Kids
A family app kids can use without an email or a phone
In HouseChief, kids are profiles inside the family: no email, password or phone needed. From their own view they see their chores, the to-dos assigned to them and the family calendar, and they can tick off today's chores and spend their stars. Each kid can have a Buddy, a read-only helper that can't change anything, and parents can make coloring pages and early-reader books for them. Free while in early access.
Kids without accounts
A parent adds each kid with a name, a color and an emoji. That's it: no email address to invent, no password to forget, no phone required. On any device the family is signed in to (a parent's phone, the kitchen tablet), tap the avatar switcher to move into a kid's view. Maya can check her chores on Jordan's phone in the car and on the wall display at home, and it's the same Maya.
Because there's no account, there's nothing for a kid to sign up for, and nothing of theirs that lives outside the family's household.
What kids can see and do
A kid's view is deliberately small. Kids can:
- See today's chores and tick off their own, for today only, earning stars and streaks.
- See the to-dos a parent assigned to them and check those off.
- Browse the rewards store and spend their stars; a parent approves each reward.
- Read the family calendar and the meal plan.
- Open the family's shared lists, like the grocery list, and add or tick off items there.
- Open the coloring pages and books a parent shared with them.
- Talk to their Buddy.
Kids never see private lists, Settings, the other kids' chats or the approval Inbox. They can't create or change events, meals, chores, rewards or resources, set owners or due dates, or tick chores for another kid or another day. All of that is enforced on the server, not just hidden on the screen.
A Buddy that can't change anything
A Buddy is a small AI helper in each kid's view, shown with the kid's own emoji. It helps with homework by giving hints and asking questions rather than handing over answers, tells a calm original bedtime story with the kid as the hero, trades jokes and riddles, and can check that kid's chores, the family calendar and the weather.
Its limits are the point. The Buddy is read-only: it can't tick a chore, change the calendar, add to a list or touch settings. It can't browse or search the web. It can't see parents-only lists or anything from a parent's chats. And parents can read every Buddy conversation from their own Ask page. If you're weighing AI for kids at all, our guide to using AI safely as a family covers the questions to ask.
Coloring pages and early-reader stories
From the Resources tab, a parent can make a printable coloring page about a kid's current obsession (excavators, a dog in a spacesuit) in a minute, or a short illustrated early-reader book (pre-K to second-grade level) starring that kid when you name them in the request. Share it with one kid or the whole family; kids see what's been shared with them, read-only, and can read the book on the tablet or you can print it.
Kids don't make resources themselves. That keeps it a parent's tool, and keeps the surprise.
Parents stay in charge
Set a parent PIN and a kid can't switch out of their view back into a parent's. If a parent unlocks from a kid's view, HouseChief re-locks itself after 15 minutes, so a quick check on the kitchen tablet doesn't leave it open all day. Parents decide which chores exist, what rewards cost and what's shared with whom, and can read every Buddy chat.
Read how chores and rewards work, or the privacy and safety page for how HouseChief treats the family's information as a whole.
Questions
Do kids need an email address or a phone?
No. Kids are profiles inside the family with no login at all. A parent adds them with a name, a color and an emoji, and any device the family is signed in to can switch into a kid's view with the avatar switcher. A parent PIN stops kids from switching back into a parent's view.
What can kids see in HouseChief?
Their own chores for today, the to-dos assigned to them, the rewards store, the family calendar, the meal plan and shared lists like the grocery list, plus any coloring pages or books shared with them. They can add to and tick off items on shared lists like the grocery list. They never see private lists, Settings, the Inbox or another kid's Buddy chats, and can only tick their own chores, for today.
What can a kid's Buddy do, and what can't it do?
A Buddy can give homework hints, tell a bedtime story, share jokes and riddles, and check that kid's chores, the family calendar and the weather. It can't change anything, browse or search the web, or see parents-only data. Every kid has one by default, a parent can switch it off per kid in Settings → Family, and parents can read the chats.
Can parents read their kids' chats?
Yes. Every conversation between a kid and their Buddy is visible to the parents from the Ask page, in full. There is no private channel between a kid and the AI, and kids never have access to a parent's Chief of Staff or its threads.
How do I stop kids switching to a parent's view?
Set a parent PIN in Settings. Switching from a kid's view to a parent's then asks for the PIN. If you unlock from a kid's view yourself, HouseChief re-locks after 15 minutes, so the kitchen tablet isn't left open. Private lists and Settings are also enforced on the server, not just hidden.