Academics
BothPals
You can feel two things at once! Meet Teasel the jay and learn about mixed feelings - excited AND nervous, happy AND sad (bittersweet), and proud in a tired body. Read a moment, then pick one or two feelings on the map. There's no single right feeling; both are real, and that's okay. For ages 6-8: big buttons, read-aloud help, and nothing is ever saved.
▶ Play it nowBuilt for sittings of about 15 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.
#7a6bd0 Characters who teach
Meet the cast
BothPals is the FIRST clone to let a child place TWO feelings at once. Around ages 7-8 children begin to understand blended feelings (Larsen et al. 2007), and mixed feelings become the norm through the teen years - so BothPals teaches it early, and celebrates the mix instead of forcing one answer. Teasel the jay (whose call has two notes at once) shows that two feelings can share one moment, and both are real. It is the precondition for the 9-14 full map (AffectForge). Map-not-log; the two placements evaporate; nothing a child feels is ever saved.
Teasel
Feel two at once - a jay whose bright call has two notes at once; the both-and act IS Teasel. Two feelings can share one moment, and both are real.
Thistle
Excited AND nervous - a bouncy squirrel who feels this before something big (a first day): bouncy AND butterflies, both together.
Doe
Happy AND sad (bittersweet) - a gentle fawn who feels this at a goodbye: warm for the good time AND sad it's ending, at once.
Poppet
Proud AND tired - a sleepy hedgehog who feels this after finishing something hard: proud it's done AND worn right out, together.
What's inside
Learning goal
You can feel two things at once! Meet Teasel the jay and learn about mixed feelings - excited AND nervous, happy AND sad (bittersweet), and proud in a tired body. Read a moment, then pick one or two feelings on the map. There's no single right feeling; both are real, and that's okay. For ages 6-8: big buttons, read-aloud help, and nothing is ever saved.
How BothPals 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