iRewardChart

Reward charts can be a parent’s best friend. We’ve used them to reward potty training, chores, saying prayers and much more. I even use them with myself from time to time. I’ve got various cupboards, mirrors and walls in my house that are covered with charts. I’ve come to accept it as part of my decor and when I was asked to take a look at the app iRewardChart and the thought of consolidating all our various charts seemed appealing.

The app is very easy to use. You begin by setting up accounts for your children. You add their name and a picture and then edit the tasks you want them to work on. Tasks are grouped into different categories: behavior, chores, responsibility and other. There is a well rounded list of preset tasks but if you don’t find one that fits your situation you can add it on. Some of my favorite tasks on the list are take bath (my son could have an entire chore chart dedicated to this task), no interrupting, no whining and eat fruit. All worthy things to work on. You can choose different tasks for each child. Once you’ve chosen the tasks they will show up on your child’s main page with empty stars next to them. The stars correspond with a day of the week and the idea is to tap a star when the task is completed for the day. The star will fill in and be added to a balance total shown at the top right of the screen. After your child has earned a few stars you’ll want to tap the “Balance” button to see a balance sheet. This shows the total number of stars earned and also breaks them down by weeks.  You’ll also see a big yellow button that says “Payout”. Tap this and your child can redeem the stars for rewards. You are able to set these rewards and when your child chooses one the number of stars it “costs” will be deducted from their balance. Again, iRewardChart comes with a preset list of rewards but you can create your own. You do this back on your child’s main page by tapping a small button that reads “Setup”. This screen allows you to add new rewards and also adjust the star amounts for preset rewards. From what I can tell any custom tasks that you add will show up as a choice for every child but custom rewards only show up on the list of the child you originally added them for.

I found iRewardChart to be extremely useful and easy to work with. I especially appreciated all the customization that it provides. The developers have done a nice job combining the chart and rewards into one app and I think the idea of a star payout is clever. We’ll be using this app but unfortunately, I don’t think it will work with all my kids. This is not due to the app (it’s terrific!) but the fact that some of my kiddos need a constant visual reminder of what they’re working on. If it’s in an app on mom’s iPhone they’ll forget. If it’s hanging on the bathroom mirror they just might remember. For those that don’t need a paper to mark off iRewardChart is a great way to go.

Price: $4.99

Seller: GotClues Inc.

*There is a lite version of iRewardChart that is available. However, it will only keep track of one child and three tasks per week.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.