Atlanta Startup Wanderwing Wants To Prove Not All Screen Time Is Created Equal

Written by Maija Ehlinger, May 25, 2026, published in https://hypepotamus.com/

Atlanta founder Emily Carter got the idea for Wanderwing, a mobile gaming platform, after her daughter asked if a snail she found in their yard could become the next family pet.

“She did what kids do now: she used a screen to figure out how to care for snails. She researched habitats. She looked up food. She made a case. When my husband and I politely declined adding a snail to our existing Carter family pet lineup of two dogs and two geckos, she was not deterred,” Carter told Hypepotamus. “Her next move was to create a slide deck explaining why this snail would be a valuable addition to our household. We still said no, but something about that moment stayed with me.”

The screen time debate among parents is a heated one. But Carter saw the need for a different type of conversation.

“I was watching my child use technology to learn, organize her thoughts, advocate for herself, and find her voice. It hit me that the problem is not simply “screens.” Screens can be powerful tools for kids, too. The real question is: what kind of screen experience are we giving them?”

Wanderwing’s Emily Carter (from LinkedIn)

Building Wanderwing

Carter built Wanderwing as a smart screen-time solution for kids ages five to eleven. Unlike a lot of media for children, which is built on “one more swipe, one more video, one more cliffhanger,” Wanderwing gives kids a time-bound game or activity that has a clear ending. This helps kids stay away from the trap of just wanting to watch one more video or fulfill one more online task. Kids ultimately earn “wanderwings” by logging real-world activities such as journaling, playing outdoors, or practicing mindfulness.

But it isn’t just about optimizing screentime. Wanderwing also offers a catalog of “Buddy Games,” which provide conversation prompts that focus on social skills and confidence building.

The content library is filterable by games that are ADHD-friendly, Autism-friendly, and neurodivergent-friendly.

“I have zero interest in Wanderwing being the thing you signed up for on a whim and never used,” Carter said, adding that is why the platform runs on credits. I chose credits instead of a time-limited free trial because I don’t want parents to put off signing up for it because they are unsure of when they will use it. With credits, a parent can sign up and know Wanderwing is waiting for them when the right moment comes: a rainy afternoon, a restaurant wait, a car ride, a Saturday morning, or one of those “I want to play with my kid, but my shoulders are too tired to wrestle right now’ moments. The point is for families to actually experience the value before subscribing. Wanderwing is meant to become a go-to resource parents and kids love, not another unused subscription sitting in the background.”

First-time users of Wanderwing get seven free credits, equaling seven free games or activities on the platform.

The heart of Wanderwing’s branding is the dragonfly, which Carter said is an important symbol and reminder of her dad. “In many cultures, dragonflies are often associated with transformation, adaptability, clarity, and new beginnings. That fit the spirit of what I wanted to build: a tool that helps kids explore, shift, notice, and grow.”

An Atlanta Tech Village Story

Carter has built her career in the nonprofit sector, and currently serves as the Vice President of Development for Goodwill of North Georgia. While she has not worked in tech before, she said her work inside nonprofits has given her one important benefit: she isn’t afraid to ask for help and to ask for what she needs.

Shortly after she got the idea of Wanderwing, Carter signed up for  Startup Summer School at Atlanta Tech Village (ATV). By October of 2025, Wanderwing was born. Since then, Carter has taken the stage at Atlanta Startup Village, (you can rewatch her pitch here), ultimately taking home the prize of a year membership to ATV.

Carter told Hypepotamus that the moment she realized she was really “onto something” with her idea actually came at the gym when a friend, who was originally skeptical of the idea, came up to her in the middle of a workout to say how much fun he had using Wanderwing with his kids over the weekend.

“When he told me they had played a Wanderwing Curious Collection together, I asked him what changed. He said it was because Wanderwing does not have messaging, photos, videos, or ask for personal information about his kids.  He pointed to the fact that he set up the subscription and checked out all of the games first, before even showing it to his kids,” Carter added. “Some parents use Wanderwing as a safe place for kids to play on their own. He used it as a group activity with his boys — something they could come back to together. I literally started jumping up and down and clapping.”

Why Wanderwing Is Focused On Active Screen Time For Kids

Carter said that Wanderwing is specifically designed for the five to eleven age demographic because kids in that bracket are “old enough to engage with ideas, games, reflection, and independence — but still young enough for parents to actively shape habits.”

It is about helping parents create more active screen time instead of just passive screen watching. “Passive screen time works against attention and cognitive skills while interactive content can support attention and cognitive skills,” she added.

“At Wanderwing, I am not interested in making technology that is more addictive for kids. I am interested in making technology that is more developmental for kids. Wanderwing is designed as active screen time that helps children notice, create, move, think, and finish—not scroll endlessly.”

Want to help Carter grow Wanderwing in its early days? She’s looking for more people to fill out this short multiple choice survey to gather more information about screen time habits.