Screen Time
A Veteran Game Designer (& Mom Of A Teen) On Her Screen Time Rules
Written by Katie Hintz-Zambrano
Photography by Yumi Matsuo
Nov 30, 2022
Living a busy life while also raising a little one means screens are most likely a sanity-saving part of your weekly routine. And while guilt might creep into your psyche about having your youngster glued to their tablet or TV, there are also plenty of programs and games with an abundance of learning opportunities for curious, developing minds. One of our favorite options of all is Noggin—an app filled with hundreds of educational games, videos, and books for 2-7 year olds. Bonus: all of this edu-tainment comes through the lens of your kiddo’s favorite Nick Jr. characters, including those from PAW Patrol, Peppa Pig, Bubble Guppies, Blaze and the Monster Machines, JoJo and Gran Gran, Dora The Explorer, Shimmer & Shine, and many more!
We recently hosted a holiday-themed party with Noggin where we saw the appeal of the app first-hand. And today we’re taking things a step further, via an interview with Susan Gargiulo—one of the creators behind Noggin’s stellar digital games. The native New Yorker recently invited us into her Manhattan home to talk kids + tech, raising a teenager, and tips for co-viewing and co-playing Noggin with your children, amongst other gems.
Enjoy our interview with Susan Gargiulo of Noggin in our slideshow below! Plus, find out how you can enjoy Noggin for just $0.99/month!
This post is brought to you by Mother + Noggin.
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Veteran game designer Susan Gargiulo—Senior Director of Preschool Games at Noggin—nestled in her Manhattan home.
The monoprints above the couch are by Susan's husband, Pat Almonrode.
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"I love developing and producing games for preschoolers because preschoolers are some of the most honest 'consumers' there are. You know immediately if a preschooler is enjoying the experience—they don’t sugarcoat anything! It is incredible to see them interact with characters directly—responding to them, laughing with them, and even talking right back to them. It is also humbling to see them exit a game they don’t like. That immediate and genuine feedback is what is special about creating content for this age group."
The educational games on Noggin—which can be played solo or co-played with another child or an adult—are led by an engaging cast of Nick Jr. characters, such as Peppa Pig, the PAW Patrol, Bubble Guppies, etc.!
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"I think it’s important to find a shared experience with your child that presents a leveled playing field, so that you are doing something together that they can be as good, if not better, than you. Kids are so often in the position of learning from those around them, it’s nice for them to be able to teach the adults in their lives.
And doing something together provides all these opportunities for enjoyment and discussion, in a very low-key way. It’s an easy way of creating some shared experiences."
"At Noggin, we do 'kid testing' for every game that we develop and have the benefit of the support of an excellent Learning Team and Research Team. All our games go through rounds of kid testing so that we get to see what kids think and experience while they play our games. If we see there are problems or difficulties, we have time in our production schedules to revise and adjust."
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"Noggin’s co-play experiences are not just designed for parent and child, but for child and older/younger siblings or even child and friends. Plus, for every co-play game we create, we also provide a 'single player' option in case a child wants to play on their own. We know that family life is often busy and we want to provide as many opportunities for engaging with our content in the way that works best for each family. We have found that flexibility is key."
"Every game in Noggin that offers a co-play option is labeled as 'Play Together.' So look for that label and you’ll be able to play that game in both single and co-play mode. We are focusing on making more games that offer co-play mode in the months ahead, so keep coming back to check out the new offerings!"
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"I grew up in NYC with a father who was a TV director, in the early days of popular TV game shows that were produced here. (He directed Password, To Tell the Truth, and $10,000 Pyramid, among other shows for CBS, NBC, and ABC). So I was heavily influenced by his career in that industry and probably why I gravitated to producing digital games."
"One of my favorite things to do as a kid was to go to the TV studio to watch his shows being taped, watching him as a director in the control room. Seeing live shows creatively come together—and understanding the importance of engaging your audience—these were things that I’ve absorbed over the years."
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- "As a typical Italian-American family, food was also very very important to us. We were either preparing a meal or having a meal or talking about a meal we were going to have! My mother and grandmothers are great cooks, and my grandfather had an Italian restaurant in Coney Island. I love to cook and cooking together is something that I now do with my son, who also loves to cook (and in fact, cooks some things even better than I do!)."
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"I think it’s important to see screen time as an opportunity to provide practice, support, and reinforcement for skills, as well as a chance to encourage independence and exploration. And the right apps and games can do all those things at different times even for the same child."
"It is not a 'one size fits all' approach. That’s what is so wonderful about what Noggin offers: it provides a range and variety of engaging and educational content to support different types of children and learners. And since preschoolers love the chance to be independent and 'in the driver’s seat,' the Noggin app is designed so that children can use it all on their own. While we offer opportunities for parents/siblings to engage with their child, a parent can feel confident giving Noggin to their child to explore solo."
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"When Ian was growing up, we considered all media content (interactive/games or linear/TV) as coming out of one 'bucket.' I felt that as long as there was a time limit for all media content and I was aware of what he was doing or watching, it was fine for him to have screen time (especially since I enjoyed TV and games myself)."
"There were some programs we watched together, and some he watched on his own. I think moderation is the key, not an outright ban on technology (which never works and almost makes it more attractive). So limit setting and establishing some routines around it."
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"As a teenager and even as a pre-teen it became much harder to moderate the amount of time he was spending. As was typical of all of his friends, he got his first smart phone when he was in 5th grade and we tried to limit usage (having a quiet time at night before bed; putting the phone in another room to recharge, etc.)."
"But he was and is a very tech-savvy kid and, in fact, at the age of 12, built his own computer from scratch—putting parts he wanted on a holiday 'wish list.' So I encouraged his talent and recognized that he was developing a skill."
"His interest in technology has expanded to digital art and design and as a senior in high school, he is looking ahead to art and design colleges. So, technology was and is important to him."
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- "It is very hard to moderate when they get older—and for many teens, communicating through social media and texts is the way they communicate with each other. So you have to recognize and even tap into that. As a family, we have a text thread and it’s become a great way to stay connected, sending funny images and sharing observations. I do confess to texting him from the kitchen that dinner is ready!"
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"A few things. First, relax! I don’t see screen time as the enemy. I do see it as a potential tool to provide new and different opportunities for engagement. That being said, a healthy sense of limits is a good thing, making clear rules for screen time and making times that are away from the screens that are just as enjoyable."
"Parents have to remember that they are models for their child—if they are asking their child to disconnect, they need to model that themselves. Having a time that everyone sets aside their technology is a great thing."
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- "We know how important the Noggin and Nick Jr. characters are to preschoolers and that kids are very receptive to engagement and learning if they feel they are playing with the characters they love. So, we use every opportunity to tap into the core essence of our brands, and have kids feel as if they are interacting with characters directly: helping Blaze and Blue plant seeds in the shape of alphabet letters in our ABC Farm Game, or measuring sandwiches in Milli’s Measure Sandwich Maker Game so that they can make lunch for the PAW Patrol. In every game we make, we engage our audience one-on-one so they feel that they have an important role to play."
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- To try out some of Susan and her team's Noggin creations for yourself, head over to Noggin.com and download the app for just $0.99/month for the first three months!
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