A Conversation With The Wild Kratts

by Eliabeth Ross on February 19th, 2013 | No Comments »

The Kratts are going wild. Last month, I participated in the Mom It Forward #gno Twitter party featuring Chris and Martin Kratt. Anyone who has had children over the last twenty years should be familiar with this charismatic pair. The party was held to celebrate the launch of the second season of their current show, Wild Kratts.

A few weeks later I had the opportunity to meet the Kratt brothers in person. I spent some time with them discussing Wild Kratts, their work overall, the importance of quality screen time and the #gno party.

Me: I recently participated in a Twitter chat you were part of. In what other ways do you utilize social media, and what do you see as the benefits?

Martin: The Twitter party when we launched the Lost At Sea special was really fun. It was the first time we’d done a Twitter party. It was really nice to chat with people, get information and see what they were liking. It was a great time. And we have a Facebook page. Our website we are really in to. We’re trying to take the learning experience of the show and put it into our interactive games.

Chris: And basically, on the site you get a creature power suit, create an avatar and go around playing educational games focused on different creature powers. Every time you reach a competency level in that game, you earn that power for your suit. Kids are really enjoying it.

We have a new app out now that also contains great fun, educational games. So we’re really enjoying that side of it, too.

The Kratt brothers website just won the 2013 Kidscreen Award for Best Companion Website in the Kids category.

Me: You mentioned a line of toys during the Twitter chat. Can you tell me more about that?

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Martin: Well, we’re getting a lot of letters and emails that kids and parents are looking for Wild Kratts toys. So we’re working on that now.

Me: Will you guys become toys?

Martin: (laughs) Well, maybe. We might be toys. Action figures, different animals. There are so many fun ways to extend the spirit of Wild Kratts and the learning, through toys, video games, apps, and websites. We’re very excited about keeping going with Wild Kratt.

If you have never watched Wild Kratts I highly recommend it. It has received critical acclaim, an Emmy nomination, a Parent’s Choice Recommended Award, and is my four year-old daughter’s favorite.

You can view the full video of our interview here.

What are some of your favorite Wild Kratt's videos?

Elizabeth blogs about her struggles and successes as a writer and a mom at The Writer Revived. She is the author of CACOPHONY: HOW THE MOMMY WARS HAVE REACHED NEW HEIGHTS ONLINE AND TODAY'S MOM SIMPLY CANNOT WIN, which she is currently working to get published. In March 2011 she launched The Mom Pledge, an online campaign to eradicate cyber bullying among moms. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. She loves social media!