Story-telling app made available for free to help families during coronavirus lockdown

The Chatta Club app, which is backed by Leeds education charity SHINE, uses a tablet or smartphone as a storyboard. It delivers daily emails with story-making ideas to encourage children aged from three to 11 to add their own photos and pictures, and then record themselves telling a story.

Former teacher Chris Williams, who now works as an education consultant, has opened up the Chatta Club to families during the crisis to help keep youngsters entertained and educated.

He said: “We want to do everything we can to make the current lockdown restrictions a more positive experience for children, so they can use their imaginations, enjoy being creative and develop their language skills while having fun.

“The central component of every Chatta activity is storytelling. Stories are everywhere. You could make a story set in the kitchen, on the staircase, behind the sofa. Every home holds endless stories. This is what Chatta unlocks, and as narrative competence and storytelling is the key to reading, writing and wider learning the more of this taking place the better.”

Children can save and share their stories by email with relatives they can’t see, teachers, or even the Chatta team.

Chatta has been named one of the world’s 100 brightest education innovations for two consecutive years by global education non-profit organisation HundrED and is widely used to help children of all abilities improve their communication skills.

To sign up, or for more information, visit chattalearning.com/chatta-club-2.