GIANT Partners with Verizon in Collaboration with Joan Ganz Cooney Center from Sesame Workshop!
The GIANT Room, an innovation hub for children and their families, is excited to announce they will be partnering with Verizon and Joan Ganz Cooney Center from Sesame Workshop to co-design a new toolkit for families, with families. The toolkit will be designed to support caregivers to navigate introducing smartwatches and smartphones to their kids. This is part of Verizon’s mission to address the digital dilemma through strategic partnerships and programs. Families with kids ages 8-12 are invited to apply.
As a token of appreciation for your time, families will receive $100 in the form of an e-gift card for joining one of the sessions.
Participation entails one parent and one child, between ages 8-12, joining one free, two- hour workshop focused on co-designing and playfully brainstorming of ideas for the best methods for parents and families to navigate introducing smartwatches, smartphones, and social media to their kids. Kids who join will have a chance to learn and practice the art of giving and receiving feedback and then to join a prototyping exercise with industry innovators and researchers. Applicants have the choice of joining a workshop on June 6th from 5pm to 7pm, June 7th from 10am to 12pm, or June 7th from 2pm to 4pm. All sessions will be held in person at the Westside YMCA in New York City.
The GIANT Room believes the most engaging and effective digital experiences are the ones that are designed with children’s point of view in mind, and even better, those that are designed with children and their families involved in the design process. “As part of our mission, we thrive to amplify children’s voices and bring their ideas into the design process of products that are being designed for them,” Dr. Jamalian, The GIANT Room’s CEO explains, “this will benefit children who participate in these sessions, by engaging in design thinking, teamworking, and building prototypes with designers in the field, and also children who will use these products once in the market.”
With the average Verizon home internet household boasting 18 connected devices and counting, Verizon recognizes the increasing challenge of managing screen time and its impact on overall well-being. “Building healthy habits in our digital lives is essential for overall well-being. Verizon is empowering families to have peace of mind around their children’s online lives by providing resources and tools that promote digital safety - and encouraging kids to put the phones down from time to time,” said Sowmyanarayan Sampath, CEO, Verizon Consumer. “We’re committed to making sure that technology enhances our lives, rather than detracts from them, and our new initiatives are a significant step in that direction.”
Named after Sesame Street’s visionary co-founder, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center is an independent research and innovation lab within Sesame Workshop dedicated to shaping a positive digital future for children. The Center conducts cutting-edge research on emerging technologies, partners with industry leaders, academics, and educators to translate insights into action, and works closely with policymakers and investors to drive meaningful conversations and decisions. By actively involving children and young people in co-designing the tools that they use, the Center ensures that innovations enhance both learning and well-being—ultimately empowering children to thrive in the digital world.
This program is completely free for children and their families to participate. We are accepting a limited number of children in New York City to participate in the program. Families with children ages 8-12 are invited to apply. As a token of appreciation for your time, families will receive a $100 e-gift card for joining one of the sessions.
Where: Westside YMCA, 5 West 63rd Street, New York, NY, 10023
When: June 6th from 5 to 7pm, June 7th from 10am to 12pm, or June 7th from 2 to 4pm.
Who: Children ages 8-12 and their parent