Hon Paula Bennett
Minister for Social Development
Associate Minister of Housing

29 August 2013

Innovative parenting app released for Father’s Day

A mobile app designed to encourage young fathers to interact with their children has been launched today by Social Development Minister Paula Bennett.

The ‘Peekaboo’ app, developed by Plunket, Vodafone and the Ministry of Social Development, is available in English and Te Reo and will be free for download from both the Apple and Android stores from September 1.

“Launched to coincide with Father’s Day, the app is a homegrown, educational tool that brings parents and their young children together,” Mrs Bennett said.

The game works with the device’s photo gallery, hiding images of family and friends in New Zealand landscapes which parents and children work together to find.

As well as promoting babies’ brain development by helping them recognise familiar faces, the app also helps build the understanding of ‘object permanence’ – the idea that things still exist even when they can’t be seen.

It is designed for babies aged nine months and older, and includes suggestions of other simple games to play away from the phone or tablet.

The concept is the work of Josh Briggs, a young Wellington dad and Vodafone Foundation World of Difference recipient, who teamed up with MSD’s SKIP parenting initiative, Plunket and Vodafone, who helped fund and develop the app.

“This collaboration to make Josh’s idea a reality is a fantastic example of government, NGOs and the corporate sector working together to create a product with real benefits for New Zealand families,” Mrs Bennett said.

ENDS

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