Akili Kids! Presents Spelling Bee; The Show
Upon getting to the event venue at The WestGate Shopping Mall it was somewhat of a surreal moment watching our very first event come to life. There was Blue Band finishing up packing of healthy breakfast boxes for our attendees, on the far right Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital was busy setting up their equipment ready to offer free medical check-ups to all participants, Noodies of Bidco Africa were ready to serve their hot noodles. On the far left, Educate Yourself were providing free arts and crafts supplies! And as for our biggest concern, observation of covid-19 protocols, we had our healthcare personnel offering free covid-19 testing to everyone at the event!
When Akili Network partnered with The Kenya National Spelling Bee for this year’s spelling bee championships as the official media partner, we wanted to do something different. Previous spelling bee championships were only featured on TV as live coverage on the day of the event but Akili Network saw an opportunity to create something fun, memorable, impactful with great learning moments for Kenyan children.
What does it look like to be The First? For the most part it involves navigating uncharted waters. And so we decided to turn this event into a kids reality tv show with 4 episodes, a very first of its kind here in Kenya that children and their families can watch and learn from. With Akili Kids! being free to air, this is an opportunity to have 40% of Kenya’s population, which is children under 14 years get to enjoy this show.
A month after the Spelling Bee championships, we aired the very first episode of Akili Kids! Presents Spelling Bee. The show follows some of the 100 contestants, bringing us in on their personal lives and interests. And as with every show on our TV station, Akili Kids! Presents Spelling Bee is not only fun and captivating but is also filled with learning moments set to instil public speaking skills and confidence in our youngsters as well as help them build on their vocabulary.
For Akili Kids! and Akili Network at large, the production of this show goes beyond just adding new content to our TV station. We want Kenyan children to see more of themselves on TV. In addition, we are committed to ensuring that all children regardless of their background can access content that supplements their learning, and that impacts them positively.
The show that first premiered on the 28th of August 2021, airs every Saturday at 9am & 6pm on Akili Kids! which is available on free-to-air, DSTV channel 311, ZUKU channel 602, Startimes channel Pang 105 and GOtv.
Episodes of the same can also be found on the Akili Kids! Youtube page online and on the Baze streaming platform, powered by Safaricom.
Click here to watch the official trailer….