The New Tinybop ‘Me’ App Gets Kids To Explore Their Identity
Narcissists need not apply.
Me is the latest open-world app from the Tinybop studio, and it’s aimed at encouraging kids to get all introspective. It’s partly designed to help them avoid costly therapy bills in their 20s; partly to get a jumpstart on that bestselling autobiography — but mostly it’s just about being self-aware.
This is App No. 5 in their Digital Toys series (you may remember The Robot Factory and Everything Machine). Me uses a tablet rather than a therapist’s couch to coax your kid into telling their personal story. And where other apps are about third party characters and narratives, in Me, the players are the main character. Let them explore their innermost depths — in a hopefully non-narcissistic way. Once kids have created their own avatar, they’re prompted to answer hundreds of personal questions: likes, dislikes … feelings and junk. The phrasing is more subtle than Freud. The questions are things like “What’s your favorite game?” “Secret talent? “When I feel happy I do this …” Then they’re free to go off and express themselves in drawings, poems, photos, jokes, collages, or more jokes. (Find a comedian who doesn’t work this way.)
It’s not just great for children. If you’re one of those people who has left their life unexamined, or just sucks at ice breaker questions, you can use it well. Because a 5-year-old having a solid sense of self is great, but knowing how to respond at a party when someone asks “What’s the best Mission Impossible?” is even better. (It’s MI:3, obviously.)Tinybop Me App ($3)Ages: 4+
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