New York, NY (PRWEB) June 26, 2015
Patty Penny and her friends are coming to life in an exciting and educational new smart phone app for kids! ROGINA SMITH, author of the popular children’s book series The Kiddie Coins Kids, will launch the new app on Saturday, June 27 in the heart of New York City’s Time Square followed by a private VIP red carpet reception at the Marquis Marriott.
The Kiddie Coins Kids book series has been committed to the mission of combating financial illiteracy at its earliest stages by educating children on the basics of money management skills since its publication in 2003. The cast features four charming multicultural characters, Patty Penny, Nicky Nickel, Danny Dime and Quincy Quarter, who encourage children to save their change because with it, they can do great things! “After working in the financial industry for over 30 years, I decided to take a leap of faith and start my own consulting firm which also fueled my desire to become an advocate for financial literacy,” explains Smith. “During this time, one of the things I discovered was that the teaching of the basic understandings of finance was very limited in the school system, and I wanted to do something to help kids understand the fundamentals of money management. When I went out to look for materials to help teach children about this subject, there wasn’t anything appealing to me; so, I decided to write The Kiddie Coin Kids book series which ultimately resulted in my creating an educational financial curriculum for schools.” The Kiddie Coins Kids book continues to be a tremendous part of money management education in school systems across the country.
With changing times, came the need to change her approach to teaching children about financial responsibility. Smith discovered this by way of her own grandchildren. “One day while sitting with my grandkids, they kept asking me to use my phone. My first thought was ‘who do they want to call?’ After getting the phone back, I realized they had downloaded several games onto it from the app store,” recounts Smith. “After that experience with them, I began to take notice of just how many young children, including babies, were mesmerized by iPhones, iPads and other devices. That is what inspired me to introduce the Kiddie Coin Kids to a new generation by using them in an app. I knew if I wanted to reach today’s youth and begin that education at the earliest age possible, I had to make their learning fun, interactive and available through new technology.” Smith also stresses that the game is not just for children. There are multiple levels of play that serve as mental stimuli for adults to keep the mind sharp and enhance memory, math and reactive skills.
Levels are timed and involve everything from grocery store scenarios where players focus on dispensing change to shoppers to Patty Penny maneuvering her way through the park in search of the bank. Smith turned to app development giants ZCO whose clients include Verizon, Samsung and BBC America to build the Kiddie Coin Kids app making her one of the first African American females and black owned company in the country to spearhead a project of this size and scope. “Throughout my career, I have always encouraged my clients and students that I address in my educational programs to dream big,” concludes Smith. “This has taken a true leap of faith to do this, but I practice what I preach. I DREAM BIG! Through tragedy and loss, I have persevered to get to this moment. I chose to debut The Kiddie Coin Kids app to the world on the biggest stage in the world, a gigantic digital billboard in the heart of New York City’s Time Square running until July 4th. It doesn’t get any bigger than that!”
The Kiddie Coins Kids game apps and products are the first in a series of educational gaming apps to be launched by Smith’s new company KCK Games, LLC.
