NFC powered learning first words game for babies

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A couple of weeks ago I shared an idea on a reddit post about putting NFC stickers on toys or cards to make a learning game for my 1y old and yesterday I finally got the time to get it working!

So essentially this is just a couple of cards with different items on them with an NFC sticker on the back. Scanning a card using a NFC reader will trigger an automation that will first speak (TTS) what the item on the card is called and after that play a mp3 with the sound that item makes (if the item makes a sound).

My 1y is in a period with a lot of exploration and want to know what things is called by pointing on every other item in the house. So this was a great time to introduce him to this project and he loved it! First he was just exploring the cards but after showing him how to scan he got it immediately and started scanning card after card and some time even try to mimic the word or the sound played.

Another thing to try if you got animal toys would be to put NFC stickers on them and scan them for their sound. But my son don’t have that many so I can’t try that out yet.

Here is a short video of my son trying it out. I wanted to blur out his face and Youtube provide such a tool… don’t ask me why it thinks all those other stuff are faces though… maybe the house is possessed?

Here is a short video of my son trying it out. I wanted to blur out his face and Youtube provide such a tool… don’t ask me why it thinks all those other stuff are faces though… maybe the house is possessed?

Here is the automation I’m using. I got this idea of using the trigger id as a variable to get the right word and sound file so I named them after the word in Swedish and then also named the mp3 files exactly the same. This helped to keep the automation minimal and it’s easy to add new items.

alias: Tag - Flashcards
description: ""
trigger:
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-CE-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Båt
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-74-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Äpple
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-95-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Fågel
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-D2-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Fjäril
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-A1-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Bil
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-78-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Katt
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-99-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Hund
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-84-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Fisk
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-A5-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Blomma
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-BE-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Groda
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-9D-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Gitarr
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-80-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Hus
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-91-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Nyckel
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-C2-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Apa
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-AD-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Älg
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-BA-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Mus
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-88-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Uggla
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-B2-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Måla
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-7C-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Flygplan
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-A9-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Regn
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-8D-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Rymdraket
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-C6-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Sol
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-B6-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Nalle
  - platform: tag
    tag_id: 04-CA-74-E2-3D-70-80
    id: Träd
condition:
  - condition: state
    entity_id: input_boolean.mode_sleep
    state: "off"
  - condition: state
    entity_id: input_boolean.mode_away
    state: "off"
action:
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      volume_level: 0.45
    target:
      entity_id: media_player.speaker_livingroom_symfonisk
  - service: tts.google_translate_say
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.speaker_livingroom_symfonisk
      message: "{{trigger.id}}"
      language: sv
  - wait_for_trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id:
          - media_player.speaker_livingroom_symfonisk
        to: idle
        from: playing
    timeout:
      hours: 0
      minutes: 0
      seconds: 1
      milliseconds: 500
  - service: media_player.play_media
    data:
      media_content_id: |
        media-source://media_source/local/sound/flashcard/{{ trigger.id }}.mp3
      media_content_type: audio/mp3
    target:
      entity_id: media_player.speaker_livingroom_symfonisk
mode: single

I’m planning to put the NFC reader into some kind of wooden box to keep it from becoming a taste test or throwable object but so far it’s just hanging on the door of our TV furniture.

8 Likes
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Wanted to say a huge thanks for this - it’s inspired me to do the same :slight_smile: Have a small number of cards right now, and using our phones to trigger them, but going to build a card reader and setup a whole bunch of cards. Ours is getting a great giggle out of the cards already.

Thanks for sharing - wonderful project!

1 Like
3

Hello,

this is amazing! Where did you make the printed nfc cards? Is there a manufacturer for the paper cards please?

Thank you for your answer.

4

Tagged “grandchild”