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Pause before prompt: why I built Pace & Race

It started at the kitchen table. My little brother had a homework sheet in front of him and a question for me: could he just ask the AI? He wasn't trying to cheat. He'd seen grown-ups do it, and it looked like the fastest way to be finished.

I didn't want to say no. AI is going to be part of his whole life, and pretending otherwise wouldn't help him. But I also didn't want him to learn that the answer is something you get by typing, rather than something you work out. So I went looking for a tool that would teach a kid his age to use AI well.

I found plenty for teenagers and adults. For elementary-age children I found almost nothing that taught the one habit I cared about most: pausing to think before asking.

Pause before prompt

That habit became the whole idea. Before a child asks an AI for something, they stop for a moment. What do I actually want? What do I already know? How will I tell if the answer is any good? A few seconds of thinking turns AI from an answer machine into a helper that works for them.

That's why there are two characters. Race wants to rush ahead and type the first thing that comes to mind. Pace slows down and asks a question. Children quickly see that Race's one-word request gets a plain result, and that their own careful words make something far better.

Every world in Pace & Race practises that pause in a different way. In Canvas Cove, your child's words shape a picture. In Revision World, they change one word and watch what changes. In Storybook Quest, the hero and the problem come from them. In Fix-It Factory, they invent a fix and then ask what could go wrong with it. In Judge Pace, they defend an idea and then the other side. In Question Quest, the AI is a thinking partner that helps them work things out instead of handing over the answer.

I left things out on purpose. There are no streaks, timers, leaderboards or scores. Nothing nags a child to come back, and a try-again moment never takes anything away. Children earn turtle shells for their own writing, never for speed.

My brother still asks AI questions. Now he usually stops first and decides what he's really asking. That's all I hoped for.

We're inviting families to try Pace & Race now and tell us what works and what doesn't. If you have a child aged 7 to 13, we'd love your help. Create a free parent account to join, and you can follow your child's creations in the Family Hub.