Sprout Open Sprout

A woodland learning app for ages 2 to 6

Little discoveries, together.

First sounds, letters, numbers and stories, read out loud in a calm voice. Sprout the dragon and five friends keep a small child company while a grown-up sits close.

Open Sprout
Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play

Every lesson, story and progress page is free. No ads. Children never see an account.

Sprout, a small green dragon, reads a leaf book beside a cream bunny on a mossy bank by a stream

How a lesson goes

Meet it. Try it. Make it yours.

Every skill in Sprout takes the same three small steps, so a two year old and a five year old both know what comes next.

  1. Learn it: the words sun and sock with a bunny and a smiling sun, and buttons to Listen and Hear the sound
    1 · Learn it

    Hear a sound.

    A short introduction, spoken aloud. Say sun slowly, now say sock. They start with the same sound.

  2. Try it: the number three with three apples to touch and count in order
    2 · Try it

    Count an apple.

    Touch the apples in order. A wrong answer gets a gentle hint and another go, never a buzzer.

  3. Use it: a little story page with an orange cat on a green mat and the sentence A cat sat, with Read with me and Word by word buttons
    3 · Use it

    Read a story.

    The same sounds show up in a short story. Tap a word to hear it, or follow along one word at a time.

What's inside

Six little gardens to grow in.

  • LettersAll 26 pairs, capital and small, with case matching and letter finding.
  • SoundsBeginning sounds, rhymes and blending, with 29 phonemes recorded by real voices.
  • Numbers0 to 20. Count, compare amounts, and meet zero as an empty bowl.
  • Reading102 words in eight sound groups and 40 stories, each with one question at the end.
  • WritingGuided tracing of every letter and number, then free drawing to keep.
  • Picture playPicture matching and picture talk for the youngest explorers.
Let's write A: a large letter A with a numbered starting dot and the instruction to follow the path, stroke 1 of 3
Your learning trail: a winding meadow path with the next steps, Listen at the beginning and Words that rhyme

Choose a friend

Six companions, one per explorer.

  • Sprout the dragonSproutdragon
  • Clover the bunnyCloverbunny
  • Maple the foxMaplefox
  • Pip the owlPipowl
  • Honey the bearHoneybear
  • Pebble the otterPebbleotter

For grown-ups

Quiet on purpose.

Tonye built Sprout for his own daughter and son, two and four at the time. He wanted something that would not shout, flash or nag, and that told him what they had actually done. That is still the whole design brief.

  • No ads, nothing sold

    No advertising, no ad analytics, no selling family information. No microphone, camera or location access.

  • Children stay anonymous

    The account belongs to a grown-up. Children pick a nickname and a companion. The grown-ups corner sits behind a quick addition question.

  • Room for the whole family

    Up to eight explorers, each with their own pace, daily goal and theme. Progress shows adventures, first try answers and streaks, and never claims mastery.

  • Calm by default

    Reduced motion follows your device setting or a switch in the app. Every learning screen has a mute button.

Get Sprout

Start today.

Open Sprout, sign in as the grown-up, and add your first explorer. App Store and Google Play listings are on their way; until they go live, both badges open Sprout at sprout.tonyebrown.com.

Open Sprout
Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play