The ECDMobi App
Providing parents and caregivers with building blocks for their child’s future through play
ECDmobi is a low cost, easy to use app to support parents and primary caregivers of babies and children under four years to facilitate learning through play at home, through easy to understand activities. Play is part of being a child – it’s fun and much needed from birth for children’s optimal development and learning.
ECDmobi provides a virtual support programme through which primary caregivers can access a virtual advisor, virtual early childhood development programme and a virtual playground and library with stories and pictures for young children.
The app is not meant to replace an ECD programme, but to help equip caregivers on different activities that they can do with their children at home to stimulate the child and make the transition from home to ECD centres/programmes/school easier.
Established in 2018, ECDmobi was sparked by the need to find an innovative way to reach and improve the capacity of large numbers of parents and caregivers to provide early learning and development opportunities for young children. This has been further supported by data suggesting that in 2019, 57.8% of children birth-four were at home (General Household Survey, 2019. Pretoria: Stats SA). Furthermore, the need for this app has been intensified by the COVID pandemic, during which many parents found themselves at home with their children.
What’s in the app?
- Weekly activities caregivers can do with children to help them learn new skills every day
- Informative articles, e.g. on nutrition,
- Age appropriate books, in different languages, which caregivers can read with and to children, and much more.
When downloading and registering on the app, parents and caregivers are advised to register their child (you can register as many children as needed, provided the children are between the ages of zero and four years).
The ECDmobi app is a joint initiative of the Department of Basic Education and UNICEF South Africa, supported by the LEGO Foundation
You can download the app from the respective links below:
Please note that even though this app was designed before the passing of the POPI Act, all users are advised that the personal information provided will not be shared with any other party.
