STEAM
RecorderPals
Play a real recorder with Piper the sandpiper (ages 6–8): play a note and Piper flies to it, shows you exactly which holes to cover, and tells you WHY it squeaked — you blew too hard, or a hole isn't covered. Learn Hot Cross Buns and traditional songs, with a music score that peels back from dots to real notes. On-device — your playing never leaves the device, nothing is recorded.
▶ 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.
Mentored by Piper
#2B7AB5 Characters who teach
Meet the cast
RecorderPals is a gentle recorder app for ages 6 to 8. Piper the sandpiper flies to the note your child plays and shows the right fingering, Breeze teaches soft, warm breath so the recorder doesn't squeak, Shelly covers the holes fully for a clear note, and Tide slowly turns dots into real written notes. Illustrated stories are on the way.
Piper
flies up and down to the note you play, and shows you the right fingering (play-by-ear, embodied)
Read chapter →
Breeze
blow soft and warm so the recorder never squeaks (breath control)
Read chapter →
Shelly
cover the holes all the way for a clear note (a full, soft seal)
Read chapter →
Tide
the score that peels back from dots to real notes as you play by ear
Read chapter →
Browse all chapters → · What's distributed-narrative methodology? →
What's inside
Learning goal
Play a real recorder with Piper the sandpiper (ages 6–8): play a note and Piper flies to it, shows you exactly which holes to cover, and tells you WHY it squeaked — you blew too hard, or a hole isn't covered. Learn Hot Cross Buns and traditional songs, with a music score that peels back from dots to real notes. On-device — your playing never leaves the device, nothing is recorded.
Mentored by Piper — no data leaves the device.
How RecorderPals 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
For you, the grown-up
The grown-up side of RecorderPals on Spark & Whetstone, our free site for grown-ups: The Family Songbook. Write down a family tune for them to play.