Why did you create this innovation?

A significant level of children aged up to 5 finish the school year without a ‘Good Level of Development’ in communication/language impacting future outcomes. Early years children spend most time at home. Supporting parents in the home-learning environment is vital to influence children’s long-term attainment. Our platform allows us to reach parents at scale, overcoming engagement barriers.

How does your innovation work in practice?

University of Oxford study showed how parents who engaged with EasyPeasy (EP) over 10-18 weeks made 5 months additional progress against their peers in ‘Cognitive self-regulation’ (CSR); the ability to sit and focus on a task, described to be crucial for school readiness. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) randomised control trial also presented the impact on CSR with a larger sample size. Parents reported a statistically significant impact on factors improving the quality of their Home Environments; generating more Language and Academic Stimulation; helping parents become more responsive and interactive with their children. Children improved their ability to understand Concepts and Follow Directions as well as understanding ‘word structure’, putting them one month ahead of their peers in the control group. Our native app’s content feed is underpinned by a unique algorithm growing with each age/stage of a child’s development as well as the parent's evolving needs and challenges.

How has it been spreading?

To date over 100,000 parents and 3000 early years practitioners have registered to the EasyPeasy app. Independent studies show a positive impact on parent’s wellbeing, as well as children’s cognitive, social and emotional development. Our goal over the next 2-3 years is to reach more parents through international markets to grow our global parenting community. The app has been distributed as part of community strategies through partnerships including with the UK Department of Education, LEGO Foundation, Wellcome Trust, and over one thousand early years settings across England, and we have just opened to the Australian market. We want to continue this approach so we can reach as many families as possible to support children achieving their crucial developmental milestones.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

The app is free to download on the App Store and Google Play. Users can explore limited content, which refreshes weekly, or upgrade to Premium to unlock unlimited content. A Plus One model exists in which a family facing challenges gains free access to the app when a new user subscribes. Organisations can partner with EP through volume licenses to give access to their parent community.