I’ve had a bit of a learning experience lately since we got our puppy, Astro. When we got Athena, she was a surprise to me and I had toddlers at the time. Now I have two grade schoolers and I work at home. My recent days have been consumed with socializing, training, and caring for the puppy. It made me realize that it’s up to me, and my family, to ensure that he grows up with the tools he needs to be a great dog. Now if only it were so simple with kids! The thing is, though, my kids have my endless love and support. And I can provide the positivity and tools they need to develop healthy habits NOW.

Let’s talk about some goals in my family. Yours may look different, and probably will look different! We have four acres and chickens and a new puppy. Right now at least, our chores are beyond helping with dishes. And it’s also seasonal. Homework is a big goal for most of the year, but right now we’re looking more at summer reading and only outdoor play-based learning.

Kid goals:

1 – Drink more water, especially with warmer weather
2 – Exercise regularly. Scarlet does track during the school year and both have active summer camp and yard play
3 – Brushing teeth TWICE a day – we have only had once a day nailed down
4 – Playing/helping with puppy
5 – Taking vitamins
6 – Eating fruits and vegetables with every meal
7 – Practicing piano and voice
8 – No-screen time
9 – Reading time
10 – Reduce salty/sweet snacks (in some families that may include soda although it’s too “spicy” for my kids, ha!)

Habitz is a fun, interactive, customizable (choose your own habits) easy-to-use (Scarlet can use her own on the iPad) app that helps to empower and educate your kids to make healthy choices. Co-founder and CEO Daniel Fishkov says that with Habitz, kids are in the driver seat of making healthy choices – and that means no more arguing or convincing at the dinner table, and beyond. Habitz works to provide solutions to the most challenging parenting problems we all have – getting kids to make healthy choices in nutrition, fitness, sleep, and much more. The app is available on the iOS Apple Store and it inspires healthy choices in simple, fun ways using AI, education and gamification. I help Des use the app on my phone.

My kids are independently creating habits that we’ve had trouble instilling and enforcing ourselves. It’s tough sometimes. Cassidy and I both work full-time and we both have had different childhood experiences and our parenting styles aren’t quite the same. We do work well as a team, but instilling and enforcing aren’t our strongpoints. I’m happy to have an app that is fun for the kids. It’s also parent-approved because the experience and educational content of Habitz incorporates the body of knowledge and methods of leading Pediatric Dietitians, Sports Coaches, and Behavior Psychologists. This means that the AI powered personal health and wellness coach is accessible to families all over the world. It’s powerful and simple.

Goal Setting: Parents and their kids set goals for specific actions like drinking water, eating vegetables, completing a chore, or any other custom action.
Progress Tracking: Progress is scored and achievements unlocked to provide positive reinforcement.
Gamification: Kids earn points with each action, redeemable for real products in the Habitz Store.
Education: Viki, the Habitz chatbot, shares engaging stories with kids that educate on the importance of various healthy habits.

So it’s basically like having a personal Health and Wellness Coach for your kids that’s fun and backed by science! Educational too! On a personal level, my kids are happiest when they feel there is some sort of “keeping score” or “reward”. We select from a variety of goals and also can change/customize them. Kids complete their goals. Then they earn rewards which they can use for prizes, like Amazon toys or activities, sleepovers, etc. The reward system is helpful but kids also learn to maintain their healthy habits all on their own. My kids work harder to drink more water, eat more vegetables, and READ.

I also love that the app is specific. We kept the goals about eating cheese (YUM), yogurt, and lean proteins. For Des, I can emphasize fish and beans, and with Scarlet, more greens. They love being rewarded for playing outside and reading books.

1 – Plant a family garden. Cassidy is an epic gardener and once he got the kids involved, it helped other aspects of our lives. It’s fresh air and physical motion, but when kids grow their own produce, they want to eat it more!

2 – Move together as a family. Dance parties are pretty fun, and now that it’s spring and summer, we do family bike rides across a local footbridge and trail, and even in the school parking lot. We also hike with the dogs together.

3 – Play together every day. Exercise can be fun and I find myself enjoying frisbee time, hula hoop time, and even jumping on a trampoline. Why let kids have all the fun? You can model great habits just by playing with your kids.

4 – Play with your food too. We make fruit and veggie “rainbows” and yes, I use cookie and sandwich cutters to make fun lunches out of cheese, bread, fruit, etc. It only takes a few minutes and they remember it forever.

Here’s a biggie. Habitz will send a free gift to families that sign up through my link once your child reaches 500 coinz! This can be accomplished with only a few days of use. So install the app and see how much fun it can be to develop healthy habits together!