Nilou and I met as our children were classmates at the same school in Dubai. This soft-spoken Iranian beauty is kindness and calm personified. The expression "beautiful inside and out" sums up this mother of two who recently developed the app "Feelu“ to help children better understand their feelings. It has since been chosen as one of the top ten mindfulness apps for children by the US App Store. The app is developed as a fun way to improve children's mental health, encourages children to be kind and mindful and to relax their bodies and minds and also provides some hands on suggestions on how to react to bullying. The Feelu app is accompanied by the book "Feelu: Explore Your Feelings" available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indigo etc.
How did you start to develop apps for children?
Nilou: I obtained my PhD in Computer Science at York University in 2015 while I was pregnant with my second child. Having two young kids, I decided to get a more flexible job so right after my graduation, I founded Black Whale Technology Inc, a software company focused on designing high-quality apps for children. Drawing my inspiration from my own children, I am the idea generator behind the apps. I design apps that I’d like my children to use. Our apps’ design is simple and light to optimize learning and minimizes distractions. Through continuous research, we have come to understand that children will benefit more from simple animations without sudden screen changes. I believe the ideas behind our apps and their designs make them unique among millions of apps on the App Store.
How did you come up with the idea of developing the app Feelu ?
Nilou: I believe my children are the best teachers I’ve ever had. They taught me how to explore my feelings every day. Through the ups and downs of motherhood, I have learned that exploring feelings is essential to happiness. We can do a lot in the early years to help our children to be happy, content and confident later in life. Success does not matter if our children cannot be happy and enjoy their lives. I believe that talking about different feelings and encouraging children to be mindful, kind, and grateful helps them to be healthier mentally. Feelu is a full package of fun activities that help children be happier and calmer. I believe Feelu can promote children’s mental health. The first version of the Feelu app was released to the App Store in May 2019. A year later, I had the book" Feelu: Explore Your Feelings" published.
Why do you feel it is so important to talk to children about feelings ?
Nilou : We all as human beings may have different feelings all the time and it is totally fine. This is our nature. We should make sure our children know no matter how they feel, we are always going to love them and support them emotionally through life. There are some essential life skills that we should teach our children; to recognize their feelings, use their words to say how they feel, and handle difficult feelings such as sadness and anger in a proper manner. I believe that talking about different feelings and encouraging children to be mindful, kind, and grateful helps them to be happier later in life. Our goal is to spread love, kindness and happiness by promoting the mental health of all children, including autistic children and children with special needs. However, Feelu is not a replacement for professional therapy or advice.
What do you think are the biggest challenges children face as they grow up that affects their mental wellbeing ?
Nilou : One of the biggest challenges children face these days is the balance between the virtual world and the real world. As we all know using screens is very common and can be addictive. It might be very hard to stop using them sometimes. It would be even harder for children to limit their usage of screens. Long hours on screens can have some side effects on younger children’s brains. They absolutely need our support and guidance. They might also need some boundaries and rules to be safe and healthy.
How can we as parents better help our children have more balance in life, reduce anxiety and feel more purpose and meaning ?
Nilou: We are our kids’ role models. We should try to live and behave the way that we like them to live and behave. They are looking at us all the time and might copy our behaviour without knowing it. There is no perfect human. It is always ok to make mistakes. We can acknowledge our mistakes and try to avoid them next time. Our children would know it is ok to not be perfect and make mistakes. As parents or caregiver, we should spend quality time with our children as much as we can. We should ask questions and talk about their feelings and daily struggles and challenges. If they need some guidance to overcome them, we can provide that. We can encourage them to handle their difficult feelings in a proper manner and be kind, mindful, and grateful.
Where can parents find both your app and your book ?
Nilou : The app Feelu is available on the App Store and the book "Feelu: Explore Your Feelings" is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indigo and Bookshop. The Kindle version of the book is also available on Amazon.
You can find the download/buy links on our website: www.blackwhale.tech or on our Instagram/ Facebook/Twitter page: @appfeelu.
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