Moonbug Entertainment, the studio behind popular preschool brands such as CoComelon, Blippi, and Little Angel, released its new Moonbug Learning Principles, a framework designed to guide learning-focused storytelling across its preschool content. Developed in collaboration with the Center for Scholars and Storytellers (CSS) at UCLA, the principles are now being integrated into Moonbug’s creative process and have been published on the company’s website as part of its commitment to research-informed children’s entertainment.
The initiative builds on Moonbug’s long-standing work with learning consultants and aims to create a more unified approach to developing content that supports early childhood development. Alongside the release, CSS has published a companion report detailing the research, expert consultation, and collaborative process behind the framework.
The Moonbug Learning Principles focus on four key areas: helping children navigate real-life experiences, modelling positive relationships, promoting learning through play, and telling authentically inclusive stories. The framework is intended to inform creative decisions across Moonbug’s preschool franchises while ensuring stories remain engaging and developmentally appropriate.
“Children today are growing up in a digital-first media environment, and child development research has a real role to play in how stories are made for them,” stated UCLA Center for Scholars and Storytellers founder and CEO Dr. Yalda T. Uhls. “When creators design with that research in mind, it can genuinely support how children learn and grow from the content they watch every day. Our hope is that the process we went through with Moonbug, building principles through collaboration with scholars, an advisory council of child development experts, and Moonbug’s creative teams, is useful to others who want to make content that helps children thrive. We are publishing that process so other creators can learn from it.”
“To make great stories for young kids, you have to start with how they learn,” added Moonbug Entertainment chief creative officer Rich Hickey. “Our teams already spend a lot of time thinking about how toddlers experience music, stories, play, and routines. The Moonbug Learning Principles are helping shape conversations throughout our development and production process every day and giving us a more transparent way to share how learning is considered throughout our creative work.”
The collaboration marks the latest step in Moonbug’s efforts to combine entertainment and educational value across its global preschool portfolio.
