Noah Dance developed the DiaryZapp app for his little sister Ella – its a safe introduction to social media for children.
An enterprising 10-year-old whose sister was struggling with literacy has developed a social media app for children.
Noah Dance came up with the idea of DiaryZapp after little sis Ella, seven, was asked by her school to keep a diary last summer.
He thought the task would be more fun if it could be done digitally – and now his interactive app has been launched.
Kids can write diary entries, draw pictures, add photos a share with friends and family – as long as mum and dad have approved it.
Noah Dance developed the DiaryZapp app for his little sister Ella – it’s a safe introduction to social media for children. Parents Jon and Charlie helped make it a reality.
It’s cyber-secure and each user has a Zappicon character that they name and style and it prompts the diarists about what to write and also makes suggestions.
DiaryZapp is a safe introduction to social media for children and also helps them with literacy.
Noah and Ellla live in Wimborne, Dorset, with parents Jon and Charlie who helped make the app a reality.
Noah Dance developed the DiaryZapp app for his little sister Ella – it’s a safe introduction to social media for children.
Mum Charlie said: “Our children’s school asked them all to keep a diary in order to help prevent learning loss or ‘summer slide’.
“Ella chose a pretty notebook and set to doing it every day but was struggling majorly with her literacy which turned it from a fun task to a miserable half an hour.
“After working for some time on entries Ella wanted to be able to share it easily with her friends and our family who were constantly asking her what she was up to.
“After faffing around with photos on phones and tiny text, we eventually gave up.
“Trying to be good parents, we asked Noah how he would like to fix this.
“He suggested that it would be cool to have a special app on the iPad to be able to import photos and write about their holiday adventures.
“His idea was something eye-catching and fun to use that would be easy to send to his buddies to stay in touch as the weeks went by.
“Noah came up with the concept and design of the app and the children have tested it to find out how it should work.
“Obviously we wanted it to be safe and that’s why it’s cyber-secure and there’s also parental gateway – so mums and dads have to approve any sharing.”
Noah, who attends Dumpton School, said: “Rather than just write in a diary I thought it would be more fun and interesting to do it on a tablet.
“I had an idea of an app that would allow you to add drawings and photos and be able to share with friends.
“My sister was struggling with her writing and I thought this would help as well as being something for everybody to use.
“I can’t wait to see how the app does and I’m very excited that it’s available.”
Ella said: “My big brother Noah is always there for me. We were walking up Bedruthen Steps in Cornwall while on holiday when he thought of the idea and he almost fell over because he was so excited.
“I think he loves me even though I drive him crazy. DiaryZapp is so much fun. He’s so clever for thinking of it. Don’t tell him I said that though.”
The app costs £3.99 to download and that gives access to five users.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
DiaryZapp can be downloaded and used for life for £3.99 from Amazon, Apple and the Google Play Store. Five separate user diaries are included for this price. www.diaryzapp.com No in-app purchases.
For more information on the summer slide, interviews, download codes, high res images or further requests, please contact Cherry Martin on cherry@hypeandtype.com 07455 371 558
Safety
– Matmi (www.matmi.com) who build apps for global brands such as Barclays have built the app to be cyber secure.
Extras
– Kids can start any time of the year and any time of the day.
– Each child gets their own Zappicon to craft and style, their Zappicon will be there to guide them through the app and suggest ideas such as ‘what made you giggle today’ what did you see today that made you think ‘wow?’ for days when they’d rather colour and draw there’s a whole toolbox of crafting activities.
– The more frequently they create diary entries, the more stickers they’ll unlock to dress up each day.
– Diary days can be printed off easily with partner Photobox.com
For more information contact: Ed Baker at Deep South Media on 01202 534487 or 07788392965
