Goody Points is designed for parental usage, specifically parents with kids aged 4 to 12.

Up to 8 kids.

You will notice a Help Me! button in the bottom right corner of every screen. Tapping this button will provide detailed screen-specific help explaining all functionality for a particular view.

Also, there's a red Press if you are about to lose it button at the bottom of all help screens. Tap it to see some cute animal photos and funny tweets from other parents. Note that this feature is not scientifically proven to be therapeutic, but can be a fun distraction! We will add new content on an ongoing basis.

Pretty much. But bribery would be giving the child something before the desired action. Rewards, at least, happen after the desired action. And reward systems are how the real world works. Not all of us are motivated to do everything in life for the intrinsic joy it provides. How many of us would keep going to work if we weren't getting paid?

The following list contains some common point rewarding scenarios. Rewarding points often goes hand-in-hand with Goody Points timers. You can configure timers to reward points when kids acceptably complete timed tasks. Please take a look at When should I use timers? for more information.

Daily Routine Tasks	A primary aim of the Goody Points app is to help move your kids through the frequent, often frustrating transitional periods throughout the day. These routine tasks include brushing teeth and getting dressed in the morning, turning off the television and starting homework or washing hands before dinner. Getting your kids to complete these tasks every day can make you question why you had kids in the first place. Using various timers preset to reward points on completion will help your kids form consistent habits and make your lives easier. See Why should we reward points for expected behavior? for more details.
New Skill Attainment	If your kid is struggling to learn a new skill and doesn't enjoy practicing enough to make progress, it might be an excellent opportunity to try rewarding points. Often getting the child over the hump with some incentivizing results in enough proficiency that it leads to enjoyment. A newfound sense of accomplishment will ultimately replace the need for external reward. For example, your kid might be learning to read and finds it too frustrating even to open a book. You could start rewarding points for pages read or new words recognized. If rewards are initially required to bring about consistent and deliberate practice, that's ok. Eventually, your kid will learn to read and quite possibly come to understand and even enjoy the intrinsic benefits of literacy.
Random Acts of Kindness	One day, you might witness your 5-year old and 7-year old sharing toys and actually enjoying each others' company. This is a perfect opportunity to reward bonus points to reinforce good behavior. Maybe on another occasion, your son looks an adult in the eye and actually says thank you. Whip out your phone and throw him a few points!
Independent Action	You have been working for months on getting your kid to put her shoes and jacket away when she comes home. Usually, these items leave her body at random points as she enters the house, depending on which door she decides to use. One day after weeks of rewarding points for getting her to pick up her shoes and jacket and put them in the closet, you notice her come through the door and immediately put her things away without you having to say a word. After you pick your jaw off the floor, reinforce her independent action with extra points and much praise.
Displays of Perseverance	Your kid will struggle at something someday, but instead of melting into a puddle, keeps at it and gets the job done. Maybe your kindergartener had to draw a self-portrait for art class. After multiple drafts attempting to complete this cruel assignment, it still looks like a crazed potato. It is wise to reward your child as much for effort as for result.
Because You Love Them	There will come a time when you're in a good mood (even after a year like 2020), and you feel like giving out some Goody points for no reason. This is fine too. Just don't get carried away.

We will assume "expected" behavior means anything that kids should do by default (depending on age), like maintaining proper hygiene or showing up for class. This contrasts with "exceptional" behavior like being extra kind to a sibling or getting straight A's.

If your child is not meeting your standards of "expected" behavior, is it better to continuously nag or punish your child? Maybe we should take a step back and pull this particular behavior out of the expected category and attempt to develop a habit through positive reinforcement. You don't have to reward these points forever. And not to say children are like pets, but it is kind of like housetraining a dog using treats. If you have done this before, you know that eventually the dog doesn't need a treat to poop outside.

It is up to you. It depends on how you use the app and how you use points goals.

