Kidfun Through the Years
Discover the full story of KIDFUN in this captivating video, tracing its origins from Sharla Feldscher’s days as a kindergarten teacher in 1960s Philadelphia to her groundbreaking TV appearances and themed events that brought creative, screen-free play to generations of children. Watch iconic clips of Sharla on PHL17 Morning News and with baseball legend Tug McGraw in the produced KIDFUN series, plus highlights from her organized events sparking joy with everyday objects like balloons and household items. This journey showcases how KIDFUN evolved from classroom ideas into bestselling books like KIDFUN: 401 Easy Ideas for Play and a timeless philosophy for parents, grandparents, and caregivers to foster laughter and imagination in everyday moments.
More about Kidfun Books
Now, more than ever, everyone needs KIDFUN ideas. The most routine daily activities are ideal times to interact happily with our children. A brief bit of laughter or a fanciful flight of imagination can turn a trying moment into a bright moment for our child and a happy memory for us. KIDFUN books and other books of activities by Sharla Feldscher were originally published in the 70’s. It is true that KIDFUN works anytime, anywhere and with any generation! They all came from her kindergarten experience.
Two of the better selling KIDFUN books were published in the 90’s by HarperCollins and had foreign translations. The first – The KIDFUN Activity Book – was translated in German. The second – The KIDFUN Activity Book, Expanded Edition – was translated in Russian. Other KIDFUN books were directed to specific themes – like KIDFUN Game Book for the Dentist Office and another KIDFUN Game Book for Ramada Hotels. KIDFUN began as a guide for early childhood teachers with the book READINESS WEEK BY WEEK published by Grade Teacher Magazine and 148 DO-ITS FOR EARLY LEARNERS published by Instructor Publications. The first book for the general market was HELP! THE KID IS BORED! By Hart Publishing.
[Sharla played KIDFUN as a kid herself, shared KIDFUN with her own children, their friends and extended family and today Sharla plays KIDFUN with her granddaughters. It’s always the same – she turns the switch on their creative minds and wonderful ideas are born with the kids as the innovators. She loves to hear, “Grammy, let’s play KIDFUN!” like Sari, now 9, said this year when they played badminton in her living room. It was easy. They tied a rope between two separated chairs for the net. They used paper plates as paddles and a balloon was the “birdie” they passed back and forth over the “net”. What you saw was active play. What you heard was laughter!
About Sharla Feldscher
Author Sharla Feldscher is often called a “Kid believer.” Nothing gives her more pleasure than encouraging young people to believe in themselves and pursue their dreams. It all began for Sharla when she was just a kid herself and discovered the joys of playing with younger children. Her career began as a kindergarten teacher in Philadelphia when she also started writing about her unique ideas of creative fun with young children.
Sharla has written eight books, including two KIDFUN books published by HarperCollins and translated to German and Russian. Her writing credits include dozens of articles in Grade Teacher Magazine, New York Family Magazine, L.A. Family Magazine, South Jersey Magazine and, for eight years, a weekly KIDFUN page in the Philadelphia Daily News—where she had hundreds of children serve as volunteer kid reporters.
A frequent guest on the talk show circuit, Sharla has produced KIDFUN segments for Philadelphia’s #1 radio station, KYW Newsradio and on WTFX-TV with Phillies and Mets legendary pitcher, Tug McGraw playing KIDFUN with children. Sharla currently has a regular KIDFUN feature on television on PHL 17’s Morning News in Philadelphia.
In addition to her work as creator of KIDFUN, Sharla is an award-winning public relations professional with over three decades of experience, and she now partners with her daughter Hope at the Feldscher Horwitz Public Relations firm. She has created a division of the business called “Young People with Big Hearts”, where Sharla serves as a volunteer publicist for children who support the community. She worked with Rocco Fiorentino starting when he was 10 years old as he was an ambassador for The Little Rock Foundation, that supports other children who are blind, like Rocco. A jazz artist and producer, she was proud to have Rocco sing on “Sesame Street” and tell Elmo it’s okay to be blind; he was a reporter for FOX-TV and attended the American Idol Finals in Hollywood, reporting on local and national television and he was the recipient of numerous awards. This was all part of Sharla’s dedication to building awareness and recognition for Rocco as a role model for others.
Sharla’s motto is, “Success is a journey, not a destination.” Proud of her journey, nothing brings Sharla more pride than her family—husband Barry, daughters Amy Munro and her husband Scott, Hope Feldscher-Horwitz, and three granddaughters Ryan, Sari and Jaclyn. Sharla lives in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.