Schoonhoven — 13 October 2026

A new Dutch service called Mini Ai has launched an AI assistant designed specifically for children. Created by father and founder Nick Hoogveldt after testing the idea with his own kids, the product aims to make AI accessible and age-appropriate while encouraging offline, creative play.

Three pillars: learning, discovery and creativity

Mini Ai is built around three core functions:

• Learning: the assistant helps children with homework by explaining concepts and offering examples rather than giving direct answers, with the goal of supporting independent problem solving.
• Discovery: children can ask questions and explore what artificial intelligence can do through a conversational chat or voice interaction designed for a young audience.
• Creative activities: so-called “Mini Missions” encourage kids to do projects away from the screen — for example drawing a treasure map or hiding an object for others to find — linking digital prompts to physical play.

Parental oversight and availability

Mini Ai includes an account-based parental dashboard that lets carers review their child’s conversations and manage the Mini Missions. The service is positioned as a blend of digital learning and supervised, offline activities.

The product is available through the company website. The press release lists contact details for the founder and credits photographer Gábor Levente for imagery included with the announcement.

What to watch

As more consumer-facing AI products address younger users, questions around safety, data handling and suitability for different ages will remain central. Mini Ai’s emphasis on parental controls and screen-free tasks addresses some of those concerns, but independent reviews and details about moderation and data privacy will be important next steps for parents and educators evaluating the service.

Source: Original press release