Introducing Mimi
Now your children can all join Mimi and the gang as they play hide and seek in Funton Park and have all sorts of adventures on their magical trip to the beach!
Mimi & Co is a fun online language learning game for 2 to 4 year olds that can be played independently, or with an adult, to help improve vocabulary and foster social and emotional development.
The game is available for purchase by preschools, nurseries, children’s centres and other early years settings, for distribution to parents of younger children as a shared activity to encourage parent child bonding and improve language skills at the same time.
Mimi & Co is available on all devices from desktop computers to mobile phones. It uses memorable songs and interactive games with increasing levels of challenge to teach children new words relating to feelings, actions and body parts.
What you can expect from Mimi
The game aims to enhance children’s communication skills, particularly vocabulary and language recognition by modelling a range of feelings and emotions using a more gentle format that provides an antidote to the usual fast paced commercial offerings that may cause adrenaline rush and unhealthy addiction in users.
Access to Mimi & Co is via https://www.mimiandco.net. Customers will be contacted and supplied with login details on purchase. There is no limit to the number of parents who may be given access to the game, but, under the terms of the licence, distribution must always be free to end users.
The Edinburgh University study
A prototype version of Mimi & Co was independently evaluated by Edinburgh University.* The research found:
- Children showed significant gains in both expressive and receptive vocabulary including measures of vocabulary depth and breadth. 95% of children made gains of 10% or more in vocabulary following at least 40 minutes of gameplay, with children learning on average 5 new words. Overall, children made average vocabulary gains of 70%.
- Children reported that they enjoyed the game and thought they learnt new words. The large majority said they would be interested in playing again. Children who had access to the game over a two-week period at home showed consistently high (but not obsessive) rates of play.
- All parents felt that the game was suitable for their child’s age and that it supported learning in the areas of ‘communication and language’ and ‘personal, social and emotional development’.
Why Mimi is right for you
Providing your children with access to Mimi & Co will provide crucial parental involvement in the early years, give children a head start with learning and provide an enjoyable experience for children and their parents that can become embodied in a daily routine. The game can also be used by early years practitioners as a tool to settle infants after active parts of the day.
The game fits firmly within the requirements of the statutory framework for the early years’ foundation stage in that it will provide children with an opportunity to experience a rich language environment and develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves. It will help them to develop a positive sense of themselves and others, manage their feelings, and understand appropriate behaviour. The game also has the potential to help children with language difficulties.
*McGeown, S., Fletcher-Watson, S. & Plowman, L. (2017). Mimi and Co evaluation report: using a mobile app to support language learning in children from disadvantaged backgrounds