I love technology, especially when it can be used by everyday people to improve their everyday lives. A few years back I spent some time with an app called Otmiso, which is a game-based learning app for kiddos with special needs. You can see it reviewed here. I found it to be a really cool app for kids and I want to take a minute to point out a new app that I’ve been looking at recently.

SAGO Mini has partnered with the above mentioned Otsimo, to create a new app called SAGO Mini First Words. First Words is designed with the help of speech therapists, child psychologists, and other early childhood development experts. I appreciate this as I’m a big fan of things backed in science and medicine.

Real quick. This app does require iOS 13 or higher and it’s not currently available on Android. I understand the logic behind this but I also hope it eventually finds its way to the other side of the tracks. We can probably thank Android hardware fragmentation for this but I digress.

SAGO Mini First Words is aimed at kids five years of age and under. In my experience, this is more of a guideline and your mileage may very because every kid is different, especially our autistic kiddos. The app is backed by science, with the input of language experts, and designed to help strengthen critical language skills through gamification. I’ve talked about gamification before and I love this approach because it uses kids natural love for video games, to help them learn in fun ways. Mightier uses this approach to help reduce meltdowns, and BrainyAct using it to help build and strengthen neurological connections missed during early childhood development. The point is, gamification works and it’s a great approach.

SAGO Mini First Words uses fun mini-games and interactive peer videos to get kids talking. I really like the peer based approach because it’s kids learning from other kids. It feels more natural and realistic. I imagine that kids would respond positively to this because they get to see/hear other kids talking and can learn by mimicking them. It’s kinda like how I would learn a foreign language. Interactive videos of people actually using language in real life situations, makes it easier to learn.

Being able hear the words articulated is incredibly helpful when it comes to learning how to articulate them yourself.

I found that SAGO Mini First Words does a great job of engaging with kids and doing so in a fun, meaningful, gamified way. My kids are older and this isn’t geared towards them but when my youngest was little, he was non-verbal. This would have been very beneficial for him.

Below are some screenshots and I also embedded a video SAGO shared as well.

What I like about SAGO Mini First Words is that it’s engaging, easy to use, well thought out, gamified, and backed by science. I’m not a huge fan of subscription models but when a company puts out a quality product, with a proven track record like Otmiso, I’m much more open to it.

I think this is easily navigated by kids but I would recommend that you sit down with them and do this together, at least at first. As with anything, you get out of it what you put into it. I really think my youngest would have loved this when he was younger. I wish things like this had been available to us all those years ago.

I’m glad to be able to help connect you a with things that can benefit your family and improve quality of life. I’ll be adding Sago Mini First Words to my parenting resource page because I think that it’s a great option for parents looking for app based learning for their kiddo on the spectrum.

I would definitely recommend SAGO Mini First Words to anyone looking to help their kiddo build language skills. Give it a try and let me know what you think. ☺

To find out more about Sago Mini First Words, please click the button below.