New national wellness program motivates kids through online gaming and cutting-edge animation

CleverCrazes.com taps rich media firm 123YourWeb to help engage and educate

Fort Lauderdale, FL (September 29, 2009) -- A new national wellness program is providing a unique way to help parents and teachers motivate kids to lead healthier lives. The program, produced by internet development firm 123YourWeb for CleverCrazes.com, combines cutting edge technology and valuable financial incentives to produce an online experience that’s not only fun and educational, but also rewarding for schools.

Available online at www.CleverCrazes.com, the website looks more like a kid’s video game than an educational site. The highly interactive environment comes alive in the form of “avatars”, animated characters that model behaviors essential to healthy physical, mental and emotional development. The robust site and animation were created by 123YourWeb, a Fort Lauderdale based Internet development firm specializing in rich media, custom game development and advanced programming techniques. 

Website combines technology and creativity

CleverCrazes.com is entirely interactive using PHP, MySQL and XML to integrate with the Flash environment. In addition to the high-quality programming, 123YourWeb employs robust animation, integrated with audio and video production, to create a fun setting that resonates with students.

“The avatars are so realistic because they are based on real kids,” said Jeremy S. Schwartz, president and founder of 123YourWeb. Actors from the Cincinnati Children’s Theater were tapped to become models for the avatars and record the audio. Although 123YourWeb’s development team wrote the instructional scripts, the kids were also given the opportunity to improvise. “Many of the improved lines were used for more natural responses and just to add more fun to the mix,” said Schwartz. “The process was great fun, and the kids loved seeing themselves turned into cartoons.”

“Edu-tainment” a central theme in development process

CleverCrazes.com was founded by Dianne Dunkelman, widely known as the founder of Speaking of Women’s Health (SWH), a nationwide series of health conferences for women. Dunkelman is a proponent of using “edu-tainment,” an entertaining approach to education that is enormously popular at the SWH conferences. The foundation has received thousands of requests to develop a similar program for children using the same principles.

As a result, incorporating “edu-tainment” was a central theme in 123YourWeb’s development approach. “We’re very pleased with the quality of the website, especially the front-end user experience and character development,” said Dunkelman. “The program incorporates elements that children really love – fun games, lively animation and a bit of competition – to keep them engaged in activities that will improve their well-being throughout their lives.”

The first local school district to join CleverCrazes.com is in Cincinnati, where the program and website were launched in August. However kids can log in and interact on CleverCrazes.com from anywhere in the world. Founders hope that more schools will register, and eventually students throughout the nation will be able to compete and win prizes for their school every two months. Teachers interested in registering their school can do so right on the website at CleverCrazes.com.

About CleverCrazes.com

CleverCrazes.com is a project of the Building Healthy Lives Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. CleverCrazes.com focuses on children (ages 6-12) and aspires to teach healthy living while enabling kids to compete for prizes to benefit their schools. Clever Crazes engages in “edu-tainment”, and promotes the golden thread that weaves through the four main educational areas of nutrition, physical activity, self-esteem/bullying, and environmental sustainability. These objectives enable Clever Crazes to make healthy living a fun part of every-day life for young people. To learn more about Clever Crazes, visit us online at www.clevercrazes.com.

About 123YourWeb

A full-service Web site design and development agency, Fort Lauderdale-based 123YourWeb employs a dynamic mix of advanced technology and intuitive navigation principles to deliver winning Internet solutions for companies operating in a wide range of competitive industries. The company's "1-2-3 clicks and you're out" philosophy ensures that users can access any feature of any 123YourWeb site in three clicks or less. In addition to these core Web site design and development services, 123YourWeb also offers programming, database development, hosting, email, Web site management, search engine optimization and marketing. For more information, visit them on the web at http://www.123YourWeb.com.

Contact:
Jeremy S. Schwartz
http://www.123YourWeb.com/
954-727-5730