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Truth and Tales - Social Emotional Learning
- PLOT INTERACTIVE
- Dec 15, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: 15 hours ago
Award-winning cognitive games and interactive kids stories that build critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and problem-solving abilities in children ages 4-8. Designed by doctors, educators, and neuroscientists. Trusted by 100,000+ families.
Real Wisdom in a Digital World
Truth and Tales is a research-backed social-emotional learning app for children ages 4-8. It develops attention and perception, emotional regulation, and flexible thinking through interactive Teaching Stories, body movement activities, creative expression, and professionally narrated audiobooks.
Every activity rests on a simple idea: children learn best when they discover things for themselves. The social-emotional learning games are built on Teaching Stories, traditional tales shared across cultures for centuries. Instead of stories with a predictable moral, these present characters who resolve challenges through unexpected, creative solutions. As children play, they begin to notice patterns in how people think and react, which builds the flexible thinking that helps them meet real situations with more confidence.
The app was designed by a team of doctors, educators, and neuroscientists who understand how young minds develop. The content respects child development stages and avoids overstimulation. Rather than chasing engagement metrics, it focuses on the cognitive and emotional foundations children need to learn and grow.
What children experience
Interactive Teaching Stories: playable narrative games where children make choices, solve puzzles, and discover that a problem can have more than one solution. Professional human narration and word-by-word read-along support build reading confidence.
Audiobooks for calm moments: professionally narrated bedtime stories for kids, with human voices only (never AI-generated), that stimulate imagination during quiet moments and wind-down before sleep.
Move It-Move It: short body movement activities inspired by yoga and tai chi, 5 to 10 minutes each, that help children regulate energy and emotions through the body.
Artist's Gallery: free coloring inspired by the stories, a calm space for self-expression and fine motor development.
What makes Teaching Stories different
Most children's stories either teach what to think (fables with a moral) or model what to do (behavioral examples). Teaching Stories work on a different level: they develop how children perceive a situation. Their characters resolve challenges through unexpected, non-obvious solutions, which helps children notice patterns, hold more than one perspective at once, and gain choice over reactions that used to be automatic. These cross-cultural tales were studied by cognitive psychologist Robert Ornstein, psychiatrist Arthur Deikman, and writer Idries Shah, whose work connected them to attention, perception, and how the two brain hemispheres work together.
What makes Truth and Tales different
Truth and Tales brings social-emotional learning and cognitive development together in a way most apps do not. Where mindfulness apps focus mainly on calming, and many educational games rely on repetitive drills, this app develops how children think, not only what they know. It uses genuine game-based learning rather than gamification: there are no points, badges, or streaks, and engagement comes from the story itself. Children explore independently while educators and parents facilitate with open questions. The app is completely ad-free, follows the Designing for Children's Rights Guide, and includes accessibility features such as dyslexia-friendly fonts and multimodal delivery (audio, visual, and movement). Content works offline after download.
Awards and recognition
Truth and Tales has been recognized by child development and education organizations, including the Mom's Choice Gold Award, the Global EdTech Startups Awards (GESAwards 2024, AccelNet Special Track on Self-Regulation through Balance, Wellness, and Rituals), Best Children's Game at the ComKids Interactive Festival, Educational App Store certification, Google Play Best App for Family (prior title), and a Common Sense Media 5-star rating. It has also been featured as Apple App of the Day. More than 100,000 families and educators use it across iOS, Android, and the web.
Available on
Google Play (Android)
App Store (iPhone and iPad)
Web browser at truthandtales.app (for Chromebooks and desktops)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What are Teaching Stories?
Teaching Stories are traditional tales shared across cultures for centuries. Unlike fables that teach what to think, or behavioral stories that model what to do, they develop how children perceive a situation: characters resolve challenges through unexpected solutions, which helps children notice patterns and consider more than one perspective.
They were studied by cognitive psychologist Robert Ornstein, psychiatrist Arthur Deikman, and writer Idries Shah. Truth and Tales adapts them into games and kids stories for children ages 4-8.
How does Truth and Tales support social-emotional learning?
It supports the five areas of social-emotional development: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Children follow characters facing real situations and notice how flexible thinking helps them respond.
The app combines narrative games, movement activities, creative expression, and audiobooks so that emotional, cognitive, and physical development are addressed together.
The content was designed by doctors, educators, and neuroscientists.
What ages is Truth and Tales designed for?
It is designed for children ages 4 to 8. Younger children connect with the characters and strengthen attention and concentration. Older children begin to recognize deeper patterns and apply them to their own experiences.
The stories, audiobooks, and movement activities suit the full range, with each child engaging at their own developmental level.
How is Truth and Tales different from other educational apps?
Most apps focus on academic drills or simple calming exercises. Truth and Tales develops how children think by combining narrative games built on Teaching Stories with movement, creative expression, and human-narrated audiobooks. It uses genuine game-based learning, not gamification: there are no points, badges, or streaks, so engagement comes from the story rather than external rewards. It was designed by doctors, educators, and neuroscientists, and has received a Mom's Choice Gold Award, GESAwards recognition, and a Common Sense Media 5-star rating.
Is Truth and Tales safe and ad-free?
Yes. The app is 100% ad-free, with no in-app purchases for children and no data collected from minors. It avoids overstimulating content, follows the Designing for Children's Rights Guide, and includes accessibility features such as dyslexia-friendly fonts and color-blind accessible design. All content can be downloaded for offline use.
Does Truth and Tales comply with children's privacy laws?
Yes. It complies with GDPR (European Union), COPPA (United States), LGPD (Brazil), and PIPEDA (Canada). No personal data is collected from children, there are no advertising trackers, and no data is shared with third parties. No raw IP addresses are stored.
Can Truth and Tales be used in schools and classrooms?
Yes. It is already used in schools across several countries. It works for classroom transitions, calming breaks, and dedicated social-emotional learning time. Children explore independently while teachers facilitate with open questions, so no extensive training is needed. Movement activities offer 5 to 10 minute body-mind breaks, and the app runs on tablets, Chromebooks, and computers, with content available offline. School licensing uses student access codes that need no personal data, and the content aligns with CASEL competencies.
What platforms does Truth and Tales run on?
It runs on iOS (iPhone and iPad), Android, and web browsers including Chromebooks. Content can be downloaded for offline use, which suits car rides, waiting rooms, classrooms without reliable internet, and bedtime. The app supports English and Portuguese, with more languages in development.
Try Truth and Tales
Real wisdom in a digital world.
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