Moonbug Publishes New Learning Principles Integrated Across Its Preschool Franchises
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
Research-backed principles developed in collaboration with the Center for Scholars & Storytellers (CSS) at UCLA are now embedded into Moonbug’s creative process across CoComelon, Blippi, Little Angel, and more
LOS ANGELES – June 9, 2026 – Following the announcement of their partnership in April, Moonbug Entertainment, the studio behind global kids franchises including CoComelon, Blippi, and Little Angel, today publicly shared the Moonbug Learning Principles, a new set of learning principles now being integrated into the company’s creative process across its preschool franchises.
Developed in collaboration with the Center for Scholars & Storytellers (CSS) at UCLA, the principles are being published publicly on Moonbug’s website as part of the company’s ongoing commitment to creating thoughtfully designed preschool storytelling, grounded in child development research.
Alongside Moonbug’s publication of the principles, CSS shared a companion publication detailing how the principles were developed through academic research, collaboration with an advisory council of child development experts, and close work with Moonbug’s creative teams. The CSS publication also explores how child developmental research can translate into practical creative decision-making for children’s media.
Moonbug’s stories are part of everyday life for millions of families. They become songs children sing, routines they repeat, games they play, and bonding moments families return to again and again.
The company cares deeply about the responsibility that comes with that. While Moonbug’s creative teams have long collaborated with learning consultants, the partnership with CSS marks a new step toward creating a more unified and research-informed approach across its preschool storytelling.
That responsibility starts with a simple reality: young children are learning from the videos they watch every day. The question is how intentionally those experiences are designed with child development in mind.
As families spend more time with online video across YouTube, connected TV, streaming platforms, and digital media, creators, researchers, parents, and platforms are asking increasingly important questions:
Can children learn from online video?
What makes kids video developmentally appropriate?
What does high-quality kids video look like in a digital-first world?
What are the Moonbug Learning Principles?
The Moonbug Learning Principles were developed to help answer those questions and guide how learning is considered throughout the creative process:
Navigating Real Life Moments
Help children understand everyday experiences through familiar routines, emotions, and situations.
Modeling Positive Relationships
Show children how people communicate, express emotions, solve problems, and build connections.
Promoting Learning Through Play
Encourage curiosity, imagination, experimentation, and active participation.
Telling Authentically Inclusive Stories
Represent identities, cultures, families, and experiences with depth and care.
Readers can explore the full Moonbug Learning Principles alongside CSS’s companion publication, which outlines how the principles are being integrated into Moonbug’s creative process through collaboration with learning consultants embedded throughout development and production. The materials include supporting research and citations.
“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,” said Dr. Yalda T. Uhls, Founder and CEO of the Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA. “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,” said Rich Hickey, Chief Creative Officer at Moonbug Entertainment. “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 with CSS builds on Moonbug’s long-standing work with learning consultants by creating a more unified and research-informed approach across its preschool franchises including CoComelon, Blippi, and Little Angel.
About the Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA
The Center for Scholars & Storytellers (CSS) at UCLA connects entertainment and academia to build a research-informed community of storytellers supporting the well-being of kids, teens, and young adults. A 501c(3) nonprofit working out of UCLA, the Center for Scholars & Storytellers is the only youth-centered organization that bridges the gap between psychology research and media creation to help young people thrive.
About Moonbug Entertainment
Moonbug is an award-winning global entertainment company inspiring kids everywhere to laugh, learn, and grow. The company is behind some of the biggest kids’ entertainment brands in the world, including CoComelon, Blippi, and Little Angel. Moonbug believes every child should have access to entertaining and enriching content, making its shows available on more than 150 video platforms globally, including Netflix, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, and YouTube Kids. The company is also a global leader in preschool music and audio experiences, available on 100+ audio platforms globally. Moonbug brands extend far beyond the screen to include streaming music, games, interactive consumer products, and live events.
Moonbug is part of Candle Media, an independent, creator-friendly home for cutting-edge, high-quality, category-defining brands and franchises. By bringing together elite talent operating at the intersection of content, community, and commerce, it helps to position leading entertainment businesses for accelerated, sustainable growth in the current market and beyond. Candle is run by its Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs, leading entertainment executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, and backed by investment capital from funds managed by Blackstone’s flagship private equity business.
Media contact: press@moonbug.com