Our children have already mastered the art of the touchscreen, deftly swiping their way across tablets and smartphones even before they’ve mastered the art of the crawl. And now, we’ll be able to introduce them to yet another marvel of modern technology — voice commands. Nickelodeon has unveiled the SpongeBob Challenge as part of its new Alexa skill meant specifically for kids. Because what better way to teach your kids to obey your commands than teaching them how to issue commands themselves?
In the SpongeBob Challenge Memory Game, children will find themselves in the midst of the SpongeBob SquarePants series, and will have the opportunity to become a new Krusty Krab restaurant employee. They may just emerge with a newfound respect for the service industry, as the game involves memorizing increasingly complicated food orders and relaying these orders to staff members, who include SpongeBob, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs.
To start playing the game, simply find your nearest Alexa-enabled smart speaker, and say, “Alexa, start The SpongeBob Challenge.”
“Nickelodeon is at the forefront of where kids will be playing next and our collaboration with Amazon to create The SpongeBob Challenge is the latest example of that,” said Matthew Evans, executive vice president of strategy, new business and digital for the Nickelodeon Group. “This brand-new kid skill combines our deep understanding of kids, and how they engage with technology, with one of our most iconic properties, SpongeBob SquarePants.”
The SpongeBob challenge boasts more than 70 unique characters and 80 challenges that span 25 levels, and promises to recreate both the soundscape and the environment of Bikini Bottom. But instead of having your kids sit mindlessly in front of a television, they can experience this world by way of a memory game that actually exercises their brains. Indeed, Nickelodeon claims that this new skill promotes memory recall, verbal skills, and listening comprehension.
“We’re excited for Nickelodeon to bring a skill to Alexa,” said Rob Pulciani, Director Amazon Alexa. “Now, kids can just ask Alexa to interact with some of their most beloved characters like SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs, and we think families will love playing and learning together with The SpongeBob Challenge skill for Alexa.”
