Did the world really need another app developer creating content for kids? We certainly thought so, and today we are excited to tell you why!
Studies are still being done on the effect of constant access to online content for children, and faster than studies can be done, more content is being made available to younger and younger children. One thing is growing increasingly clear: overexposure isn’t doing anyone a bit of good.
While there were countless fun, engaging, and absolutely engrossing apps designed specifically for children, when it came time to begin exposing our own children to screen time, we found ourselves hesitant. As we began researching the developers behind the learning games and brands that had been recommended to us, we noticed a pretty alarming trend.
While the developers all had extensive knowledge of how to get people hooked on games, almost none of them employed any experts in the fields of early education. Additionally, no research had been done on the potential harm of the addictive programming these apps utilized.
Wonder Bunch has employed experts of all kinds in the fields of early childhood education, accessibility, and inclusivity to ensure that our apps are safe, effective, and against the advice of every other app developer we encountered, easy to set down.
No Gamification
That might sound counter-intuitive, but it was really high on our list of priorities when developing our line of children’s educational apps. We avoided all of the tips we received about how to make our apps addictive, about how to create a dopamine-dumping effect, and how to keep kids hooked. We opted instead to utilize a more gentle animation style, a muted color palette, and games that were enjoyable, but that encouraged children to set them down and explore the even more beautiful world around them.
Our goal was to create a safe space where children could learn important skills, and then apply those skills to their non-digital lives. We wanted to teach children how to learn, and to see them use that ability to explore their lives and environments with clear and curious minds.
No Predatory Advertising
We are driven to make our unique learning model accessible to as many families as possible! That means we do our best to offer free or low-cost access on all of our learning apps and resources. While this may mean accepting some financing from advertisers to keep our free app running, we have put in enough work on the front end that we had the privilege to pick and choose who we are willing to partner with. We will never partner with anyone that we or our team find to be dangerous or potentially harmful to children. That means no fast-food giants, no questionable or age-inappropriate movie promotions, no flashing blinking or beeping toys to distract your child from what they’ve come to us to learn. Upgrades to our paid app will always come with an ad-free experience, but we will never barter with questionable brands over your child’s access to quality learning.
What Does Free Buy You?
We know the saying: you get what you pay for. We have put a great deal of time, money, and research into creating apps that we are giving away for little or no cost to our users. So, what’s the catch? Where did we cut corners, or where are we going to ask you for a donation or contribution? Well, we didn’t cut a single corner. We took our time finding our artists, musicians, and educators. We went through beta testing and scrapping and rewriting for months. But you’re right. We do come with a catch.
We expect parents to give us free and honest feedback. We expect you to partner with us by telling us how and what we can do better. And then we expect your children to see and love the world we are leaving them, and to become the leaders who will continue to create a beautiful future for all of our children to share.
It’s a tall ask, but we know we can count on you!
Thank you for helping us create the safest, most effective children’s app available. And thank you for raising independent and brilliant minds to make our world a little brighter and more beautiful every day!
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