Like many parents, we were looking for educational app for our kids. We have tried many apps like Lingo kids, Monkey Stories, Teach Your Monsters and many others. Our kids were engaged. Yet I noticed all they do was just tapping buttons until they got the right answers. Don’t get me wrong, these apps might have some good activities. But my kids’ focus was more about getting the rewards and collecting gifts for their avatar, rather than learning. That’s when I realized gamification, while well-intentioned, was actually distracting from real learning for preschoolers.

Around the same time, my team and I was looking for a new kids app idea for our next project. Watching how my sons interacted with the educational apps on the market, I knew we had to create something different. Something that actually helps kids learn.

The lightbulb moment came one night when I was playing with my 5-year-old son, Umar. As we played, I noticed something amazing that has been in front of me all this while - he was telling stories. He wasn't just moving toys around; he was in a different world while I’m sitting next to him at our living room. In his imaginary world, there was a villain chasing him. The interesting part was he wasn't playing with a Lego minifigures or his car collections. Both he and the villain were just a bunch of shapes that he moved around.

That strikes me. What if our app allows kids to craft their own stories? What if kids can learn through the stories that they are imagining? This realization led to the birth of StoryTime. 

Over the next year, we thoughtfully designed StoryTime to bring this vision to life. We replaced locked levels and points with a "blank" canvas for kids' imaginations. It was one year of unlearning and relearning. Finally, on November 2023 we launched StoryTime on the Apple App Store. Our goal was to create an educational app that didn't just entertain kids or drill facts into their heads, but one that truly engaged their minds and allowed them to learn through their own creativity.

StoryTime isn't just another educational app - it's a platform for imagination, a tool for storytelling, and a new way of thinking about how kids age 3-7 learn. And if you feel the same as I do, give StoryTime a try! Download it today from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

P.S. The picture above is Umar during our event at Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair (KLIBF) last month. Without Umar, StoryTime might not be like what it is now.