Linking Licensing and Learning

Teachers and parents continue to be concerned about learning loss and the deepening academic struggles many children have faced since the start of the pandemic. That has likely been one factor driving several licensors and licensees that are active in entertainment/character licensing to forge new deals in the education arena.

Licensing of educational products is not uncommon, with favorite characters long being seen as good guides to learning when featured in workbooks or educational toys or apps. But these recent deals are notable in that they are closely linked to brands that are respected and used in PreK-12 classrooms and/or aligned to grade-level academic standards. The products are meant to be used, at school and/or at home, as an engaging way to directly supplement a child’s core classroom education.

Here are some of the agreements revealed in the last two months:

• Sesame Workshop partnered with Discovery Education, in a deal announced last week, to introduce an early learning channel for grades PreK-2 that will debut in the fall on Discovery’s learning platform. The channel, which takes a whole-child learning approach, includes video content, lesson plans and educator resources, interactive games and activities, and family supports. Content emphasizes social-emotional development and wellness, math and literacy, and social studies-aligned content on identity and belonging, all integrating Sesame Street characters. Discovery Education is a key player in K-12 schools, offering its Techbooks digital textbooks as well as a wide range of supplemental digital content.

• America’s Test Kitchen, whose brand-extension activities have ranged from cookbooks to cruises, said last week that it had paired with GoNoodle for a series of videos and other resources focused on the connections between science and food. The dedicated channel on the GoNoodle app started with 10 videos that include recipes along with short lessons about topics like gluten and what makes drinks fizzy. Young chefs from ATK Kids’ programming join GoNoodle’s Champs characters to lead learners through the content. There are also written guides that include experiments and develop life skills including curiosity and self-confidence. GoNoodle is a free tool for K-5 educators that is meant to keep students moving and active while at school, through interactive videos and activities that integrate lessons on academic topics, exercise, social-emotional learning, and sensory and motor skills.

• Toy company Schleich said in March that it had partnered with The American Montessori Society in a year-long partnership. Teachers will integrate Schleich’s detailed and realistic animal figurines into lessons on language development, cultural studies, and other educational subjects in Montessori schools. The Montessori method promotes self-motivated, independent, and engaged learning and relies heavily on manipulatives (physical objects) to help students learn and retain the lessons. The partnership will offer educators ideas on how to use Schleich figures and playsets in the classroom, as well as provide co-branded videos and other content. While this agreement focuses on Schleich’s core products, the company is also a licensee, most notably of The Smurfs, for which it has been producing figures since 1965.

• In February, One Animation announced it had paired with SplashLearn to bring Oddbods into the latter’s digital learning program for reading and math. A collection of Oddbods digital books launched exclusively as part of the standards-aligned game-based reading program, which develops the core reading skills of kids 3-11 (grades PreK-5) through a sequential learning path. One of the attractive qualities of the property for SplashLearn was its emphasis on social-emotional learning, which is increasingly recognized as not only important for future success in life but also for its role in improving academic performance. SplashLearn is available to parents and teachers in 150 countries and is used in one-third of U.S. schools.

Marketers in categories that traditionally have been more casually educational—teaching basic concepts or offering practice but not necessarily aligned to state educational standards—are also strengthening their ties with the classroom, with more curriculum-aligned products and more offerings tied to respected classroom brands becoming available. In workbooks, for example, Carson-Dellosa’s extensive Disney Learning range for PreK-3 includes standards-based activities in math, reading, and other subjects. DK recently partnered with Mrs. Wordsmith, a teacher-created literacy program for parents and educators, for a series of grade-aligned workbooks. And Bendon, which typically pairs with entertainment/character brands, recently secured rights to educational properties including ABC Mouse and Teacher Created Materials.

Licensing continues to represent a small slice of the educational space, especially when it comes to standards-aligned materials. While licensed characters and brands can pique the interest of students who may otherwise not take to academics easily, there is still a belief among some parents and teachers that an educational resource connected to a pop-culture character cannot be serious or educationally effective. Perceptions are changing, however, and the need to find ways to engage students in learning is becoming more critical. As a result, more agreements like those outlined here are likely to arise in the future.