California-based educational nonprofit Khan Academy has launched its first app for preschoolers, Khan Academy Kids with help from the makers of Super Simple Songs at Toronto, Canada-based Skyship Entertainment.
Available today as a free iOS download and in beta for Google Play and the Amazon Appstore, Khan Academy Kids features thousands of videos, books and lessons fusing subjects including math and reading with creative activities like drawing and storytelling.
Additionally, the app provides literacy, language, and social-emotional learning, and activities that promote executive function, logic and motor development. Khan Academy collaborated with educators from the Stanford Graduate School of Education and notable book authors to develop the app’s curriculum and library of original books.
With the ability to adapt to a child’s learning needs, Khan Academy Kids also lets children navigate through individualized educational materials with help from animated character guides. For extra engagement, kids can collect items for their favorite characters, including bugs, hats and toys.
As for Skyship’s involvement, the app offers a raft of animation and puppetry videos from the company’s Super Simple Songs online catalog of original and classic kids songs including “Baby Shark” and “The Muffin Man.” To date, the Super Simple Songs YouTube channel has attracted more than 10 million subscribers and generated 10 billion views. To enhance the offering, the app provides interactive learning elements for children to experience the songs in new ways.
Other educational partners with free learning materials on the app include Bellwether Media and National Geographic’s Young Explorer magazine.
Since launching in 2006 by educator Salman Khan, Khan Academy’s online educational tools for students and teachers now reach 15 million people worldwide every month and have been translated into dozens of languages.
Its partnership with Skyship comes as ed tech companies are increasingly looking to the entertainment industry for educational-based commercial opportunities.