Kyle Dine is a popular food allergy educator, entertainer and advocate. For the past eight years he has been bringing his fun, upbeat presentations about food allergies to schools across North America. Kyle has also made two food allergy music CDs. Thousands of families enjoy the songs on “Food Allergies Rock!” and “You Must Be Nuts.”

Now Kyle is excited to announce that his new DVD is available. It is called “Kyle Dine & Friends – Allergy Awareness with Songs, Puppets and Games.” This two-DVD set teaches children ages 4 to 11 about food allergies.

Perfect for Schools

Although the DVD can be enjoyed by anyone, Kyle created it with schools in mind. “There are now so many schools that want and need food allergy education,” Kyle relates. “I realized that I could not physically help all of them. Schools wanted a ready-to-go resource where the teacher could just hit the ‘play’ button. But this was not available. I realized that I could make the DVD that schools were asking for. I could make it both fun and educational. And, because of my relationships with the major food allergy organizations in North America, I could make it credible as well.”

Financed by the Food Allergy Community

Kyle used the Kickstarter crowdfunding site to fund most of the DVD’s production costs. Many parents were excited to take part. Kyle’s fundraising efforts were a big success.  Then, as often happens with big projects, things grew beyond Kyle’s original vision. This increased the cost of producing the DVD. So he also asked for the support of companies that serve the food allergy community.

“Things grew because I wanted the program to be high quality,” Kyle explains. “And I also wanted it to be available for kids who speak French, Spanish and German. At one point I was going to use subtitles. But then I realized that this would not work for young children who do not read! So I went for a much bigger solution. I hired over 20 voice actors to do the characters and myself in these other languages. Then we made sure that no matter which language you choose, the DVD seems like it was made in that language.”

An Empowering Message

Just like Kyle’s live performances, the DVD covers all of the basic messages of food allergy. The program is designed to do two main things: First, empower kids who have food allergies. Second, get their friends on board and normalize the food allergy message. Kyle uses songs, puppets, games and quizzes to make the program as fun and engaging as possible. The DVD is jam-packed with education, presenting food allergy facts in a fun way.

“When I’m talking to the camera,” Kyle says, “I’m really talking to the kids. And the games are really interactive. For example, I tell the kids to put their thumb up if they think something is a good idea. Even though I’m not physically there, I’m still engaging the children in the room.”

Two Different Programs for Two Different Age Groups

Kyle’s DVD is actually a two-DVD set. There is one DVD for children ages 4 through 7 and another for ages 8 through 11.

Some of the program is the same in both versions. But most of it differs in the tone and approach. “Although the messages are similar,” Kyle states, “the DVD for older kids has a lot less song and dance. After eight years of doing school assemblies, I know that you must change things up for the older kids. They like it when I test their knowledge and engage them in the program. What works for a four-year-old usually does not work for someone in sixth grade.”

The DVD was officially released on September 22. However, Kyle’s Kickstarter backers received their copies before that. It’s no surprise that the response so far has been extremely positive!

How to Buy the “Kyle Dine and Friends” DVD Set and Also Help KFA

You can buy the DVD set through a special link and Kyle will donate a portion of the sales to Kids With Food Allergies. It is his way of giving back to the food allergy community.

It will soon also be available at iTunes and other retailers.

What Kyle is Most Proud Of

Kyle is extremely proud of the fact that this is a community-wide project. Parents, schools, companies and non-profit organizations all came together to help. For example, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) purchased DVDs to give to its affiliated support groups. (KFA is a division of AAFA). The support groups can then lend the program to families and schools.

“At the end of the day,” Kyle adds, “I think it’s great that this is a resource that came from the ground up and brought everybody together. It’s something that I’m very proud of.”