Kickstarter: Lairytales: A wickedly wonderful way to learn
This is a great idea, to help children read and become more social. I really want everyone to have a read of this Kickstarter and pledge some money to help it come to fruition. So I’ll leave you with Ali, Kieron and Dan, and their idea to help children read and learn.
The Lairies and Lairytales
Lairytales are app and book-based stories that use the power of laughter to help children explore language, storytelling and context.
Each story stars the Lairies – naughty little creatures that come to life at the top of the tallest tree in Wagglewood.
Laughter makes learning easier
Strong, enjoyable characters and stories underpin learning. That’s because connection, fun and creativity promote positive behaviour, cooperation and collaboration.
Lairytales combine a child-focused fun factor, with academic, social and emotional education opportunities.
When my daughter was about three years old I started reading the Lairytales to her. A funny thing happened. She began memorising and recognising some of the words… the naughty* words.
Even as a pre-reader she could identify words in the story that made her laugh and would recognise and say them before I reached them. Soon she could write the word Parp, the name of her favourite Lairy.
I realised that laughter isn’t just good for the soul; it makes learning easier. In fact, research suggests that humour produces psychological and physiological benefits that actively help children to learn.
Those shared giggles create positive associations with the words and messages of the story. Laughter reduces anxiety, boosting participation in the activity and helping to keep kids focused on the task.
But funny at five years old is not the same as funny at forty.
Lairytales help us, as parents, grandparents or carers, to challenge our autopilot responses to naughty* words, in order to make the most of our involvement in our children’s early experiences with language.
*Underwear, bum and poop are our current favourites here. How many times do you get to write those words as a grown-up?
Parent power
Under the expert guidance of qualified primary school teachers we have added support to the Lairytales for parents and helpers, in a similar way to the discussion points used by the Oxford Reading Tree system, which supports the national curriculum in 80% of UK primary schools.
Each Lairytale includes prompts and discussion points, mixed with suggestions for dialling up the fun with lots of physical silliness, like raspberry-blowing contests and snore-offs. The key point is that you and your child laugh and learn together.
As well as helping to increase literacy levels, Lairytales focus on understanding the power of words and their ability to be helpful or harmful.
Switching off
Technology has a huge part to play in education, learning and creativity. But for our young children, who have been born into a digital world, there is a risk from never switching off.
That’s why Lairytales will be available digitally in an app (iOS and Android) and in printed books, with lots of opportunities for interaction across both mediums.
Lairytales offer children the choice about how to interact with the characters and stories, and give adults the control to decide when each channel is appropriate.
Both on and offline, Lairytales include:
- Contextual learning prompts
- Help with tricky words
- Create your own Lairy feature
- Story personalisation
The app also includes interactive characters and character cards (including nasty noises!). In future we would like to add games to support the learning goals of each story.
Tested by kids
We’ve tested the Lairies and Lairytales with lots of kids aged between three and ten years old, in schools and in play sessions we’ve hosted ourselves.
Without exception they’ve fallen in love with the flatulent Parp, the snoring Ho Hum, Violet’s violent temper, the seriously sly Sneeker and tricky twins, Peep and Bizzy.
Here’s what else we found out: Children love the Lairies’ horrible habits – but they think they can do better.
So, just like the Lairies, we’ve broken all the rules and provided lots of opportunities for children to create and add their own characters inside the pages of the books, as well as within the app.
We also want to give our mini designers the opportunity to share their creations in a safe and secure space.
Funding and costs
This Kickstarter campaign will fund the first soft-cover print run of Lairytales, Series One. That’s five separate stories, complete with reading support material. The first run will be numbered so you know you’re in on the ground floor.
We’ll also print a limited run of hard-back editions for Kickstarter pledges only.
Additionally we’ll bring in extra technical resource to finish the app and get it to market quicker. We’re about 50% of the way there already.
All pledges will get access to the app, and those over £25 will get a signed edition of the first Lairytale – Parp and the Secret Stink, in time for Christmas 2016.
We chose to release all five Series One stories because 1) they were already written, and 2) it meant the app would have a viable minimum level of content from the start.
In the future we’d like to look at merchandising the Lairies, especially using Do-It-Yourself products that encourage children to imagine, make and create.
But for now we’ll be focusing on getting Lairytales into the app stores and the book stores.
kickstarter.com/projects/appylab/lairytales-wickedly-wonderful-stories-for-creative
