Behavior tracking apps are great tools to track and manage your child’s behavior in a fun and positive way. If your child has an iPad, phone, or other electronic device, chances are they are playing games, watching videos, and using it in a fun way. Behavior tracking apps can connect fun and responsibility that is useful in real life.
Behavior tracking apps have parents insert their child’s behaviors and allow them to analyze behavior patterns, improvements, and responses to certain methods. They can also make it easier to reward children for engaging in positive behaviors. Below, I’ll walk through the 5 best behavior tracking apps, what they do, the cost, and how they can help your child create good habits.
Why Behavior Tracking Apps Work
Data-driven behavior tracking apps work by allowing parents, caregivers, teachers, and other people in your child’s lives to track their behaviors and analyze what’s triggering or improving their behaviors.
The process of parents tracking and recording behaviors helps to promote positive changes. For example, when your speed is monitored while driving, you may realize you need to slow down.
The same can be true when tracking behaviors. Once you track your child’s behaviors, you may notice certain patterns and motivations that can help your child in the long run. Using behavior tracking apps can be a really positive thing for your child, and can help lead you to faster interventions and solutions for their behaviors. You could use various apps to track chores or school work to keep your child on track.
Since multiple tools are available, so it’s important to analyze which one would be best for your child. Below I outline 6 of the best behavior tracking apps and categorized the best for behavior, collaborators, chores, children with ADHD, schools, and visual behavior tracking charts.
1) Joon App: Best for Children with ADHD
What it is: Joon is an app for ADHD children ages 8-12 and combines fun games with daily tasks and goals. The app helps children with ADHD stay focused and complete their tasks by using video game technology. The only way to move up in the game is to complete the task.
Devices: iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire Tablets
Cost: 7-day free trial followed by either monthly or annual plan options.
How it works
Children in general love video games, they’re stimulating and fun, but they don’t really learn any important habits or real-life skills from them. Joon combines both of these environments into one. The app combines daily routine tasks with games to manage the behaviors of ADHD kids.
The only way to focus on the game and level up is by focusing on these important real-life tasks first.
Parents set up their ADHD child’s daily routine and habits you want them to develop and then the video game does all of the motivating, tracking and reminding for you! You'd work alongside your child's ADHD symptoms to build productive habits. Many parents have seen their ADHD child become more autonomous, motivated and disciplined. In fact, Joon has over 3,5k reviews in the app store, making it most top-rated ADHD app on the market.
Claim your 7-day free trial here.
2) BEHCA Behavior Tracker: Best for Collaborators
What it is: BEHCA® is an application behavior tracking software that allows care teams to collect data, track across time, log medication, view reports, collaborate in real-time, and compare environment and health variables that can influence behavior.
Devices: iOS, Android
Cost: Plan costs range depending on how many people you are using the software for - starting at $4 per month for a personal account and $241 for tracking 12 individuals.
How it works: BEHCA tracks a wide range of variables, helping the child’s team to understand what’s going on around them and analyzing their behaviors. Having input from more than one person, such as teachers, caregivers, and parents helps give more perspective on what’s going on in the child’s life.
3) S'moresUp: Best for Family Chores
What it is: S'moresUp is an app that allows families to keep track of chores and can assign chores for children to complete. You can add multiple children, and the child earns points that they can use to redeem rewards.
Devices: iOS, Android
Cost: $4.99 per monthly
How it works: S'moresUp is a fun way for children to complete chores. By providing points that can be redeemed for rewards, the child is incentives to complete the task. You can make customized templates for each child and assign rewards easily all within the app.
4) Thumsters: Best for Behavior
What it is: Thumsters is a behavior tracking app that allows parents to acknowledge and reward positive behaviors. It’s used to encourage children to make intentional, and respectful behavior decisions.
Devices: iOS, Android
Cost: Thumsters is free to use, but the premium subscription requires users to pay. This includes advanced reports, custom behavior reasons, and more.
How it works: Parents can insert goals and incentives and give their child a “thumbs up” when the task is completed. This helps the child build positive habits, and look forward to the reward.
5) mytaptrack®: Best for Schools
What it is: mytaptrack® allows educators to track students' behavioral response to any intervention or event where data can help analyze the impacts on student outcomes. Monitoring progress to targets and goals as defined in IEPs, 504 plans, BIPs, and other management plans can be simplified.
Devices: iOS, Android, Web
Cost: You have to inquire about a license.
How it works: mytaptrack® provides opportunities to create a common language and gain deep insights into helping students needing behavioral support. The data empowers support teams to communicate with, coach, and support each other. The opportunity in remote and blended learning environments to support parents, other providers, and even tutors can have tremendous impacts on student outcomes.
6) iReward Chart: Best for Visual Charts
What it is: iRewardChart is an app that brings the traditional reward chart onto mobile devices, with a customizable, interactive interface. iRewardChart helps parents keep track of their child’s good behavior, and reward them appropriately.
Devices: iOS, Android
Cost: Free in-app purchase
How it works: The weekly reward charts are colorful and interactive, for example, happy sounds when earning a star, and grumpy sounds when losing a star. Parents can also assign various stickers trophies, dinosaurs, and flowers as stars; since every child is different, and motivated by different rewards. Rewards can be something intangible, like a family picnic, movie night, or a trip to the museum. They can also be tangible, such as a book, ice cream, or a game console. Parents can customize the rewards for each child.