Amazon Alexa and the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF) announced a new Alexa skill developed in a partnership that aims to enhance children’s literacy skills.

Featuring five Australian stories, Story Sauce for Alexa aims to improve literacy skills through fun and engaging learning.

With a goal to celebrate Australian stories and improve children’s literacy skills, the partnership sees the creation of Story Sauce for Alexa – a fun and engaging learning experience designed for children aged 7 to 10 years old.

Story Sauce, built by voice design and development agency, Sonnar Interactive features five beautifully designed, immersive audio stories that children can listen to and interact with via Amazon Kids on Alexa.

The stories share rich cultural experiences from diverse Australian authors and narrators, including Jeremy Donovan and Jay Laga’aia.

As children listen to the stories, they can play a series of games and unlock fun rewards, collecting the special Story Sauce – the magical flavour of that story!

Each story is designed to enhance their comprehension, developed by ALNF against developmentally-appropriate educational guidelines. Story Sauce is available on Amazon Echo smart speakers, Echo Show devices, and the Alexa app.

Once a profile has been set up on Amazon Kids, it’s as simple as saying, “Alexa, play Story Sauce” to unlock the exciting experience and enter a world of unique Australian stories.

“We are passionate about providing all children with vital opportunities to improve their literacy and language skills through fun, interactive and relevant learning,” said Kim Kelly, co-founder and executive director of ALNF.

“Working with the local Amazon Alexa team to create Story Sauce has been an exciting and unique process and we’re thrilled to be able to provide access to this creative learning tool for children across the nation.”

Story Sauce can help improve literacy by exposing children to rich, expressive language and imaginative journeys, enhancing their vocabulary, honing their listening comprehension, and improving their focus – all key to strengthening young literacy skills.

“The creation of Story Sauce alongside the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation has been a rewarding experience and we’re thrilled to see Alexa bring these uniquely Aussie stories to life,” said Kate Burleigh, country manager for Amazon Alexa Australia.

“We know that for many time-poor families, prioritising storytelling and reading at home can be hard. With the help of Alexa reading along with the children, Story Sauce will assist families with a way to nurture young minds in an interactive way, and bring some fun into learning.”

As part of the ALNF partnership, Amazon will donate 1,000 Echo Show 5 devices to primary school-aged children in underserved communities who will benefit from the engaging learning experience of Story Sauce, as well as the other educational tools Alexa offers.

Story Sauce will launch on Amazon Kids on Alexa, an experience designed for children with easy-to-use controls for caregivers.

As with all Amazon devices and services, Amazon Kids on Alexa is designed with privacy and security in mind. The Parent Dashboard allows caregivers to monitor their child’s activity, set time limits, add content, and more.

Story Sauce is available for Australian customers via the latest version of the Alexa app on compatible Echo devices. Learn more about Story Sauce on the ALNF website.