Getting Started With Little Streaks

Little Streaks is our new habit-forming app for children. This post walks you through some of the features and how to get started using the app.

See also: Introducing Little Streaks

Adding a Child

The first step in Little Streaks is to add a new child. Each time you open the "add child" screen, a random icon is chosen to represent your child in the app. Each icon has its own unique color scheme.

You can select a different icon by tapping on "...", and if you prefer, you can enter their initials by tapping "ABC" in the top-right, rather than using an icon.

Choose a different icon or enter your child's initials

Next you can enter the child's name. This is shown at the bottom of the screen, which is useful when you have multiple children in the app.

You can leave this blank if you prefer. Note that we don't transmit any personal information to our servers or any third-party servers (here's our privacy policy).

Finally, before you can add the child, select their initial routine. You can choose an empty routine, or you can start with one of the pre-built routines in the app.

Customizing Routines

Once you've created a routine, you can add, edit or remove tasks (see the next section).

You can also customize how the routine appears, including:

Routine name (displayed up the top)
Background color and pattern
Task color
Text color.

To edit the routine, tap the child selector down the bottom to open the current child's settings, then select the routine.

Switch between users and routines by tapping the chooser.

As you change make changes to the colors, the preview updates in real-time so you can see exactly how your changes will look.

The colors and patterns are intended to serve as a visual reminder to the child to know what routine they're completing, even if they can't read.

If a child has multiple routines, the background pattern icon also appears in the child selector. Tapping this toggles between that child's routines.

Managing Tasks

When you create a routine, it begins with one or more tasks (up to six) already configured. You can remove any of these tasks if you prefer and add your own.

To add a new task, tap the "Add Task" option on the main screen. From here you can either choose one of the suggested tasks, or enter your own task title.

You can then customize the icon, as well as the sound effect that's played when the task is completed ("auto" will use the sound assigned to the routine).

Choose a suggested task or create your own.

To edit an existing task, tap the Settings icon (bottom left), then tap the "..." button that appears over the task you want to edit.

You can delete a task from the edit task screen. Tap "..." in the top-right and select Delete.

Completing Tasks

The idea with Little Streaks is that your children should mark tasks as complete once the task is done, as it's this action that reinforces the behavior and makes them want to complete the task again next time.

To mark a task as completed, tap-hold the task to fill the outer ring until a checkmark appears.

You may find that your child struggles with this gesture at first, but they'll get the hang of it quickly.

Sometimes your children may want to mark the task as complete again. You can change a task from complete to incomplete in two ways:

You can "shake to undo" for a limited time after completing the task.
You can to the "task edit" screen, then select "Edit History".

Switching Between Children and Routines

If you've upgraded to Little Streaks Family, you may have multiple children and routines in the app.

The child switcher at the bottom is used to both switch children and to switch between a child's routines.

Switching between children and routines.

If you have a child with multiple routines:

The routine pattern icon will appear to the right of their name
Tap the routine icon to switch to the child's next routine
Long press on the routine icon to open the "routine edit" screen.

If you have multiple children:

Tap the current child's name / icon to open the list of the children
Tap the child you wish to switch to
The current child will show a Settings icon. Tap that to edit the child.

You can also long-press on the switcher to open the child settings screen.

How to Structure Routines

Little Streaks is very flexible in how you can structure routines.

How we picture you using the app would be as follows:

Have a separate routine for each broad set of tasks you'd like your child to complete
For example, a Toilet Time routine may be useful if your child is struggling to remember or complete all the steps.
If your child doesn't need a larger task such as going to the toilet broken into 6 smaller steps, perhaps "Toilet Time" could just be a single task in a routine called "Around The House".

Some children may need an entire routine just for a task like going to the toilet, while for other children it may be a single task in a separate routine.

We've structured the app in a way that not only helps your child reinforce good habits, but is also extremely flexible, so you can adapt it to your and your child's needs.

Unlike our other app, Streaks, we don't necessarily view any routine or task as needing to be completed each day: when your children need some motivation to do certain things, Little Streaks is there to help.

Further Help

If you need more help with Little Streaks, please use the support link in the help section of the app, or you can email support@littlestreaks.com.