Cartoon Network Pushes Getting Kids to Code

Cartoon Network is launching a series of videos that encourage kids to learn computer programming.

The video tutorials were created with Scratch—a programming platform—and feature characters from the series We Bare Bears. They show kids how to do a project by creating graphical programming blocks that make characters move, jump, talk and interact with one antoher.

The effort by Cartoon, part of Turner Broadcasting, is to get kids to learn more about science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM).

“Scratch’s technology enables kids to unleash their creative ideas and express themselves,” said Christina Miller, president and general manager of Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Boomerang. “By giving kids access to these beloved characters so that they can create their own stories, we can also encourage collaboration and help build important skills for their future.”

The tutorials can be accessed on any laptop or desktop computer. CN and Scratch also created facilitator guides for educators and afterschool providers that want to use the tutorials to introduce their students to basic coding.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.