Family Lab / a personal project by Daniel Kravtsov
Cartoons, games, and an environment we choose
I am building an environment for my children where we choose what to watch and what to learn. Favorite stories, short learning games, and a clear view of what is happening for the parent.
Marshall McLuhan put it as “The medium is the message.” That is my starting point: the cartoon matters, but so does the way watching works. Who chooses the next video, when a pause happens, and what the child gets to do. [1]
I want a hand in designing that environment: the content, the rhythm, and the ways to learn. That is how MultiGame began.
01 / What reaches the screen
Control starts with curation
I want to choose the stories, behavior, language, and knowledge surrounding my child. Our family defines what is useful: what we want to teach, discuss, and encourage them to explore.
01
Curate
Build a library of favorite stories, machines, songs, and learning videos. Watch them yourself and consider both content and presentation.
02
Offer a choice
Let the child choose from a manageable collection. Different children can have their own lists alongside a shared family library.
03
Revisit
Notice what they return to, what they leave, and what needs replacing. Add useful content and remove what no longer fits.
The app currently has a family catalog, search, and video import. Search can show external YouTube results, so this version is not a fully closed, parent-reviewed library. A strict approved-only mode is part of the direction ahead.
02 / A small challenge inside the story
Sometimes, switch from watching to doing
After an interval chosen by the parent, the cartoon pauses for a short activity: find a color, count, match, or build a word. A correct answer resumes the video.
Next, I want to weave challenges into the worlds of favorite characters: help a hero find the right garage, complete a sequence, or count supplies for an adventure. The child’s interests become the context for the task.
This is a page example. These answers are not recorded in a child’s analytics.
03 / Understand what happens
A dashboard for the parent
Knowing the screen was on is not enough. I want to see what my child chose, how long they actually watched, and how they worked through the activities. By day, by week, and separately for each profile.
Family dashboard concept / no child data
Time watched--No data connected
Videos chosen--No data connected
Activities completed--No data connected
Median completion time--No data connected
Viewing by day
--Mon
--Tue
--Wed
--Thu
--Fri
--Sat
--Sun
--00:00
--04:00
--08:00
--12:00
--16:00
--20:00
Actual viewing minutes for each day of the selected week will appear here.
What the child chooses
Video / topic
Selections
Viewing
Connect family analytics to populate this view
How problem-solving changes
Skill / difficulty
Attempts
Time
Connect family analytics to populate this view
Viewing
Videos, categories, selections, and returns. Actual minutes per day and week, excluding pauses and buffering.
Activities
Games started and completed, answers, mistakes, attempts, and time to finish. Unfinished activities matter, too.
Progress
I want to compare the same kinds of tasks at the same difficulty: are answers becoming more confident, more accurate, and faster?
Access to the family PostHog project is required. This public page does not grant access to private analytics.
Answer speed alone does not measure a child’s development. Familiarity, adult help, and distractions affect the result. The current game timer includes those pauses; it is not a pure measure of thinking time.
04 / Activities grow with the child
From a simple match to a new challenge
I want activities to change as a skill develops: start with two choices, add more objects, then sequences and multiple conditions. When it gets difficult, offer a hint or take a step back. The parent sets the boundaries and can change them.
01
Recognize
Find the same color or shape
02
Connect
Match, count, complete a pattern
03
Reason
Hold several conditions in mind and choose a solution
This is the direction of development. Automatic difficulty selection and a unified progress report are not being presented as finished features.
What exists and what comes next
In the current web app
Profiles and personal video collections
Configurable intervals between play breaks
Letter, counting, color, and matching games
Viewing, answer, attempt, and completion events
Next steps
Strict parent review of external content
More activities in favorite character worlds
Difficulty levels and adaptive activity rotation
A unified family dashboard with comparable progress
05 / Build it for your child
Every family can have its own version
If you would like to build this for your child, write to me. Start with their interests, language, and favorite characters, then add your own library and activities.
I want to develop this as an open-source project you can change with whichever AI agent you prefer: describe a new game, add a character, change the rules, or build a report. The repository is currently private and an open-source license has not been published yet. Write to me about access and collaboration.
The current-version description was checked against the app and source code on September 21, 2026. Concepts and future features are labeled separately.