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Gaming companies are often pilloried in the press for keeping kids up too late, while devices stand accused of disrupting all of our sleep patterns. London-based Mind Candy though, the home of the Moshi Monsters franchise, has come up with an app that turns all of that on its head.
Today marks the launch of Moshi Twilight Sleep Stories, an audio-driven app that helps kids fall asleep – and helps their parents de-stress regular bedtime bust-ups. The idea comes across from one of Moshi Monster creator Michael Acton Smith’s other ventures: Calm.com which recently won the Apple iPhone App of the Year 2017.
“To prepare for sleep we need to transition from the hustle and bustle of the day to the calm of the evening,” said Acton Smith. The Calm app does just that using a combination of music, ambient noise and narration to lull adults to sleep. And now Mind Candy has taken a Moshi-inspired spin on the same idea to help children to drop off more easily.
“We understand the challenges faced by millions of parents every day in getting their kids to sleep” said Ian Chambers, CEO of Mind Candy. “We believe that listening to Moshi Twilight Sleep Stories at bedtime will help parents settle their kids more effectively”.
In our own quick test last night, the app certainly hit home, with the kids being eager to listen to the soporific soundscapes on offer. There are a handful of free to listen tracks and more are available as part of a premium subscription package for £7 a month or £60 a year – with Mind Candy to update the range as the service develops.
It’s an exciting new direction for Mind Candy, and should show the way for the development of kids apps as a whole. The idea of using a big brand such as Moshi for something entirely different, yet incredibly useful, and it very much targets parents (the actual customers) as much as kidsd. It shows that there’s plenty more creative thinking that could and should be done to get the most out of such IPs.
