Academics
BlockTots
Build and turn shapes with Spindle the squirrel — turn-it-to-fit, build-it-whole, over/under/inside, and copy-the-build — hands-on, no-fail, for ages 3–5.
▶ Play it nowBuilt for sittings of about 10 minutes on the screen. That is our design budget, not a measurement.
Meet your mentor
Every Spark & Anvil app has a friendly mentor character that demonstrates, asks, and patiently scaffolds learning.
#E67E22 Characters who teach
Meet the cast
BlockTots is a hands-on shape playground where the youngest builders turn pieces to fit, put small shapes together to make big ones, learn the words for where things go, and copy a model brick by brick. Spindle the squirrel is the hero; the cast are her friends. Manipulate-and-see, spoken, and always no-fail.
Spindle
Mental rotation — a squirrel who turns a piece in her paws until it drops into the hole; rotating-to-fit IS mental rotation
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Fitz
Composition / decomposition — a bird who fits small shapes together to build a bigger one; composing a whole from parts IS spatial composition
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Cubby
Spatial relations & vocabulary — a mouse who tucks himself over/under/inside/next-to on cue; enacting the position words IS spatial language
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Timber
Visuo-spatial construction — a beaver who copies a shown block model, stacking to match; reproducing a build IS construction
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Browse all chapters → · What's distributed-narrative methodology? →
What's inside
Learning goal
Build and turn shapes with Spindle the squirrel — turn-it-to-fit, build-it-whole, over/under/inside, and copy-the-build — hands-on, no-fail, for ages 3–5.
How BlockTots handles your kid's data
- ✅ All progress, settings, and AI-generated content stays on the device
- ✅ No analytics, no tracking, no third-party SDKs
- ✅ Free — no ads, no in-app purchases
- ✅ No personal information collected from children — in line with COPPA (updated by the 2026 FTC amendments)
- ✅ No chat with strangers — play-together rooms use a short code and preset emotes, never typed messages
BlockTots runs on ForgeKit — the open-source Swift Package Manager framework that powers every Spark & Anvil app. ForgeKit ensures consistent accessibility, COPPA compliance, and design language across the portfolio, so your kid's progress and preferences feel coherent across every app they touch.
Coming to the App Store
BlockTots is in active development. Email us to hear when it ships — no marketing, no spam, just a one-shot launch announcement.
Email me at launch