Meet Cassie. She's a typical 6-year-old, goes to school, likes to skip and sings a rockin' version of any given Raffi song.
Oh, and she also created an online game for kids called Sissy’s Magical Ponycorn Adventure.
And this week she'll be onstage with her Dad Ryan at TEDxToronto.
Say what?!
As soon as I heard about Cassie Creighton and what she's accomplished at the age of 6, I knew I wanted to talk to her. Last week i got the opportunity to chat with Cassie and Ryan and find out more about Sissy’s Magical Ponycorn Adventure and their appearance at TEDxToronto this week.
I had lots of questions for Cassie, and she had quite a few for me. First things first, she wanted to know which of the GigaKids was in my Skype photo with me. (Whew, that was easy...) It was so refreshing to talk to this clever young girl and just talk about her game and how it came to be.
When Cassie was 5 years old, her Dad Ryan took her to a weekend game jam. This is the type of tech-event for programmers to create and exchange ideas for creating online games. It’s not usually something that kids her age go to, but on this particular weekend, her Dad decided to bring her along.
By the end of the weekend, Cassie and her Dad had created Sissy’s Magical Ponycorn Adventure. As Ryan told me, initially the idea of the game was for it to be a tetris-like puzzle, but by the end of the weekend, something completely different evolved. Cassie did all of the artwork and voice overs for the game, and I think it’s safe to say, directed her Dad in his tasks as well.
Ryan is convinced that kids need to be taught and encouraged from an early age, that technology can be used to create, educate and inspire. And I have to say I agree with him whole-heartedly. Like teaching kids to swim or ride a bike, it's imperative that kids today are introduced and shown the possibilities that are there for them in the world of technology. There's no reason why not to. I have yet to meet a child who isn't instantly attentive to something tech-related. There is no fear, no apprehension. They just know that they are going to love it, and because of that love, they learn effortlessly.
I sat and played Cassie’s game, and saw the appeal of it right away. For me as a mom, the fact that it’s the brainchild of a Kindergartener made it all the more appealing.
Kids have a natural ability to absorb knowledge and learn. When it comes to technology they are 100% uninhibited and unafraid. They have no reason to be, because they know they can do anything they set their minds to do. Luckily for Cassie, her imagination and creativity has been encouraged by her family, and they in turn put their "little grey cells" to work to find out how they could make her magical idea a reality.
They could have said "no" but they didn't, and what they've accomplished together as a team is amazing and inspirational.
You can read more about Cassie and her game—Sissy’s Magical Ponycorn Adventure here—and watch for their video on their TEDxToronto appearance.
Congratulations Cassie—I can't wait to hear what you have in store for us next!
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