Visually Impaired Students Conquer PIP'S ISLAND, an Immersive Theater Experience For Children

Pip's Island is the next evolution of children's entertainment. It's a live action, interactive fantasy experience where kids are called upon to help Pip and friends save the island from dark forces of the villainous, Joules Volter. As the first immersive theater for 4 to 10 year olds, the 60-minute active walking adventure presents challenges to overcome and problems to solve based on aspects of the S.T.E.A.M. curriculum. Kids are outfitted with an Explorer's Vest and a "Spark Badge" containing 5 LED Sparks that unlock when a challenge is met. Only after all five Spark Badges are unlocked can they defeat Joules Volter and win the day.

A bold, immersive theatrical storybook experience should include every child as part of the story. When the Pip's Island team learned that a group of visually impaired or blind students from the New York Institute for Special Education (NYISE) would be visiting their interactive kid's show, they wanted to ensure they had a wonderful experience on Pip's Island! The team quickly tailored the performance to the NYISE audience's specific needs so that the actors and puppeteers could effectively guide the children across the island in search of the Sparks they needed to defeat the villain.

"Children that are blind and visually impaired really don't have incidental learning. Whereas if you have vision, you learn by seeing, and you pick that up. So Pip's Island allowed them to be fully engaged in that sensory experience." -- Dr. Bernadette Kappen, Executive Director, NYISE

The Pip's Island team rewrote the script, adjusting the language, actions and interactive elements to better engage with their audience. They transformed each visually stunning scene into a multi-sensory, tactile adventure that this new class of Explorers would never forget!

"The Pip's Island experience is all about kids taking charge of the story to become heroes in their own adventure. But it's more than just empowering entertainment. We constantly ask our young audience for their input in forging the direction of the journey." -- Rania Ajami, Co-Founder, Pip's Island.

Pip's Island is a unique environment where kids develop basic competencies of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, emotion recognition and expression, and take them from practice to reality. The Pip's Island team is extremely proud to have produced a unique version of their show that focused on sound, scent and touch for the visually impaired students at the New York Institute for Special Education. Every child has a powerful inner spark that needs to be nourished and should be celebrated.

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