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MaskPals

Faces can fib! Meet Dapple the chameleon and learn that a smile is not always a happy feeling. Read the real clues - what a friend's body did, what they said, and what just happened - then guess the true feeling and check by asking. For ages 6-8: big buttons, read-aloud help, nothing to lose, and nothing is ever saved.

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Built for sittings of about 15 minutes on the screen. That is our design budget, not a measurement.

MaskPals mascot

Meet your mentor

Every Spark & Anvil app has a friendly mentor character that demonstrates, asks, and patiently scaffolds learning.

MaskPals mascot
Live CASEL Social Awareness (SEL) - reading others' emotions from multiple cues, not the face alone (Barrett; display rules) Emotion-science literacy - shown vs felt; check by asking Hero color: #4f9d6b
Engagement: Reflect · secondary

Characters who teach

Meet the cast

MaskPals teaches a core piece of emotion science for 6-8: a face is only one clue and can mislead (Barrett) - what someone SHOWS can differ from what they FEEL. Dapple the chameleon leads children to read the real clues (body, voice, and what just happened) and to check the surest way of all - by asking. Map-not-log; nothing a child feels is ever saved.

D

Dapple

Read the real clues - a chameleon whose own colour is a mask, so Dapple knows what shows is not always what's felt; reads the body, voice, and what-happened, then asks. The see-past-the-mask act IS Dapple.

S

Sedge

Watch the body - a watchful heron who notices what a BODY does (fists, slumped shoulders, bouncing, a low head).

P

Perri

Listen to the voice - a big-eared hare who hears HOW a voice sounds (loud and fast, small and slow, sharp, soft).

E

Elm

Remember what happened - an owl who recalls the thing just before the feeling (the situation clue).

What's distributed-narrative methodology? →

What's inside

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Learning goal

Faces can fib! Meet Dapple the chameleon and learn that a smile is not always a happy feeling. Read the real clues - what a friend's body did, what they said, and what just happened - then guess the true feeling and check by asking. For ages 6-8: big buttons, read-aloud help, nothing to lose, and nothing is ever saved.

How MaskPals 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

Full parent privacy guide →

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