Storyball - the screen-free smart toy

by Startacus Admin

Innovation in play thanks to Storyball, a toy that uses games, stories and challenges to get children playing, learning and moving their bodies

As technology advances and more information and entertainment can be accessed from all kinds of devices, it becomes more tempting and easier for parents and carers to occupy their children with these devices.

Where once we might have sat a child down in front of the TV for as long as they would remain focused on it, keeping them quiet and out of the way, we now put devices in their hands for them to play games and watch TV and films, increasing the amount of time they remain occupied.

Care.com conducted a survey of UK parents and found that 1 in 10 children are spending more than 50 hours per week with their eyes glued to a screen. While there are plenty of compelling arguments for games vs TV/films - and we’ve even written about positive tech experiences in the past - the fact remains that sitting in front of any screen for that many hours is less than ideal on many levels.

London-based Storyball is one way to meet tech-loving children halfway.

Storyball is a smart toy that uses their smart device without glueing the child to a screen, instead getting them out playing, learning, and exercising (without them realising they’re performing the dreaded E word!).

Storyball, as the name suggests, tells a story that the child or children participate in, jumping over obstacles found in the story, dancing, or running away from things, for example. These stories, quizzes, games, challenges, and more keep them social, occupied, and entertained while staying on the move.

As with many smart devices for children, parents get a dashboard app through which they can keep track of their child’s progress, know that they are safe, and team up with them to join in the fun.

In 2018, Storyball beat out over 2,000 other startups to be named the most innovative educational toy at the Global EdTech Startup Awards. And just in the last few weeks, Startup Sesame announced the 15 startups that will be taking part in the 5th cohort of their accelerator programme; Storyball was chosen from over 300 to be among them. We look forward to seeing the Storyball that comes out the other end in 12 months.

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• #innovation
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• #play
• #smart toy
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• #storyball

Published on: 18th March 2019