New App Teaches Kids to be Eco-Friendly

(TNS) -- Parents eager to raise eco-friendly kids can check out a new phone app born and bred in South Florida. Eco Stars, a fledgling line of environmental education products, has released its first offering: a game for smartphones and iPads that's designed to make things like recycling and water conservation fun. Players pick up trash, save wildlife and catch polluters as they drive their EcoCars down the beach or snorkel under the sea.

These backdrops came from the childhoods of Eco Stars creators, Shelly and Sar Perlman. The brother-and-sister media team — she's an illustrator living in West Palm Beach, he's a writer who calls Fort Pierce home — grew up South Florida. They've worked together for 10 years, creating children's books and materials.

Both are environmentalists, avid outdoor fans, vegetarians and parents. "My 5-year-old is our guinea pig," said Sar Perlman, 43. "She'll pick up a piece of trash and say, 'Look, daddy, I'm an Eco Star!'"

Eco Stars is the Perlmans' first independent brand, dedicated to "teaching kids to be more eco-friendly," Sar Perlman said. "It's a lot harder to change bad habits later than to teach our kids, when they are young, that we are responsible for this earth."

The pair plan to expand Eco Stars to books (the first one, a thriller about the dwindling water supply called "Eco Stars and The Mysterious Lake Bandit," is done and available on Amazon.com for $2.99 on Kindle, $10.88 print) and a video series later this year. The products are geared toward children ages 4 to 10. They are marketing Eco Stars to teachers and parents.

Creating a magical cartoon world that mimics the real-life version is a great way to grab children's attention and slip in serious messages, the Perlmans said.

The Eco Stars characters hail from Ecolandia, where houses come complete with wind power and water wheels. Diversity reigns: the inventor dog Eco, baker cat Sunny, gardener bear Terra, ukulele-playing monkey Curly and a well-meaning but clueless llama named Max live side by side, learning the virtues of being green through their adventures.

Shelly Perlman, 40, insists none of these characters are based on family or friends — although Curly, like Sar Perlman, is a surfer. "My brother is a beach and ocean lover, so he was very adamant we put that into Eco Stars," she said.

To learn how to order the Eco Stars smartphone and iPad game app through iTunes, along with other products, go to: ecostarsclub.com. The basic game can be played for free. Apps with additional features cost 99 cents to $1.99. Other environmental education materials available.

©2015 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.