Why I’m a FAN of Fan Art
As a kid content creator, I often find my self stuck between two realms: “Kid World” and “Adult World”. When I create stories for kids, I like to revisit my inner child. I’ll think about the kind behaviors that were at one time, totally acceptable to do as a kid, that I can’t really pull off anymore in my 30’s. For example, when you are a child, you have the freedom, no matter your artistic ability, to show your love for an entertainment property through Crayola crayons. There are a lot of things I love about being a children’s storyteller, but I can unequivocally say my FAVORITE thing of all is the fabulous FAN ART.
When I received my very first batch of fan art after launching my podcast Story Spectacular, I said to myself. “Yay!!! I have FANS!!!”
I was creating a story that children as young as two years old could listen to and then use their imagination to interpret these beautiful images. Kids could really see themselves in the story!
It was one of the most validating responses I could have received. And guess what? I’m not the only one who feels this way.
Other FANS of Fan-Art
Take my fellow Children’s Podcaster Jonathan Messinger, creator of “The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian.” His show has this very funny character named “Bee Bop” that the kiddos just love. He will receive fan art from all over the world depicting Bee Bop and every single child renders the same character in their own unique way:
Mr. Eric from “What if World” has a podcast where he takes kids questions and turns them into improvised stories. He’s had children send in drawings that have inspired some FAN-OMENAL story ideas. Often times a pre-literate or newly-literate listener will send in an illustration gem like this one:
Some children’s podcasters have even had fun with fan art contests! Meredith Halpern-Ranzer from Wow in the World held a contest last February asking listener’s to draw what they thought the carrier pigeon character “Reggie” looks like. Here’s what Halpern-Ranzer had to say . . .
“The response blew us away! We got about 650 drawings and after we narrowed it done to the top 10, we got over 2000 votes! Here’s a video they made of the submissions:”
I asked other Kids Listen members to share some of their favorite art from podcast enthusiasts . . .
Here’s how your child can gain more entertainment, enrichment, and experience a podcast to the fullest…
1.) Listen to an audio story together: Discuss the big takeaways. Ask questions, talk about what you enjoyed and get those creative juices flowing.
2.) Choose a follow-up project: Using the podcast as inspiration, have your child to create a fun project by writing, drawing, audio/video recording, or even building a 3D model with legos!
3.) Send in a photo or recording of the art: Your kid gets to interact with the person who makes content for them. How cool is that? And trust me, it will make that podcaster’s day.
I think I can speak for all of my fellow podcasters when I say that Kids Listen members are huge fans of FAN ART.
