Photo courtesy of WGBH

“Want to help create a new parenting app?”

First 8 Labs at WGBH wants to know because on November 18^th and 19^th, the lab will host “The First 8 Years: A Public Media Hackathon,” at WGBH’s home, 1 Guest Street in Boston’s Brighton neighborhood.

Parents, teachers, and healthcare professionals are invited to join designers and coders to “brainstorm and build media solutions that promote healthy child development.”

The event promises “a weekend of creative problem solving.” Participants will get to work in teams to brainstorm ideas, collaborate on solutions, and prototype new designs.

First 8 Labs, a research development unit, started in 2014 to help parents, caregivers and educators who “struggle with how to integrate technology and media into their children’s lives amidst concerns that uninterrupted passive screen time can be detrimental to a child’s development.”

Since then, First 8 Labs has developed a number of apps. Now it’s time to grow.

As First 8 Labs explains on its blog, photographers and videographers will record the events, because, “A big component of our hackathon is documenting the process from start to finish.”

The event is free, and meals and snacks will be provided.

To learn more, check out the First 8 Labs blog.

To see the schedule and register for this fun, 21^st century event, click here.