TJ & Pals Brings Pencil and His Dancing Pals to Life in an Educational Website

Umachaka Media Inc. has launched TJ & Pals, an imaginative website, approved by educators, which has attracted children in the age group of three to five from around the country. A friendly and inquisitive pencil named TJ and his friends take kids on an entertaining journey of games, videos, stories, and songs.

The site was developed by Ashley Lazarus, a film director who has worked with Disney (News - Alert), Mattel, and Sesame Street and has experience in children’s programming. Lazarus wanted to make learning fun.

TJ & Pals has designed some wonderful games for young children develop pre-reading skills. TJ's Seek and Find is an activity in which a child is presented with two separate challenges, finding hidden objects and matching them to the shapes presented to the child. Once she completes her tasks, she receives a musical reward. This helps prepare a child for a lifetime of reading.

"The more fun and interactive learning is the more effective it is. Just sit with a five year old playing a fun game, or learning to count through a catchy song, and you will see that the principle of “learn as you play” really helps kids learn and remember what they learned, especially in this digital age. Every game, activity, how to and story we create at TJ & Pals is based on this principle," Lazarus said.

TJ & Pals provides creative stories and videos as well for four year and even the slightly older six and seven year olds. The Little Monkey and The Happy Squirrel are both stories that can either be read by a parent or the child. They are also videos that a child can listen to before or after they hear the story. Making Friends is the story of how TJ met his pals.

The TJ & Pals website also offers exercises for children’s math skills. The math page  has a Numbers Song for the younger four year olds; Math Spin, a game in which a child can have fun with addition or subtraction; or a calculator for older kids where a child can learn multiplication or division.

TJ Connect is for older kids. TJ Connect allows members of TJ & Pals to video chat with their friends and family anywhere in the world. It is parentally controlled.