Isn’t it exciting when you find solid Catholic alternatives to secular products, especially among children’s toys and gifts?

Created by Catholic parents Elie and Viviana de LaForcade, HeWo (short for “HEar the WOrd”) is the first faith-based audio player designed for kids, boasting a growing library of content from trusted publishers and sharing Catholic teaching in a dynamic, screen-free format. 

One day while praying the Holy Rosary, Viviana felt a clear calling to help children come to know Jesus better. “That calling changed our lives,” explained Elie. “It led us, as a family, to pour our energy into a mission — to pass on the faith to little ones through tools that are simple, beautiful and deeply rooted in the Church.”

HeWo aims to make children’s faith formation accessible, wholesome and fun using the compact HeWo player — perfect for little hands — which connects to the parent’s mobile device, where the adult can customize content, based on age or interest, from the HeWo app. 

“We are absolutely loving our HeWo Catholic audio player!” shared Sarah Ballard, Catholic home-schooling mother and the social-media content creator behind Raising Wild Saints. “It’s packed with stories, music and saint spotlights that my kids can’t get enough of … a beautiful way to fill your home with truth, goodness and beauty, without the screen-time battles.”

As avid audiobook listeners in our own home and home school, I love the incredible cognitive benefits of learning through audio, from concentration to vocabulary expansion, memory work and more. I especially love that HeWo adds the faith-formation element to this educational activity and also gives the child independence in being able to use the device on his or her own (the silicone cover is great for the littlest listeners who may be a little rough and tumble with their device) while allowing parents to select the quality content. The ad-free device is a perfect size for using on the go, too. Better still, HeWo offers catechetical content in multiple languages: English, Spanish, French and Latin. 

With more than 1,200 titles offered to date, the HeWo app allows parents to subscribe to playlists, podcasts or select music, stories, and prayers — and even the Mass readings! — for the HeWo player. Downloading content onto the HeWo player requires an internet connection, but after the content has been downloaded, no WiFi is needed, which makes traveling with the HeWo easy. My toddler is already excited to have car access to Christine in Action songs. 

It is interesting to note that 70% of HeWo’s subscription revenue goes directly to the Catholic content creators who bring these resources to life, helping sustain evangelization efforts around the world.

“Today, children under 12 spend an average of four to six hours a day in front of screens,” the de LaForcades explained. “Much of that time is filled with content that promotes values far from the Gospel: moral relativism, individualism and messages that often go against human dignity. In this environment, more and more families — like ours — feel a deep need to spend more time with what truly matters: the Way, the Truth and the Life. HeWo is our joyful, practical and faith-filled response to that need. It’s a simple, screen-free tool that places Jesus at the center of a child’s daily life.”

Grab the HeWo player and an annual subscription at HeWoStore.com. Register readers can use code REGISTER10 for 10% off any order.