Welcome to The Imagine Neighborhood | By: Committee for Children Imagine a world where a dinosaur princess rules the land, but she’s having trouble waiting for her birthday. Imagine a place where a robot vampire is a little nervous about meeting his new babysitter. This is The Imagine Neighborhood—a new podcast from Committee for Children. You’re likely familiar with Committee for Children because of our award-winning Second Step® program. But you might not know about our Innovation Lab, which explores new frontiers in social-emotional learning (SEL) outside the classroom. Our Innovation Team produced Mind Yeti, the Parachute app for parents, and, with our PBS and KLRN partners, the Learning Neighborhood. The Innovation Team’s latest endeavor is The Imagine Neighborhood, a new podcast aligned with Second Step. The first 10 episodes are launching today, March 16, on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and anywhere podcasts are found. The Imagine Neighborhood is a little different than most podcasts: not only is it filled with fun stories, but it also includes prompts for you to share your own feelings with your child. So, while the characters are chasing down an angry monster, you’re reminded to talk about angry feelings and how to deal with them (without smooshing an entire village). Or maybe you want to have a conversation about feeling scared of the babysitter—the very problem the robot vampire faces in our first episode. The Imagine Neighborhood is a place where you and your child use your imaginations to talk about the big feelings that happen when you’re growing up. The show is designed to help you and your child talk together and build social-emotional skills in the car, at home, or anywhere you might listen to podcasts. Over the past few months, we’ve been sharing the podcast with volunteer parents, as well as with friends and family. Kids are enjoying the bright, fun characters and interactive stories. Adults are loving the music and screen-free entertainment. But more importantly, grown-ups are noticing the social-emotional skill-building in every episode. One parent commented: “The show reminded me to be kinder as a parent. To have a resource that makes social-emotional learning accessible to children while supporting adults is awesome.” At the end of the day, that’s the goal of The Imagine Neighborhood: telling a fun story that helps parents and kids grow kinder together. We’d love to hear how you’re using the podcast or if you’re sharing it with other families. Season 1 launches March 16, with Season 2 coming this August. Subscribe today on these platforms, or anywhere you find podcasts: The Imagine NeighborhoodApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsStitcherSpotify