Did you know that May is Digital Citizenship Month in California? We’re celebrating by working with our friends at Common Sense Media to help kids become better digital citizens through a “Toon Academy: Digital Citizenship”

To enter the contest, create a cartoon on Toontastic teaching others how they can be digital citizens and stay safe online. Then, submit your cartoon and votes to the Toon Academy Contest by May 22nd, 2013. Finally, get votes for your cartoon by sharing it on Facebook and Twitter – each like, share, comment and tweet counts as a vote for your cartoon!

At the end of the contest, the cartoon with the most votes during the contest will win a super-cool set of Sifteo Cubes! Since it’s Digital Citizenship in California, Common Sense Media will also be sending a set of Sifteo blocks to the California entry with the most votes! We’ve even created a Common Core-aligned Mission Plan and a Launchpad Toytivity to help teachers and parents work with kids to create Toon Academy cartoons and learn about digital citizenship.

So roll up your sleeves and get ready to make some great teacher videos! For more resources on teaching digital citizenship, download the Digitial Citizenship Month Activity Kit from Common Sense Media and start exploring today. We can’t wait to see all the fantastic, informative and inspiring teaching cartoons you create!

Still have questions? Email us at educators@launchpadtoys.com and we’ll be happy to chat! And don’t forget to check out Toontastic: All Access, available through Apple’s Volume Purchase Program and perfect for schools!

No other unicorn had ever escaped… Find out what happens in “The Captured Unicorn” by GadgetGirl, our latest Weekly Top Toon!

Fun fact: Andorra is a small European country between Spain and France. Funner fact: “The Monkey Business Mystery 2″ is our favorite Andorran cartoon, and this week’s Top Toon! Check it out on ToonTube!

To celebrate the launch of our latest app Toontastic Jr. Shrek, we’ve teamed up with DreamWorks Animation to get kids drawing and parents showing off their kids’ creativity skills online – it’s a Shrek & Me Drawing Contest! Here’s what you do to enter:

1. Grab your kids (and crayons) and draw a picture of you and your favorite Shrek characters
2. Snap a photo of your drawing and upload it to the Shrek & Me Contest page
3. Share with friends and family to earn lots of votes
4. The top 3 drawings win a Shrek Family Movie Night Pack – complete with MOVIES, POPCORN, and PRIZES!

We hope you join in on the Shrektacular fun! We’ll be announcing the winners and showing off their artwork next Friday, May 10th. In the meantime, don’t forget to check out the latest in creative movie-making: Toontastic Jr. Shrek, available now for iPad/iPhone.

We can’t wait to see all your fantastical Shrek drawings!

Today marks a fun milestone here at Launchpad Toys. Since releasing Toontastic two years ago, we’ve watched kids of all ages create and share their own cartoons with our apps – as easily as they might tell a story with their favorite dolls and action figures. We named the company Launchpad TOYS (and not “Games”) because we wanted to build open-ended and creative digital toys for today’s kids to capture, record, and share their imaginations through narrative play.

Part of being a REAL TOY COMPANY, of course, is partnering with great storytellers to put their characters into the hands of kids so that they can remix, re-imagine, and retell their classic stories. As much as I liked watching the Ghostbusters movies, I LOVED making my own on the carpet at home with Kenner’s amazing action figures and vehicles.

In that spirit, our team here at Launchpad Toys Galactic Headquarters is very excited to announce our latest app, built in partnership with the remarkable storytellers at DreamWorks Animation: Toontastic Jr. Shrek. We hope that you and your kids enjoy making your own Shrek movies as much as we have!

We’re big fans of Spongefan212000′s marvelously animated SpongeToon Series here at Launchpad Toys Galactic Headquarters. Here’s one of our favorites – SpongeToon: Eaten Alive, this week’s Top Toon!

Did you know that Monday is Earth Day? What are you doing to take care of Planet Earth? Check out a few suggestions from Gerry of Australia in this week’s Top Toon!

Oh, no! The King Pig has stolen the golden egg. That sly pig! Can the Birds get it back? Find out in “Angry Birds Space“, our Weekly Top Toon by LefterisZ!

¡Buenos días, storytellers! We don’t speak Spanish, but we certainly understand the excitement in “Yo soy… SPIDERMAN!” All the way from Spain, it’s “Spiderman y Octopus,” today’s Weekly Top Toon.

A hearty “Yo ho!” and “Congratulations!” to all the kids who created pirate ‘toons for our Toontastic Treasure Tales Contest!

Your creativity blew us away - literally. We had to rebuild the Treasure Tales webpage just to accommodate the sheer number of submissions. Nearly 600 pirate cartoons were created, with an average of about 10 views per cartoon. Now that’s a lot of Saturday morning cartoon watching!

We’re happy to announce that with nearly 200 votes, “Kidnaped Princess” by B1students is our Treasure Tales contest winner, and they’ll be receiving some treasure of their own very soon.

As always, thanks to all the storytellers, parents, and teachers who helped make Treasure Tales such a seafaring success. Stay ‘tooned for more great Toontastic contests coming soon!

Need your weekly dose of fairies, toadstools, and evil sorceresses? We sure did! Get yours in “The Emerald“ by Tadrous-4, our Weekly Top Toon.

“We’d like to thank the Academy. No, wait! That’s not right… Common Sense Media! Parents’ Choice? Err, give us a second… HENRY! Yes, we’d like to thank Henry. And our mothers.”

Today we’re very excited to share that we’ve been awarded not one, not two, but three learning accolades for Launchpad Toys apps. A few weeks ago, Toontastic Jr: Pirates was named a Parents’ Choice Recommended App, and now, Toontastic has been awarded Common Sense Media’s ON for Learning Award.

But perhaps our favorite honor comes from 1st grader Henry via our friend @dancallahan on Twitter. Check out Henry’s review to learn why he believes Toontastic is the “BEST app for learning in 1st grade.”

We’re working hard to make sure that the toys we create are fun, creative, and constructive for kids (and kids at heart). If you haven’t yet, check out the Learning Goals for each of our apps to find out how kids learn and grow through creative play.

“And we’re getting cut off by the music.. thanks Mom!”