ABSTRACT
As with season three of the TV series, The Cat in the Hat digital team was given a unique challenge to engage preschoolers in science inquiry and engineering design through games based on The Cat stories and characters. The result was The Cat in the Hat Builds That app, a Playful Learning Experience that is a collection of media, games, and hands-on activities developed with an adaptive, multi-platform approach featuring the stories from the series, and Nick and Sally behaving like real scientists. In the first year of development, the team imagined and prototyped simple but innovative game mechanics and digital experiences that were used to shape The Cat Playful Learning Experience. Making The Cat in the Hat Builds That Playful Learning Experience widely available-through the Apple, Amazon, and Google Play app stores, PBS KIDS Games app, and PBSKIDS.org-was an important technical strategy for providing a more equitable learning opportunity for children served by the Ready To Learn Initiative.
