Screen Time-Free Learning for Ages 0-6

Help your child grow—and forge closer parent-child bonds—in just 15 minutes a day with parent-led activities delivered by SMS texts, WhatsApp, or Facebook Messenger!

Tembo Education featured by Forbes, World Economic Forum, Clinton Foundation, The Global Good Fund, Hult Prize, and MassChallenge for innovation in early childhood screen-free learning programs

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Clients

Logos of Tembo Education’s global partners supporting early childhood education via WhatsApp and Messenger, including Standard Bank Tutuwa Community Foundation, Dan Cates Foundation, MTN, Nestlé, Light on a Hill, Fundação Ehiko, and Kindness Diaries.

Why Choose Tembo Education?

Parent using Tembo Education’s screen-free early learning program, holding a baby while reading toddler activity instructions on their phone via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and SMS text messages

We know how busy you are, which is why our activities are designed to be completed in just 15 minutes.

Illustration symbolizing convenient early education, featuring simple icons like a clock and checklist to represent flexible, screen-free learning options for children ages 0–6.

Convenient

Tembo is not another app; we deliver activities through the services you already use: SMS texts, WhatsApp, or Facebook Messenger. We believe learning should be a chance to bond with a child, not just stare at a screen. We want to create memories that last a lifetime through learning.

Illustration representing screen-free learning for kids ages 0–6, showing a mobile phone with an “X” mark to symbolize no screen time.

No Screen Time

Our evidence-based activities are based on research by Harvard Center on the Developing Child, PBS, Lego Foundation and Pearson. Our curriculum covers all four domains of learning: cognitive, motor, language, and social/emotional.

Illustration symbolizing expertly designed early education programs, featuring a graduation cap to represent research-backed learning for children ages 0–6, developed with insights from Harvard Center on the Developing Child, PBS, LEGO Foundation, an

Expertly Designed

*By signing up, you authorize Tembo Education to send your text message curriculum. Message and data rates apply.

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How Tembo Works

Step 1 graphic showing the first stage of how Tembo Education works—parents sign up to receive screen-free learning activities for children ages 0–6 via WhatsApp, text, or Messenger.
A mother and her young daughter sitting on a couch, smiling while looking at a smartphone together—Step 1 of Tembo Education: receive a 15-minute early learning activity via SMS, WhatsApp, or Facebook Messenger for children ages 0–6.

Receive a 15-minute activity via SMS texts, Whatsapp, or Facebook Messenger.

Step 2 graphic showing how Tembo Education works—parents do a fun, screen-free learning activity with their child ages 0–6, using simple materials found at home.
A young girl with curly hair writing on a poster with colorful markers, guided by an adult woman in a yellow top in a kitchen—Step 2 of Tembo Education: perform the early learning activity with your child ages 0–6 using screen-free, everyday material

Perform activity with your child

Step 3 graphic showing how Tembo Education works— complete a short quiz to mark the activity as done
A mother and her young daughter sitting at a desk, smiling as they answer a quiz together—Step 3 of Tembo Education: complete a short quiz.

Answer a quiz based on the activity.

What Parents say

Highlighted 5-star quote from Tembo parent Joseph, sharing how Tembo Education helps him spend quality time with his child instead of using a smartphone or tablet for entertainment.
Quote from Esther, a parent, praising the educational tool Tembo, with a five-star rating displayed.
Positive review from a mother of a 4-month-old baby in Rhode Island, USA, praising a product for providing activities and educational ideas for different age ranges, accompanied by a 5-star rating.
Testimonial card showing a quote from a mother in Tampa, USA, praising her child's teacher for being the fastest learner in class, with a five-star rating.
Blue background with a white quote box containing black text about a dad from Michigan. The quote emphasizes the importance of parental involvement in a child's education, and the box has decorative quotation marks and a blue star rating underneath.
Customer testimonial with five stars, quotes and blue background
A graphic featuring a quote from a mom of a 3-year-old in Indiana, USA, praising busy and educational daily activities for children, with a five-star rating.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • No. There’s no screen involved for the child. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time before the age of 2. Children that are exposed to too much screen time are failing developmental tests. Ex: they are finding children grasping for a ball with one finger, as if it's on a screen, rather than with all 5 fingers because they are unable to discern between 2D and 3D objects. If your child is going to be exposed to screen time, ensure the subtitles are on. Children that use subtitles, learn to read two years earlier than children without subtitles. Two years might not sound like a lot, but for a 0 to 6 year-old child that is nearly half of your entire life's brain development!

  • Tembo delivers fun, play-based activities the child looks forward to. This increases parent engagement between parent and child, reinforcing the parent as the child’s first and most important teacher.

  • Tembo is designed for children ages 0 to 6. 90% of the brain is formed before age 6, so if we’re going to educate the child, we must focus on where we have the greatest impact. What you do from age 0-6 impacts the child for the rest of their lives. It’s the most critically important time of human life.

  • Yes. All activities derived from research by Harvard’s Center for the Developing Child, Pearson, PBS, and LEGO.


  • Tembo covers all 4 core domains of early childhood learning:

    • Cognitive

    • Motor

    • Language

    • Social/Emotional

  • All activities take less than 15-mins per day, making them easy to fit into your daily routine.

  • Tembo sends activities 5 days a week—just one short activity per day.


  • Yes. You can select the time and day you’d like to receive the activities—morning, afternoon, or evening. You can change this anytime in your account settings.

  • You can choose to receive activities via:

    • WhatsApp

    • Facebook Messenger

    • SMS Text Messages

  • For multiple children, we recommend signing up each child with a different phone number (e.g., another parent, grandparent, or caregiver's phone) rather than using the same phone for multiple children.

  • There is nothing to download. No apps and no screen-time. This increases parent engagement between parent and child, reinforcing the parent as the child’s first and most important teacher.


  • Yes. Early research Stanford University performed showed that text messages increased parent engagement at home which resulted in almost an entire standard deviation increase in learning gains of the children in school. This is the equivalent of going from a grade of a 76% on an exam to a 100%.


  • “Tembo’s innovative vision is to maximize human potential, via children. They are our future! As Nelson Mandela famously said, “Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world.” However, 90% of the brain is formed before age 6, so if we’re going to change the world, we must focus on where we have the greatest impact!” - Founder & CEO, Phil Michaels

Still have questions?

We’re here to help you!