Our Story: How We Created Big Kids Way to Help Your Family
As a new mom, when my son Zaviyar, lovingly nicked Zavi, was born, I felt everything that books, friends, and parenting memes tell you to expect; love, happiness, nervousness, and fear.
3 years later, taking care of my son has brought me the happiest moments of my life, but also some of the hardest, such as the dreaded haircuts!
From informal discussions and general facebook scrolling, we all know that getting a haircut can be a terrifying and anxiety inducing event for many children, my son included.
Our first attempt at a formal haircut at our local children’s barbershop was planned for weeks with purse full of toys and reinforcements, but I’m sure you can all guess how that went ---not well!
I then attempted at-home haircuts, thinking I could surely find a video on Youtube that will help ease Zavi’s anxiety about the experience of getting his hair combed, wet, and then cut.
Although I was able to find a variety of live action and animated clips, I couldn’t find that key combination of engaging visuals & characters, easy to follow language and sequential storyboarding to help my son understand each step of the haircutting process.
At a loss, I continued the difficult, meltdown inducing attempts of trimming my son’s curly locks of hair, this time with a family friend, Diggz, visiting to experience the “trim” first hand.
As I held Zavi to help him calm down, I told Diggz of my failed attempts to prepare Zavi for the experience of getting his haircut without increasing his fears, specifically of not being able to find a good storytelling medium to help reduce his anxieties around the experience. With enthusiasm and drive to help, he suggested “let’s create our own story to help!”
The creation of BIG KIDS WAY
After brainstorming storytelling ideas for helping children with their haircuts, we quickly realized that there are multiple events and situations that provide the same level of anxiety for children and their caregivers. And the idea of Big Kids Way came to life.
With the help of friends, including an animator, a special education specialist, and film composer who were just as enthusiastic about our idea, we set out to create a series of videos designed to serve as both entertainment and therapeutic content for young children, including those on the autism spectrum, to help them through challenging event-based situations.
For moms and caregivers, these videos can be used as a utility tool to help through the “bumps” of specific childhood events that cause fear and anxiety.
When developing the Big Kids Way series, our top priority was to create characters and story lines that are fun, supportive, and inclusive. Our superhero Zavi Wavy proudly displays an Autism Puzzle Piece symbol on his costume and cape featuring his “Big Kid Tools”. This was done to signify support, inclusion and love that this symbol represent to Autism community.
My personal hope is that the Big Kids Way videos will not only be enjoyed by children and their caregivers, but become helpful tool for all those searching for help on this bumpy road called parenting, and a way to pay it forward as a thank you to my “tribe” of moms, caregivers and professionals.
Contact me at ItsOK@BigKidsWay.com -- we’d love to how we’ve been able to help you and your family!
I hope you enjoy our first video: Let’s Hear it for Hair. And Sign up below to learn more about our crowd-sourced campaign to create more fun stories that help support families like yours.