Journal Bear

Insight

In kindergarten, teachers do a "daily journal" activity where they give the kids a simple prompt (like draw a blue bird) and they do it in their dedicated notebook. I wanted to do it at home for the kids too. Journal Bear gives a ton of fun activity ideas that kids can tap to listen to and do on their own. Minimal screen time, maximum entertainment.

JTBD

I want something my kid can do on their own when they say "I'm bored", that gets them drawing, moving or helping out instead of on a screen.

The User

Kindergarten kids, and the parents who hand them the phone or tablet.

The Product

Tech stack:

• Plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript. No framework, no build step
• Prompts live in one JSON file, each with a picture and English and Mandarin text
• Voice clips pre-generated with Google Cloud Text-to-Speech, with the browser's own voice as a fallback
• Installable PWA with a service worker, so it works offline

One prompt at a time: a big picture and a short line, nothing else on the screen. Tap the picture or Read out loud to hear it.

I did it!: tapping done gives a cheer and a star. Helper chores like making the bed get bigger cheers, because those take real effort.

Pick what kind: Draw, Find, Write, Sing, Move or Helper. Next skips the ones you just did and the ones you've already finished.

中文: one tap switches the prompts and the cheers to Mandarin.

Stays on the device: no login and no account. Stars and progress are saved in the browser.