Building on the inaugural effort that culminated in the celebration of 21 top kids shows at KidScreen Summit this past February, the industry’s global awards for excellence in children’s TV is opening up the first phase of its 2011 call for entries.

Entries are now being accepted for shows that target preschoolers (ages zero to five), kids (six to 10), tweens/teens (11 to 17) and families in the following programming categories: Best Animated Series, Best Non-Animated or Mixed Series, Best One-off, Special or TV Movie and Best Companion Website

New to this year is a dedicated set of awards for best efforts in kids broadcasting from around the world.

KidScreen will begin accepting online entries in early September for an overall Channel of the Year award, as well as in special achievement categories covering Best Channel Design, Best Integrated Promotion, Best Interstitial Campaign, Best Channel Website and Best On-Air Host.

KidScreen Awards 2011 winners in all categories will be announced at an evening presentation as part of next year’s KidScreen Summit, which is headed New York from February 15 to 18.

Winners will once again be chosen by juries comprised of respected entertainment professionals, who will also single out programs that merit special Creative Talent Awards for animation, directing, voice talent, writing, music, design and acting.

Additional information on eligibility, judging and how to enter can be found at awards.kidscreen.com.

The deadline for entries in the programming categories is September 17, 2010.