Storypod Helps Parents “Edutain” Their Kids 3+ Screen-Free With A Library of 300+ Original and Licensed Bilingual Stories, Songs, Books, and Games.
MIAMI, FL / JUN 19, 2020 / Character-driven, broadcast-quality audio for hours of screenless fun. On June 30, Storypod launches a crowdfunding campaign for its edutainment audio platform for kids, which helps busy and screen-concerned parents entertain their kids screen-free through interactive stories, songs, books, and games. What effects do screens have on children’s brains? JAMA Pediatrics, a peer-reviewed medical journal in the American Medical Association, found that more screen time results in children’s lower expressive language, less ability to rapidly name objects, and decreased literacy skills. They also discovered that more screen time causes physical changes to the brain — specifically, lower brain white matter integrity in a portion of the brain directly impacting language and literacy skills. The World Health Organization recommends limiting screen time for kids under 5 to just one hour daily of high-quality programming. But how else can parents keep their kids busy all day? Enter Storypod.
Storypod is the creation of Daniel Buelhoff, a serial entrepreneur from Berlin, Germany, now living in Miami, who came up with the idea as a new-age version of his beloved childhood audio cassettes that he re-discovered with his daughter during his cancer treatment back in 2018.
“So here I was finally hitting my stride as a foreign entrepreneur in the US, processing new-parent concerns about screen time when life throws me a major curveball in the form of lymphoma. While back in Berlin for treatment, I discover my 2-year-old daughter’s obsession with my old audio tapes of amazing German stories — and I have the classic aha moment; I’d create a digital, interactive version of this screenless medium and bring the characters to life with these wonderful yarn figurines my daughter loves to play with.” – Daniel Buelhoff, Storypod Founder.
How Storypod works are simple. Kids grab eco-friendly yarn figurines called Crafties, which are about the size of an avocado and embedded with an NFC-chip, place them on their Storypod, and playfully listen and learn to immersive, podcast-quality audio in English and Spanish. Crafties initiate “the magic” on Storypod, through an RFID sensor that upon contact initially downloads the audio content from the cloud to its 16GB of space for offline playback.
Storypod also features read-along books aimed at developing children’s reading skills by encouraging them to follow along word-by-word as dynamic narrations with soundscapes bring their favorite stories to life. At night, Storypod helps parents achieve a stress-free bedtime routine by using the Storypod app to set a sleep timer and nightlight as their kids fall asleep to stories, lullabies, or a variety of white noise.
“I believe the US will experience an audio boom for kids bigger than in Germany, which grew to a billion-dollar industry called Hörspiel. We’re already seeing the explosion of podcasts for adults, so I expect podcasts for kids will soon follow. I do believe that storytelling is one of the best ways for kids to learn. But to do even better, Storypod has an interactive Q&A feature that engages kids with fun questions and riddles based on the listening experience to engage in a more meaningful way,” continues Daniel.
Storypod launches with a bilingual audio library of 30+ characters full of original stories, music, and learning topics created by the team of children’s media experts and Grammy award-winning producers. Characters and titles range from original adaptations of public-domain classics like Cinderella to stories of historical role models like Amelia Earhart to popular children’s media brands, with whom Storypod has already begun licensing discussions ahead of its launch.
The estimated delivery date of Storypod is Q4 2020. Pre-orders will begin with an EarlyBird discount of 50% at $59 on Kickstarter on June 30. Any members of the media wishing to receive more information or interview Daniel should contact him at press@storypod.co
CONTACT:
Daniel Buelhoff, Founder & CEO
Phone: (305) 209-7910
press@storypod.co
www.storypod.co
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Oh wow how can get this too for my baby brother
I want one for myself cause it’s so cute. This can be a perfect gift for the kiddos, is it available here in Ph? It’s quite expensive but I think it’s worthy for its price.
absolutely a perfect gift. It’s not available yet in the Philippines but you can order via online thru this link – http://mom.shout.out.e.fnd.to/storypod/ they ship worldwide
super cute naman! im sure kids will definitely enjoy listening to stories with this storypod plus nakaka enjoy yung parang toy na kasama.
These are cute! I would love to get one for my little nephew, preferably the Einstein design. We’re trying to keep him away from our gadgets (he’s fond of using our laptops/tablets to watch Youtube Kids shows). I think this is a better substitute. Can we purchase these locally?
I am totally in love with this idea. I think it is brilliant and will stir children’s imagination. I love podcasts and I think that the kids can have fun with it as well. Haha
Oh how cute is this? For sure mag eenjoy making ng mga stories ang kids dito. First time to hear about this too.
There are really good alternatives to ipads. I will buy one for my daughter 😉 Thanks for sharing.
Such a nice and creative way to entertain our kids! Plus it is safe and effective! I will check this out and for sure my daughter will love this!
This is so cute! Okay to pang gift sa mga kids. Sayang lang di pa sya available sa Philippines.
innovative to answer the current screen time dilemma. this is good. i also like that it can go side by side a book and the child can listen to the audio while looking at the book.
My grandson would love this. I try to encourage him to read more and hopefully, this storypod would help him love reading more. I will check online if they have this here in my country. Keeping my fingers crossed that they do.
Wow! Nice! I’d prefer something like this over screen time. It’s more engaging in terms of imagination and what not.
Storypod seems like an innovative and cool podcast. Very helpful! Hope to avail it soon.
I like gadgets like that. It will enhance listening comprehension of children which in this day and age is something that young generation do not seem to have – the art of listening. I will be happy to see this product launched in the market. It is about time we teach the young ones to not only rely on their visuals for entertainment and information, but also thru listening.
Ang ganda po nito para sating mga anak very useful ito para sa kanila
Wow ang ganda po nito very useful at magugustuhan talaga ito ng mga anak natin bagay na bagay sa mga bata ang ganto
Maganda po for kids ito talaga lalo na po at maraming bata ang lagi na lang nakatutok sa tablet or computer.. ?
Ang nice nito,magugustuhan talaga ng mga kids to