How this educational streaming service got a preschooler engrossed in learning

Hyacinth watches a video on Kokotree along with her tween sister

Left to her own devices, four-year-old Hyacinth Palanna would spend time watching cartoons after school. But negotiating a snug hour of screen time with her mother - a learning facilitator for kids - is quite a struggle. While most parents are concerned about the kind of content their children consume, mother Sherine Palanna's admonishes are informed by professional experience. She encourages her child to interact and play with her hands. "It is essential to build motor skills in these early years of growing up. Although a sprightly tot, she enjoys pastimes such as tearing coloured paper into bits and sticking them within design outlines," shares Sherine, adding that cartoon time is also allowed but in moderation.

While the parent wishes for valuable digital engagement, Hyacinth excitedly tells us about her love for big animals. "Elephant, hippopotamus and tiger - they are my favourites." She squeals in joy about Meera, the tiger she met a couple of days ago. We learn that her mother had organised this meet-up. Big cat Meera is the resident English teacher on Kokotree - an educational application that introduces children to shapes, colours, numbers and phonics. Did the preschooler like it? "I love rhymes that have animals in them," she chirped. Sherine notes that her daughter had gone quiet soon after the videos were played on the platform. "For a loud kid, that's unnatural. I realised she was absorbed into what was happening on the screen. Kids learn through repetition; the single-letter phonics played out in a sing-song way, and Hyacinth was following the cue," she said.

While the instructive material has been thoughtfully chosen for kids, the sober colours and soothing sounds probably calmed Hyacinth. "Most videos on the Internet use overly bright colours and music. That wasn't a part of this experience. The interface is not a passive medium; once children listen, watch and learn, there are activity sheets that can be downloaded for them to apply their knowledge," Sherine adds. We were happy to know that the application gets this Thane household's green signal.

KOKOTREE LEARNING APPLICATION
AGE GROUP: 1 to 5 years
TYPE: Application
PRICE: $99/year
RATING: 3.5/4
LOG ON: kokotree.com