SmartFeed: Fun for Kids, Easy for Parents

SmartFeed knows media is everywhere. You can’t turn around without being bombarded by unsolicited opinions, ads, and images. We think it’s time to search out good content instead of just trying to find the best filter to weed out the shit.

SmartFeed does exactly that, and when they approached us to pair up, we were all about it! It’s like having a mom guide on tap for digital content. You can’t beat that!

Our Philosophy

We believe in the power of digital media to positively shape the growth of our kids!

We believe parents know best about what their kids need!

We believe in content that inspires, broadens & sparks curiosity!

We are SmartFeed and we are dedicated to helping YOU find the good stuff that’s out there for YOUR kids.

So basically, it’s one of our movie guides, but times a million.

SmartFeed’s goal is to give parents a way to take back their kids’ digital media and ensure it’s quality, not crap. They want us to stop filtering content and provide a steady stream of credible, compelling content.

Research shows that parents have an average of just 46 minutes a day playing with and directly talking to their kids. Although they are thankfully few and far between, I know I have days I never see my teens. That 46 minutes might sound crazy for the toddler set, it’s pretty realistic for those of us with older kids doing their own thing.

With that face time shrinking, it’s getting harder and harder to shape and inspire kids’ mindsets the way our parents did with us. Even if you disagree with your parents in everything from taste in beer to taste in politics, how they presented it, how they lived, impacted what you think today. I know my generation was raised on TV – or maybe it was just me – but even knowing that fact, my kids are in front of some sort of screen far more than I ever was. Even when we go camping a screen isn’t any farther than their pocket.

Media is raising our kids. No, media isn’t changing their diapers or making them dinner, but it is spoon-feeding them ideas and ethics. It doesn’t even have to be at home. I know my kids share their smartphones, and I know other kids do as well. I’m pretty lenient with media myself, but I often have to remind my kids that not everyone’s parents want them watching whatever YouTuber is popular this week or the political debate from last night.

SmartFeed endeavors to help parents take back their share of voice by giving them a digital media management tool to easily:

Curate digital media (apps, TV shows, movies, books, games, music) by child (open system)
Deliver the content real-time across platforms / devices / subscriptions
Manage kids’ usage and connect to what they’re consuming
Connect to other parents reviews and media parenting experiences

There is a plethora of healthy, inspiring, engaging kids’ digital media out there – now – and more being created daily. It’s simply hard for families to find, frustrating to load and nigh-impossible for parents to see / track.

There are so many ways to access media these days. Ever-changing devices and an endless stream of demands to watch this or that or play this rad new app. I know I don’t have time to vet everything ahead of time, let alone on the spot.

SmartFeed feels your pain.

Kids consume 8+ hours of media a day. The challenge of making sure that media is more than just “ok” can overwhelm any parent.

SmartFeed takes the time to review leading children’s media resources and aggregate their feedback in one spot for you to digest and consider for your family.

Looking for media to reinforce kids’ interests, academic areas or your family values?

SmartFeed curators hand tag titles with more than 300 topics so you can quickly locate the right list of media to engage and inspire your child.

Here’s the thing. The more I dig in, the more impressed I am with SmartFeed. They have curated lists for things like “Talking Tragedy & Loss with Kids” and “Positive Mindset Media”. There is an award-winners list, and a sports list. There is an educational list that is great not only for homeschoolers but for when your kid needs to research something for school, or just got a bug up their ass to learn about the cosmos. They even cover Netflix, Xfinity, Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play. You can save these curated lists directly to your library. Like one curator over another? Follow them and their picks will automatically go into your feed for new ideas. Like your own damn playlist? You can share it with the world too. Be your own curator.

I wish I had this ten years ago. No doubt I’ll be pointing my littlest towards it now.