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Father of 4 here (1 is grown, the 3 small ones are age 4, 6, & 8). I like the idea and it has crossed my mind before. A few thoughts: - My 8 y/o just got an iP

Father of 4 here (1 is grown, the 3 small ones are age 4, 6, & 8). I like the idea and it has crossed my mind before. A few thoughts: - My 8 y/o just got an iPod touch. The other just play on the family iPad. I would definitely want an app that had some sort of shared/multi-user account system. - For smaller kids, you need an easy UI. A lot of kid games get this horribly wrong. Make sure to test it with your age group. - It sounds old school, but adding some printing capabilities is not a bad idea IMO. Printing a chart for the fridge is still popular. - without delving into a debate on parenting philosophies, there are chores my kids do—not for points—because they are required. They have to empty the dishwasher and keep their room somewhat clean. They don't get a gold star for doing it—rather, they lose privileges if they don't do it(or complain longer than the chore would've taken). All that to say, I'd like to be able to assign/track weekly chores for each kid without having to assign a prize per say. - We also keep a keen eye out for random acts by the kids. We call them "servant points" or "polite points" and they are very ad-hoc. It's usually things like being very nice/polite to a stranger or clerk, being exceptionally caring to a sibling, or making a gift or piece of art for a friend or grandparent. It would be cool to keep track of these without the kids thinking there is a reward at "X points" Hope that helps

caw 14y ago
I'm in my early 20's, so my perception of my childhood chores: * We had a paper & pencil chart with the shared chores. The chart was because my sister and I alternated dishwasher unloads, and that didn't happen every day. At some point we switched to the calendar already on the fridge, you just write your name down (different colored pens) * Generally accepted chores (room clean, bed made, vacuum or dust on the weekends) that didn't alternate weren't written down. I agree that chores are required. In some sense, you could create a point system if the kids were saving up or working towards something, in the sense that your parents might "pay you" for extra stuff (washing the car, mowing the lawn, painting the spare room). At the end of that there might be a reward as a sort of appreciation, but for me it wasn't expected. For your app, something like this last piece might be a bit more dynamic. Parents can load up tasks that need to be done and the kids could work towards them at their own pace. If they run out of tasks they run out of them for the time being. Another thing parents might really like - a quality indicator (5 stars?) or accept/reject. If you do a crappy job you've got to redo it, and any sort of goodwill you might have just accumulated is null and void.

caw 14y ago

I'm in my early 20's, so my perception of my childhood chores: * We had a paper & pencil chart with the shared chores. The chart was because my sister and I alternated dishwasher unloads, and that didn't happen every day. At some point we switched to the calendar already on the fridge, you just write your name down (different colored pens) * Generally accepted chores (room clean, bed made, vacuum or dust on the weekends) that didn't alternate weren't written down. I agree that chores are required. In some sense, you could create a point system if the kids were saving up or working towards something, in the sense that your parents might "pay you" for extra stuff (washing the car, mowing the lawn, painting the spare room). At the end of that there might be a reward as a sort of appreciation, but for me it wasn't expected. For your app, something like this last piece might be a bit more dynamic. Parents can load up tasks that need to be done and the kids could work towards them at their own pace. If they run out of tasks they run out of them for the time being. Another thing parents might really like - a quality indicator (5 stars?) or accept/reject. If you do a crappy job you've got to redo it, and any sort of goodwill you might have just accumulated is null and void.