Happy President’s Day with the “Dear Mr. President” Project

Last month, we told you about the Dear Mr. President project launched by kidthing and the National Education Association (NEA).
For several weeks kidthing collected 4,500 submissions representing 47 states and three continents from children (ages 5 to 12) interested in sharing their thoughts and ideas with newly inaugurated President Barack Obama.

Today, fittingly on President’s Day, a special digital book with the top 150 submissions is being unveiled and released free for download on kidthing.
Also, this digital book is being turned into a special hand-bound limited edition print of “Dear Mr. President,” which will be hand delivered to the White House. Awesome!

The project provides an incredible snapshot into the current social narrative of America The kids’ letters shared concerns about the environment, the economy and their hopes for our world.

A couple of favorites include:
“My Dad is laid off, and we really do not want to move. So can you help Michigan find more jobs? My other idea was maybe we can find away to use garbage to power things; maybe even cars and electricity. So you know I am just a kid, but I am the next generation and my ideas might work. So think about it.” — Zachary, Age 10, Michigan
“Dear Mr. Obama, Please make it rain candy!” — Aaron, California, Age 6

What is kidthing? It’s like iTunes for kids. Created by parents, kidthing provides a safe haven for kids to play and learn away from Web browsers and ads. The kidthing store is filled with digital animated books, interactive games, activities and videos from some of the world’s leading brands. Parents can preview and buy products with prices starting at under a dollar. (kidthing also provides some free content for parents.) Once purchased, content is automatically downloaded to the kidthing player and can be viewed anytime and anywhere–without needing to be connected to the Internet.