Points as Currency

Some folks make a child's next toy purchase dependent on achieving the points goal. In this case, it's possible to assign a monetary value to fit your monthly budget with a bit of calibration (e.g., one point equals $0.25). Or, instead of linking points to cash, you might make points equal to x minutes of screen time on your child's favorite device.

Arbitrary Points Value

It is also fair to keep things looser and not think of Goody points as a set currency at all. You can make it up on the fly with deals like, "If you can get just three more points before dinner, I will let you watch an extra episode of your show."

Some parents might even provide a little reward with each point achieved or each timer task completed. Showing a quick and funny Tik Tok video works well in this situation. In any case, when a child reaches a points goal, you can still treat this as a special achievement and reward accordingly.

Experiment with one or a combination of these approaches. With consistent use of the app, you will figure out what works best for your family in no time.

You can set the Goody Points Goal number by tapping the three-dotted icon on the top right of your kid's card on the My Kids screen at any time. Once a kid achieves enough points, a little celebratory animation occurs, and a reset button appears. Tapping reset sets the kid's total points back to zero.

It is up to you how to use the points goal. It may very well depend on whether you use Goody Points as a tool for your daily routine or more as a tool to develop a small number of specific habits.

If you whip out the Goody Points app and use the timers several times a day for recurring routine transitions, think of the Goody Points Goal as a daily objective and something you reset every night. On the other hand, you can use it to let your child earn a specific reward like a new toy on a less frequent basis. In this case, you might set the points goal to fit with your budget.

First off, if you love your kids, the Goody Points app is never going to ruin them. But here are some things to avoid:

Punishment instead of reinforcement	Instead of using the Goody Points app to decrease the frequency of an undesired behavior, try to use it as a tool to increase the frequency of a desired behavior. In other words, err towards adding points instead of subtracting points. There may well be times where punishment is warranted, but research shows that positive reinforcement is a more powerful approach for improving child behavior in the long run. If the app is used too frequently as a tool for punishment, like any tool, it could start causing anxiety and will no longer be effective.
Junk food as a reward	Whatever you decide to reward your child for performing well in the Goody Points app will be put on a pedestal. For instance, if a piece of candy is exchanged for points repeatedly, a child may begin to think of candy as more valuable than other foods leading to possible health challenges in the future.
Taking the system too seriously	Goody Points is just one tool in the parenting arsenal. If your phone is not in reach, don't fret, you can still communicate with your child and update points after the fact. And if you forget, no big deal. Sometimes even your child will remind you. Consistency is helpful when developing habits, but it doesn't need to dominate your life.

The following list contains some common scenarios where a custom timer may prove useful for transitioning your children through the family's daily routine. You may choose to set Goody points to reward your kids upon acceptable completion of the task associated with the timer.

Timer Name	Scenario
Wake Up!	After gently waking your child, start the timer and leave your phone next to their pillow (phone volume up 😉). Expect the annoying alarm sound to rouse them from bed in 10 minutes and get them to the kitchen table, ready for their Wheaties.
Lunch Break	You find yourself in the middle of a pandemic and now have another role, your child's personal school day assistant. Have a timer to prevent extra-long leisurely lunch breaks and getting concerned emails about tardiness from their teacher.
Screen Time	Have a timer handy to control how long your kids rot in front of the television.
Gaming Session	Have a timer handy to control how long your kids' develop mad skills on the Xbox for their future career in e-sports.
Screens Off	You find your kid hiding in the closet staring at an electronic device for who knows how long. She does not look up or acknowledge your presence. Set a 5-minute timer to give her brain some time to process that screen time will come to an end. Challenge her to beat the alarm for extra points. She probably won't hear you, but she will hear the alarm. If that fails, eventually, she will come out for food.
Start Your Homework	Your kids have been doing whatever kids do since school ended hours ago, and now it is time for them to get cracking on their homework. When this timer goes off, they better be at their desks.
Homework Session	Have a timer with enough duration to allow you to complete their homework.
Don't Bother Me!	You have an important deadline at work, but your kid keeps coming into your office wanting to play another game of bingo. Have a timer ready to enforce a little peace and quiet, along with some points to dole out at the end to assuage your guilt.
Clean Up, Pick Up	Start a timer while challenging your child to see how much of his room he can tidy up in 5 short minutes. Adjust points to reward according to how much he actually picks up. It is ok to add less points for whining.
Brush Teeth	Start a 2-minute timer with the expectation your child brushes her teeth sufficiently for good oral hygiene. Don't stress; most kids this age have backup teeth coming in later 😬.
Lights Out!	It's getting a bit past bedtime, and your kid wants to continue reading his encyclopedia of rare Lego minifigures for the tenth time. Start a 10-minute timer and return to tuck him in and turn the lights out.

