Can Your Tech Make Parenting Easier? Appsolutely!
The lot of a parent has never been a walk in the park (although, ironically, it tends to involve at least some walking in the park. Nonetheless, raising a child in the 21st century brings its own unique challenges that our parents simply didn’t have to encounter, or at least encountered in different ways, when they were raising us. Today’s parents face a unique set of challenged, whether it’s the declining standards in food marketed at children resulting in record levels of child obesity, or the proliferation of online predators. Parents must walk a difficult line between being protective and allowing their children to express themselves in a safe and edifying way both online and in the real world. Balancing your duties as a parent while maintaining a healthy family relationship has never been such a challenge.
Fortunately, as in most things, technology has your back. Whether it’s making sure your children are safe when out with friends or using your devices to making sure they get their chores done, there’s a plethora of apps out there designed to make your life easier.
Here are just a few and all are available on iOS and Android…
Family Orbit
There was a time when we only needed to install parental control software on the family computer. In the multi-device age, however, you need a parental control app that will rise to the challenges of the modern age. Family Orbit is great because not only does it allow you to block inappropriate or dangerous apps and websites, it allows you to lock or unlock their phones and tablets at any time, monitor your child’s in-phone activities and keep an eye on their location at all times via GPS. It’s a flexible tool that allows the right balance of freedom and peace of mind for your family.
Yummly
In an age where childhood obesity is rife, the importance of nutritious home cooking has never been more paramount. But staying organized can be a challenge while you’re juggling a full time job with your parental responsibilities. Yummly is great because it enables you to scroll through a selection of nutritious meals, select the ones you want and create a grocery list instantly.
ChoreMonster
If your kids have a tendency to throw a tantrum when asked to clean up their room, Choremonster can help to incentivize them with its subtle gamification of household chores. It allows you to create a list of chores on the app and keep track of when they have been done. Your son or daughter also has their own login to mark chores off when they are done. Your kids will earn points by completing their chores which can be used to “purchase” rewards of your choosing.
Artkive
When your child has a talent for arts and crafts, it’s vitally important that you nurture and encourage this gift with lots of positive praise. This used to extend solely to posting your kids’ artwork on the fridge, but in the digital age, we can do a little better than that. Artkive allows you to scan your child’s artwork with you camera and store it in the cloud for all time. You can share it on social media, send it to other family members and ensure that their masterpieces will be stored in a safe place for all time.
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These sound awesome, thank you for sharing! Yummly and ChoreMonste sound like apps we can use, I love the idea of Yummly making a grocery list of a healthy meal for me. I think Charlie would like the checkoff list in Choremaster.
Yep we use ChoreMonster. The kids just love it and it makes them do their chores. It’s amazing!
These apps sound great. I am definitely going to check out choremonster. Thank you.
ChoreMonster sounds like a really cool app. I bet that would have gotten my kids more interested in doing chores.
There are a bunch of apps these days that will make parenting so much easier. I use some of these apps and they’re definitely here to make life more convenient and efficient. Technology is here to stay so why not embrace it, right?
I have never heard of any of these so thank you for the useful information. I do agree, what we are facing raising our children is totally different from what our parents had raising us.
ChoreMaster is a new thing – I have to look into this as it may really help me manage my time with my kids this summer
I love the idea of choremaster! My son will refuse to pick up after himself, or he will throw a fit if I try to tell him to do anything related to cleaning. This was a great article!
I heard amazing things about Artkive. I really need to download it and start using it. My daughters create so much artwork every day!!
These are fantastic suggestions. I wish I hard Artkive when my kids were little. I did just sign the kids up for ChoreChart! How did you know I needed it?!? :)
i have used yummly myself in the past, i have not heard of any of the others though. I shall take a boo
As a former teacher, I have seen over the years the importance of introducing technology into the schools and education for children.
I’ve only heard of 1 of these apps before. Yummly is one of my fave apps. Amazing how many great apps there are to help us maximize our time.
This sounds like a really great app! I bet my girls would love this!
These apps are so helpful from safety controls to meal assistance these are great for parents. I will definitely show these to my siblings with younger kids and try some myself.
I love this idea! I’m one of the biggest things that concerns me with my kiddo be on line is for safety. I am definitely going to have apps on my phone and stuff on my computer to keep him safe.
It is amazing all the different apps that are out there now and the different ways they can help you out in your life!
The choremaster sounds like an interesting function. I am all for things that make my life easier!
These sound like some fabulous apps! I might have to look into a few. I’m all for making parenting easier, that’s for sure.
This is a wonderful app that I have to look into getting for the kiddos. They would love this!
There are so many great apps on the market today that can help with parenting. I like the ChoreMonster app to motivate kids to clean their rooms.