When you have kids, your family schedules and routines can seem overwhelming….

  • Doctors’ appointments, soccer practices, piano lessons, and study groups
  • Packing nutritious lunches and picky eaters
  • Finding a babysitter so that you can pamper yourself or have a date night with your spouse
  • Doing laundry, grocery shopping, and keeping track of everyone’s shoes.

Sometimes life as a parent can be overwhelming. Luckily you have dozens of apps right at your fingertips that can help to keep you organised (and sane!) while you navigate all of life’s little hurdles with your children. You can keep your family organised with these extraordinary apps:

Happy Kids Timer

If you get ready for work at the same time that your children get ready for school, then the Happy Kids Timer can be a lifesaver.

Your children can use the Happy Kids Timer to walk through their morning routine on their own. It turns things like brushing their teeth, making the bed, and getting dressed into a game.

With an original design and fun music, your child will love using this app to get ready on their own in the morning, giving you the chance to get ready yourself or accomplish other tasks while they do!

Available for free in both iTunes and Google Play stores.

VarageSale

As your kids get older, your home can sometimes feel cluttered with the toys and clothes that they’ve outgrown.

You could simply donate these items to a charity, or you could sell them to make a little extra money!

Rather than spending valuable time and energy putting together a garage sale, you can use an app like VarageSale to list gently used items for sale:

  • Too-small clothing
  • Baby items, such as rockers or play mats
  • Household items that you no longer need
  • Even your own clothing or jewellery!

The beauty of this app is that you can snap pictures whenever you find something – no wasted time making signs or waiting until you’ve found enough items to host a garage sale. This is an app created “by mums, for mums” to make the process of selling outgrown items safely and effortlessly.

Available for free in both iTunes and Google Play stores.

Playground Buddy

This app can help you to find a playground or park close to your location when you are in an unfamiliar city. It is perfect for the moments when your child is restless and needs to burn off extra energy!

Playground Buddy is essentially a worldwide parks and playgrounds database, with the locations of over 200,000 playgrounds right at your fingertips. If you know you’ll be in a new city with your child you can even plan ahead to include a stop at a local playground partway through the day.

Playground Buddy includes a host of other useful features, such as:

  • The ability to get directions to any playground in its database
  • Street view photos of many parks so you can “visit” before you visit
  • The ability to share the details of any playground in the database with others, even outside of the app
  • A “playground favourites” list where you can save your go-to locations.

Available for free in both iTunes and Google Play stores.

Chorma

Every household has chores to complete each day, and busy parents know that the household runs smoothest when everyone pitches in.

Chorma gets the whole family in on the “fun” turning chores into a competition or a game. You can assign each task a point value, and those points are earned then the task is completed. You can create customised goals and rewards for your children through the app, or simply use it to keep track of who has accomplished which tasks throughout the week.

The app can sync data across multiple devices, so if your children are old enough to have their own Smartphones, then they can enter their completed chores on their own.

Available for free in the iTunes store.

ChoreMonster

If you just want to get your children into the habit of completing their chores every day, then ChoreMonster is a great way to start.

Specifically designed for younger children, ChoreMonster combines cute animations and interactions that keep young children engaged and entertained. It’s simple for children (and parents!) to learn to use and creates an interactive incentive system to motivate children to do their chores.

Parents can create customised chores and assign points, which your child will be awarded once only after you approve the completed task. You can also add rewards that your child can “purchase” with the points that they have earned.

Available for free in both iTunes and Google Play stores.

Cozi Family Organiser

When your family is always on the go, having one place to keep track of the seemingly endless appointments, practices, and grocery lists can help you to keep track of it all.

The Cozi Family Organiser is a simple app that is free and easy to use. You can choose to use some or all of its features – whatever helps you to get through your day. Its many features include:

  • A colour-coded family calendar that allows you to set reminders, coordinate after school activities, and see your entire family’s schedule at a glance
  • Custom to-do lists, including lists for your spouse or children, and as many as you need so that you can break tasks out into categories if needed (holiday packing list, homework checklists, etc.)
  • A shopping list that you can easily email to whoever is in charge of going grocery shopping
  • Recipe banks where you can store your favourites, create meal plans, and even add ingredients directly to your shopping list.

Whether you choose to use all of the app’s features or just the one that you love the most, you will love the clean, simple design and straightforward features.

Best of all Cozi can be shared with any computer or mobile device, including Macs and iPads, so your entire family can access and edit the features that are relevant to their activities.

Available for free in both iTunes and Google Play stores.

Sitter

Every parent knows the panic of needing to find a new babysitter at the last minute. With Sitter, you can rest easy knowing that your children have been left in good hands.

Sitter contains a database of qualified nannies and babysitters, making it easy to find a trusted babysitter on short notice. Simply tell the app what you require in a sitter to be matched with the best verified babysitters near you. You can even read reviews of each sitter before making the decision to hire them.

Sitter takes many steps to ensure that every babysitter and nanny listed on the app is verified and qualified:

  • Each sitter and nanny listed has undergone a verified background check
  • Every carer is covered by an insurance policy specifically designed for childcare industry workers
  • All Sitter workers have verified first aid training qualifications that meet national childcare standards

Best of all, Sitter takes the hassle out of paying your babysitter by initiating the payment through the app. No need to stop at a bank for cash on your way home!

Available for free in both iTunes and Google Play stores.

Trekaroo

Travelling with small children can be difficult, especially when you are not familiar with your destination. If you and your family love to travel, Trekaroo can help you to find kid-friendly activities and attractions while you are away!

Trekaroo describes itself as “a grassroots community of families inspiring each other to travel the world.” This app allows parents to choose a destination and see reviews of activities, hotels, and restaurants from other parents. You can use it as a planning tool before your holiday or to explore on-the-go after you’ve arrived.
This app is a stress-free way to get a parent’s perspective on activities before you bring your child there, making it easier than ever to plan the perfect family-friendly holiday.

Trekaroo has several other useful features, including a “passport” that you can use to keep track of your activities.

Available for free in both iTunes and Google Play stores.

Final Thoughts

Sometimes it only takes one app to make your life easier. The ones listed here are only the tip of the iceberg – there are hundreds of other apps out there specifically designed for busy parents.

The first step to organising your life and getting back a few extra minutes in your day is only a click away!

Resources

www.kidssmartzone.com/
www.varagesale.com/
www.playgroundbuddy.com/
www.chorma.com/
www.choremonster.com/
www.cozi.com/
www.sittr.com/
www.trekaroo.com
www.sheknows.com