Suppose you are developing a new habit with your child where a timer would be helpful. In that case, you can preset points to reward if your child respects your time expectations. This is simply a convenience feature if you believe, as many do, that consistency is a winning strategy for habit building. You will have an opportunity to easily adjust these points when the timer is complete.

For instance, if you start a 5-minute timer to "Start Homework" and your child takes only 2 minutes, optionally award an extra bonus point for complying more quickly.

These are stop buttons that either you or your child can press to stop the timer when the associated task is complete. As soon as your kid presses this button, or if you have multiple kids, as soon as every kid has pressed their button, you will be sent to a rewards screen where you can decide to add or subtract points depending on their performance.

Goody Points is flexible if you have multiple kids. After all, different kids may need to be timed on different tasks. This is why on starting any timer, you are first asked which kids the timer applies to. You have the opportunity to toggle off any kids that you do not want to time. This is mostly relevant if you have preset reward points for a timer. You can also have multiple timers for different tasks running at the same time!

Simply tap the gear icon, and you will be taken to a settings screen. From here, tap on any quick timer you would like to change and adjust the time using the time picker. Tap the Done button to save your new duration, and it will now be available for future use.

Tap the Create Timer card and fill out the form.

1. Choose a name.
2. Set points to award when the timer is completed (optional).
3. Pick a color.
4. Choose a duration.
5. Tap save.

You can choose from a set of alarm sounds every time you start a timer and at any point before a timer runs out. Look for the control next to the estimated completion time on timer screens. If you haven't adjusted the sound before look for the label "Default Alarm" and simply tap that to see a list of different sounds you can use. We will be adding a larger selection in the future.

OT stands for overtime. If a timer is left to run out before kids complete the task at hand, you can decide to enter overtime. In overtime, the time counter display will start counting up. This will allow you to see how much extra time a particular task takes. You can use this information to adjust the timer's duration or adjust points to award upon completion.

You can set your phone to Do Not Disturb to temporarily suppress all notifications.

You can set your phone to Do Not Disturb to temporarily suppress all notifications, or you can do the following depending on the operating system of your phone:

iOS

On initial use of the app, you will be presented with an alert asking you if you would like to allow notifications. Beyond this, you can manage notifications by going to Settings > Notifications and searching for Goody Points. You can turn notifications on or off and adjust how they are displayed. You can also get to these settings by swiping left over an existing notification from Goody Points and tapping Manage.

Android

Open your phone's Settings app. Tap Apps & notifications > Notifications. Find Goody Points under "Recently sent" or tap See all. Tap Advanced and make the adjustments here. You can also touch and hold an existing notification from Goody Points and get to the settings from there.

Navigate to the Settings screen and sign up for a free account. This requires a working email address. To hook up other devices, simply log in from the same Settings screen. You only have to create one account for your family.

On the Settings screen, if you are logged in to an account, you will see an option to "remove" the device from the account. Simply tap this link, and the device will no longer be associated with the account.

Note that this will associate your phone with a brand new anonymous account resetting all your kids, points, and saved timers. We are unable to copy your existing data to a new anonymous account at this time. To restore, you can always log in again.