Since Felix the cat made its first appearance in 1919, children—and adults—the world over have been enamored with cartoons. Cartoon characters are the biggest stars in entertainment, today appearing in countless TV series, video games and movies. But if you think that cartoon characters have no use beyond entertainment, think again. Terry Thoren has spent decades studying the effects of animation on children. As CEO of CEO of Klasky Csupo, he was the executive in charge of production of 600 shows, overseeing the production of the Rugrats when it was Nickelodeon’s number one animated show, as well as the popular cartoons Rocket Power, The Wild Thornberrys, and the Emmy-nominated As Told by Ginger.

He and his colleagues at Wondergrovelearn.com decided to channel the same passion that young students have for watching cartoons to help develop their language skills, cultivate emotional intelligence, and improve their language acquisition and learning habits and behavior in the classroom. Terry and his team have developed have developed over 200 instructional animations and 1,500 printable extension lessons in Spanish and English, which teachers say are creating astonishing results. Says Terry, “Young students develop language skills rapidly, and they quickly absorb whatever they see and hear in animation. This accelerates their understanding of new words in two different languages at an incredibly fast rate. Research shows when young children form an emotional connection with animated characters they model the behavior of the characters.”

Listen Live to Inspired Parenting Radio Show every Thursday at 7 PM ET on OMTimes Radio, the iOM Radio Network, http://omtimes.com/iom