About this project
Purchase the Smart Letters on www.marbotic.fr
Have you noticed that kids love to play with tablets? We have! So we designed an awesome educative tool that combines apps and wooden toys to help them prepare to learn to read and write. For kids aged 3-7.
Who has eaten all the letters? This app lets children explore the letters, the sound they make and their shapes with the fearful, letter-eating Monstromachine. This app was inspired by cognitive studies stating that the association between letters and phonics is the key to reading.
Did you know that the extent of a kid's vocabulary can predict the speed he or she will learn to read? In our Vocabubble app, kids discover hundreds of words in a quirky and fun universe. Each letter of the alphabet pops out to disclose gorgeous old engravings, poetically animated. The illustrated word is then read out loud.
My words (available in January 2016)
Ok! So...What do you do with letters now? You write words of course! Kids stamp letters and hear the words being read out loud. You can even make out your own bizarre words like "pliz suppoart uz".
These 3 beautiful iPads apps can be downloaded for free with the wooden toy.
Should we let kids use tablets?
Our educative values :
Veronique teaches 3-year-olds in her classroom in Paris and she tested our prototype of Smart Letters. Here is what she has to say about it :
- From 3 years old, this smart toy will help your child as they learn to read and write
- This alphabet is made of wood, conductive plastic and metal, and it respects US and Europe children toys regulations
- No battery, wifi or bluetooth needed, it works with the static electricity of your body
- Is your device compatible? The Smart Letters are compatible with all iPad generations, excluding first generation iPads
- The letters and the apps can also be played with independently. You can use the letters as shape toys on a piece of paper
- Smart letters and the related apps are available in 5 languages
Risks and challenges
The industrialization of Smart Letters is on track already, so unless a major space alien invasion happens, we are 99,99% sure to deliver the first 300 boxes for this Christmas. We plan to ship them on December, 1st so everyone gets them.
If our project has a huge success and more than 300 boxes are needed, then we will need to start a new production with the factory. This might take a few months, but we will do everything to deliver them by March 2016.
The other big challenge is to address the Android platform. The apps could be easily developed, but we're having a hard time with the screen precision of Android tablets. The makeup of touchscreens are very different from one brand to another, and even amongst models of the same brand.
Apple tablets have so far given us high precision satisfaction, so we decided to secure this user experience first, so Smart Letters is available to iPads only at present.
If there is high demand on Android, we will work on it! Android users are also our friends!Learn about accountability on Kickstarter
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