About Shturko
Shturko helps children turn new words into conversations, ideas, and stories.
We believe early childhood development is a journey in six directions — and every card, game, and mission cares for at least one of them.
Our Philosophy
Six friendly guides — three already here, three on their way.
- Speaking
Churuli
Sings, listens, and finds the right words.
- Thinking
Umko
Asks questions, connects ideas, and understands the world.
- Creating
Menko
Imagines, draws, invents, and finds new solutions.
- Connecting
Druzhko
We'll introduce him soon!
- Feeling
Nezhko
We'll introduce her soon!
- Moving
Skokljo
We'll introduce him soon!
Shturko has something important to tell you:
“I believe there is a 7th pillar: Choosing — a child’s freedom to make their own choices, pick their missions, games, and decisions. Because true learning starts with the freedom to choose your own path.”
The Formula
Physical cards + short online games + shared missions = words that come to life.
The Kotsev family
About us
Hi! We are the Kotsev family — mum and dad of two little Shturkos. We are parents just like you: with sleepless nights, endless “why?” questions and a lot of joy every single day.
We believe children are the future. That is why we want to support their development, so they grow up to be kind, educated, well-mannered people of real worth. We know children are the most precious thing we have — and we want to teach them how to keep themselves safe.
We are learning alongside them, too — every day — how to be better parents. That is why it matters so much to us that every product we make is genuinely useful.
How we make our cards
- We work with specialists — speech-language therapists, psychologists and other professionals — and each of them adds their own contribution.
- We don’t build cards on research alone — we also consult our specialists and take their advice on board.
- We combine scientific literature, international research and good practice with the professionalism and experience of our consultants — to give you the best result we possibly can.
Shturko does not replace a specialist. It is a play friend at home that supports the work of parents, teachers and therapists.
Have an idea, a question or a remark? Write to us at shturko.info@gmail.com or use the “Feedback” form on the site — we read every message.
Curious what's behind the scenes?→
If you opened this, a feeling alone isn’t enough for you — you want to know why, too. Good, this part is written exactly for people like you. We’ll do our best to make it worth your time.
Here’s something you might not have noticed: a child grows in several directions at once, not just one. They speak. They think. They imagine. They learn to connect with others. They understand what they feel. They move and get to know their own body. We call these “pillars,” and every Shturko card, game, or mission takes care of at least one of them:
- ????️ Speak — sounds, words, sentences, storytelling
- ???? Think — attention, memory, categorization, reasoning
- ✨ Create — imagination, symbolic play, creativity
- ???? Connect — interacting with others, understanding another point of view, conversation
- ❤️ Feel — recognizing and naming emotions
- ???? Move — fine and gross motor skills, spatial awareness
Here’s something curious: each pillar breaks down further into finer “domains” — Speak, for instance, includes sounds, words, sentences, and storytelling, each with its own developmental logic. That finer breakdown is exactly what sits behind the difficulty stars on every mission. They’re not random — they follow a real, observed order in how children actually grow.
And here’s the part we’re genuinely proud of: we don’t pretend everything is equally certain. Some of this rests on solid, validated tools already used in real speech-language and psychology practice — for example, ASHA’s model for social communication, or the Pons & Harris test for understanding emotions. Other parts are our own carefully considered judgment, in places where the science doesn’t yet have one clear answer for early childhood development. If you’re curious enough to check for yourself which is which — the full source list is waiting for you here: Resources →
Have you noticed that every domain is tied to an actual profession that really works on it — a speech-language therapist, a child psychologist, an occupational therapist, a physical therapist? Not because Shturko replaces a specialist. But because we wanted the structure behind it to hold up to a specialist’s question, not just a child’s.
That’s it for now. Shturko is growing and learning alongside the product — and if you notice something we explained clumsily, we’d love for you to tell us.