STEAM
ClapPals
Ta is one clap. Ti-ti is two quick claps - but still one beat. Shh is a rest, a beat of silence. ClapPals is first music-reading the Kodaly way: read the rhythm before the pitch. Guess how many beats and claps, then build your own bar and clap it out loud. It all works with the sound off. A tiny, deterministic rhythm game, no internet. Ages 6-8.
#d15a3a Distributed-narrative cast
Meet the cast
ClapPals's crew ARE the rhythm symbols and the steady beat under them - the cast IS the curriculum: reading rhythm before pitch, the Kodaly way. Ta claps once, right on the beat - the steady, simple sound. Titi claps twice, quick - two sounds squeezed into one beat. Shh stays silent for a whole beat: a rest that still takes time but makes no sound. Beatley keeps the steady pulse so everyone stays together and can feel that a beat is a unit of TIME. Pulse, the mentor, helps the class read a rhythm left to right and clap it out loud, and holds the one big idea: how many CLAPS you make is a different count from how many BEATS pass - ti-ti is two sounds but still one beat. A first, gentle feel for reading rhythm (6-8): short words, big buttons, and it all works with the sound OFF (the notation is drawn with sound-dots and syllable words; the child claps the rhythm as body percussion). Painted portraits are a tracked follow-on (R-WEB-CLONE-SPAWN-TRACKED); a text-only crew + a flat, deterministic on-device rhythm engine ship now - nothing leaves the device.
Ta
The steady one - one clap right on the beat, the simple pulse of the rhythm
Titi
The quick one - two claps in a single beat, showing that a beat can hold more than one sound
Shh
The quiet one - a rest: a beat with no clap, teaching that silence is part of music too
Beatley
The timekeeper - keeps a steady pulse so the class can feel that a beat is a unit of time
Pulse
(Mentor) The guide who helps the class read a rhythm and feel the difference between beats and claps
What's inside
Learning goal
Ta is one clap. Ti-ti is two quick claps - but still one beat. Shh is a rest, a beat of silence. ClapPals is first music-reading the Kodaly way: read the rhythm before the pitch. Guess how many beats and claps, then build your own bar and clap it out loud. It all works with the sound off. A tiny, deterministic rhythm game, no internet. Ages 6-8.
Question kits
16 curriculum-aligned kits × 25 questions = 400 questions per app, mapped to recognized standards.
On-device AI mentor
FoundationModels-powered hints, feedback, and adaptive difficulty — all running locally.
Mentored by Pulse — on-device AI, no data leaves the device.
How ClapPals handles your kid's data
- ✅ All progress, settings, and AI-generated content stays on the device
- ✅ No analytics, no tracking, no third-party SDKs
- ✅ No ads, no in-app purchases — you pay once
- ✅ No personal information collected from children — in line with COPPA (updated by the 2026 FTC amendments)
- ✅ Parental controls + session limits + content filters built in
ClapPals 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
ClapPals 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