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Guess what? We aren’t the only ones that can use a little motivation. My kids who are are 7, 6, and 4 are perfectly capable of helping out around the house. Getting them to do it can be tricky though. It’s amazing what a little motivation can do! When they have a little incentive they suddenly become the best little worker bees I’ve ever seen! We use the Goodie Goodie app. I reviewed it last spring and have been using it and recommending it to friends ever since.
The Goodie Goodie app is a hip, game-like chore, goal, and reward app that makes it easy and fun to motivate your kids in all different aspects from chores to doing homework, practicing sports or musical instruments and everything in between.
Parents create “G Missions” and children earn points by completing them. The points are redeemable for user-selected virtual candies and stored in the Goodie Bag. When the Goodie Bag is full, it can be cashed in for parent-created rewards (think special one-on-one time, a specific toy or even “screen time”) or eGift cards to their favorite stores like Game Stop, ToysRUs, AMC Theaters and many more!). We actually assign a monetary value to the points and the kids keep them in their Goodie Goodie “bank” until they are ready to spend them. Sometimes I also offer “prizes” in exchange for points to keep it fun though the kids really like having their own money.
Now instead of my kids having a meltdown when I ask them to clean their rooms and myself becoming frustrated by their outbursts, I can just add a G Mission to their account. I know they’ll be motivated and happy to complete a mission to earn virtual candies. It will teach them how to save for something special and to be more responsible. You can even incorporate charitable giving!
Regular missions include emptying the dishwasher, cleaning up the mudroom, living room or other common areas, and cleaning their own rooms. When they want to earn bonus points I give them tasks like dusting window sills or cleaning baseboards. It really is helpful to me, especially when I am working on my own tasks because it keeps them happy and BUSY!
They don’t always get points for cleaning up after themselves. Their rooms for example — they get points every Sunday if they’ve kept their room clean for the week or cleaned it up without fussing about it. If they complain, no points. The Goodie Goodie app has worked quite well for us. I have the app on my phone so it’s easy to award points or assign missions. They have the Goodie Goodie app on the iPad so they can check their points — they love seeing their candy bags — when you tilt the iPad the candy bounces around inside and makes a cool noise.
I love the flexibility of this app. You can do what works for you and your family! How do you motivate your kids to help around the house? I’d love to hear what types of chores your kids do, as well as their age so I can add some tasks to my list!
Be sure to check out all of the past Motivation Monday posts for more inspiration!