We’ve gathered must-have apps to make life a little easier for busy moms.
We all know that being a mom has its challenges, so why not accept a little technological help? These handy apps
have all been designed to take a bit of pressure off and help busy parents streamline tasks, organise family life, and entertain and educate kids.
READ MORE: 9 APPS THAT HELP YOU SAVE
1. S’moresup
S’moresUp helps make chores fun (yes, really!) and manageable with an easy-to-use reward system. Assign specific chores to specific kids from your profile and ascribe a ‘s’mores’ value to them. The value is entirely customisable – you can choose to reward any number of s’mores, depending on what you feel each chore deserves. The s’mores have no real-world value, so it’s up to you to decide what they equate to – perhaps every 10 s’mores might be equivalent to R1. However, s’mores needn’t be synonymous with money: they could translate directly into treats or fun outings of your choosing instead. Your kids can keep track of their chores, s’mores, savings goals and rewards, and tick off their chores when they’re done from their own profiles, giving them a sense of responsibility. Providing a clear, easy-to-understand system of tasks, incentives and rewards makes kids far more likely to fulfil their obligations. Other features include a community wall, where you can swap parenting advice and tips, a family wall, where your family can easily communicate and the option to sync your Google calendar with the app.
Free of charge from Google Play and App Store.
2. Family album
If you want to share photos between family and close friends, but don’t feel comfortable posting them on social media for all to see, this app is the answer. You can add family members to share photos with, so your partner, the kids, Granny and Grandpa, plus all the aunts, uncles, siblings and cousins will feel included. The app restricts viewing to the individuals you’ve selected, so privacy’s ensured, and compiles albums which they can access from their phones or PCs. Free of charge from Google Play and App Store.
READ MORE: ‘SHARENTING’ AND YOUR CHILDREN’S RIGHTS TO ONLINE PRIVACY
3. Namola
As a parent, worrying about your kids is simply unavoidable. We often try to keep a plan of action at the back of our minds in case of an emergency, and teach our kids to do the same – and Namola makes taking that action faster and easier than ever. The app acts as a kind of panic button, enabling you to request immediate emergency assistance. Once you’ve done so, you’ll receive a call from Namola’s trained operators, who’ll confirm the relevant details with you and dispatch help from nearby emergency officials. The app uses the GPS location on your phone to inform the nearest responders of who and where you are. You’re also able to add up to five emergency contacts, who’ll be alerted when you request assistance. These contacts will be able to see your current location and message you and the Namola control room to stay informed of the situation.
Free of charge from Google Play and App Store.
4. Lala lunchbox
This handy app is a great way to keep school lunches interesting. Developed by an MBA mom who found that packing lunchboxes can be a chore, it keeps everyone happy by making meal planning and packing fun and easy.
It allows kids to be involved in choosing their foods by setting them up with virtual lunchboxes. They select meals for the week ahead by feeding a hungry monster from a customisable food library of healthy options, making it a fun game that involves careful decision-making. This helps moms put together their grocery lists and plan ahead. It also means less wastage, less expense and no more arguments about what’s for lunch. The app includes complete parental control over which food choices are available to kids, so you won’t have to worry about them filling up their
lunchbox with sweets and chips.
Free of charge from App Store.
5. Parental control
If you’re worried that your kids are spending too much time on their phones or iPads, or that they might be accessing inappropriate content, try this time-limiting, remote-locking app. You’ll need to install it on your and your child’s phones and select the appropriate profiles on each. From there, you’ll be able to lock all or selected apps for however long you choose, lock settings on apps, limit social media use, set an allotted amount of ‘screen time’ and filter the sites they’re able to access. You’ll also be able to customise the times of day your kids can use apps, and install passwords and a fingerprint lock.
Free of charge from Google Play and App Store.
6. Photomath
Do you remember how to do algebra or trigonometry off the top of your head? If the answer’s ‘no’, you’re certainly not alone. Many of us didn’t excel at maths at school and it can be difficult to translate even our remaining, fuzzy knowledge of it into coherent answers when it’s time to help the kids with their homework. This is where Photomath comes in – all you need to do is scan the maths problem with your phone (even if it’s handwritten) and the app will not only solve it, but provide a detailed, step-by-step guide to how the answer was reached, including alternative methods. You’ll be able to save problems, solving instructions and answers, so you and the kids can review them any time.
Topics include:
- BASIC MATHS/PRE-ALGEBRA: Arithmetic, integers, fractions, decimal numbers, powers, roots and factors.
- ALGEBRA: Linear equations/inequalities, quadratic equations, systems of equations, logarithms, functions, matrices, graphing and polynomials.
- TRIGONOMETRY/PRE-CALCULUS: Identities, conic sections, vectors, matrices, complex numbers, sequences and series, and logarithmic functions.
- CALCULUS: Limits, derivatives, integrals and curve-sketching.
- STATISTICS: Combinations and factorials.
Free of charge from Google Play and App Store.
7. Cozi family organizer
This app is a one-stop-shop for all your organisational needs. It allows you to sync family calendars, create grocery and to-do lists, choose and add recipes, keep a journal to capture important moments and photos, and share these with other members. Each of its features has loads to offer, including:
Family Calendar
- Keep track of your family’s schedules in one place, using a simple, colour-coded calendar.
- Set reminders for yourself and other family members so that no-one misses important events
or appointments. - Subscribe to other calendars you use, like work calendars, personal calendars and team schedules.
Shopping and to-do lists
- Share lists, so every member of the family can help with what needs to be bought or done.
- Create lists for anything, including shared lists for the family, chore checklists for the kids
and packing lists for holidays.
Recipe box
- Keep and organise all your favourite recipes in one place.
- Add ingredients easily as you think of them, any time, anywhere.
Free of charge from Google Play and App Store.
FEATURE: CAITLIN GENG PHOTO: STOCK.ADOBE.COM
Source: Parenting - yourfamily.co.za
