general management of classic brands across the Studio setting strategy for content, distribution, digital, partnerships and marketing. She joined DreamWorks upon its acquisition of Classic Media -- a private equity-backed, production company focused on the reinvention of nostalgic brands, such as Where’s Waldo, Lassie and Voltron. As EVP, Nicole ran Digital Sales, Consumer Products and Marketing (creative services, PR, social media, partnerships, and research) and was a member of the management team that turned-around the Company.

In addition, she served as Vice President, Global Marketing for HIT Entertainment, where she led brand development and integrated marketing campaigns for Thomas & Friends, Bob the Builder and The Wiggles and launched the first 24/7 pre-school channel and VOD service, Sprout.

A native New Yorker who resides in Los Angeles, Nicole has a big case of wanderlust and loves to travel and learn about new cultures. She received a J.D. from University of San Francisco School of Law and a B.A. from Cornell University.

Want to make family time doubly entertaining and exciting? You might want to try pairing podcasts and playtime. Think about how cool it could be to learn facts about dinosaurs from a podcast while playing with a dinosaur toy. All of a sudden, playtime becomes a fully immersive experience that lets kids and their families delve further into their interests—and gain new knowledge!

Young kids are not only learning and skill-building in the classroom, but also through leisure activities like podcast listening and play. And the combination of podcasts and playtime can be the perfect pairing. According to Edison Research’s Kids Podcast Listener Report, 94% of monthly podcast listeners ages 6 to 12 say they learn something new from podcasts. Playtime can also be enriching; a study from Cambridge University found that kids can learn more through a play-focused approach than traditional teacher-led instruction. Encouraging kids to move around and play as they learn new things from a podcast can also help kids better retain what they hear, according to Neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki.

Pairing podcasts with playtime is not only beneficial for kids, but for parents too. Podcasts are a great way to foster conversation among family members. According to a study by Kids Listen, 74% of parents said their kids ages 3-8 initiated a discussion based on a podcast after listening. Carving out family time is also beneficial to children’s sense of wellbeing according to this study by the National Institutes of Health, and with the added benefits of combining podcasts and play, why not create a daily routine of listening and playing together. Whether it’s listening to a podcast about ocean life on the way to the beach, or to a podcast about a famous architect while assembling a massive tower out of blocks, the benefits of making podcasts a part of a family’s day are endless.

That is why our teams at Wondery and Thames & Kosmos have joined forces to launch an innovative new STEM toy line that brings together podcasts and play. According to a study by the University of Las Vegas, early exposure to science not only helps kids strengthen their abilities in this area, but also in language learning and literacy.

The new Wondery Kids toy line, inspired by WOW IN THE WORLD, the #1 podcast for kids and families, offers an impactful and fun way to leverage the knowledge and skills gained from listening to the podcast with its WOW STEM facts and guided play to provide young ones with an unmatched experience. Hosted by Mindy Thomas (best-selling author) and Guy Raz (award-winning journalist and host of the podcast How I Built This), WOW IN THE WORLD takes curious kids and their grown-ups on hilarious cartoon-for-the-ear adventures from the inside of their brain, to outer space, and deep into the coolest new stories in science, technology, and innovation. Each of the WOW IN THE WORLD toys features accompanying audio from Guy and Mindy that explains a bit of the science powering the toy in an incredibly fun way. For example, Mindy and Guy discuss how rockets (including the Thames & Kosmos Ultimate High-Flying Air Rocket) and your body (in the form of farts!) both produce thrust. After learning this, kids and families will have a blast launching the air rocket and hearing funny sounds, like farts, come out of it!

While this line-up is truly a first in pairing podcasts and play and a game changer infusing freshness in the toy category, there are numerous ways to reap the benefits of podcasts and playtime. The combination, as shown above, can also be a great way to get kids to discover, comprehend, and enjoy STEM topics. Here are some examples of how parents can make family time more magical and enriching by incorporating podcasts:

1. Make a family excursion an incredibly immersive experience by adding a podcast: If you are headed to music class or music activity, find a family-friendly podcast about classical music to listen to during the car ride together, like Wondery Kids & Family’s Whose Amazing Life? episode “The Composer,” spotlighting the life of Beethoven. It’s a way to encourage conversation and engagement in the upcoming performance.


2. Turn playtime into a 360° experience by pairing toys with podcasts that tie into similar themes: Whether it’s pairing rockets with a podcast about space, or a toy owl with a podcast about birds, by connecting themes, you can make the play experience even more delightful, and more of an opportunity to gain new knowledge and skills.


3. Help your kids dive deeper into their interests by creating experiences that incorporate toys, podcasts, and an activity: It’s incredibly validating for kids when parents encourage their interests. It’s also an opportunity for parents and children to connect in a meaningful and organic way. Why not create family experiences around that interest, incorporating podcasts, toys, and an activity? For example, if your kids expressed an interest in cooking, find a way to connect food and cooking podcasts, cooking toys and kid-friendly cooking tools, and a cooking class into one big family adventure. Maybe you try out the podcasts and products as a family at home one weekend and then build up to taking a cooking class together the next weekend. It’s a great way to bond as a family and build your child’s self-esteem by focusing on something they love.

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