Putting your kid's chores on their own phone, without giving them an email
Aaron Simo ยท 2026-09-13
The moment a kid gets their own phone or tablet, the chore chart on the fridge stops working. They are not looking at the fridge. They are looking at the phone.
Most family apps handle this badly. Either the kid needs an email address and a password, which means you are managing another account, or the kid has no login at all and everything runs through a parent's phone.
What we do instead
In HomeForge a kid gets a family code and a PIN. That is the whole login.
- On the Family page, open your kid's card and tap "Set up kid login".
- Pick a four digit PIN. You get a six letter family code and a link.
- Text the link to the kid's phone. They tap it, tap their name, type the PIN, and they are in.
Their phone stays signed in after that, like any other app. If they forget the PIN, you reset it from your phone. If they lose the phone, you turn the login off from your phone. There is no email involved anywhere.
What the kid sees
Not the whole app. They get their chores as big cards with a Done button, their points, the rewards they can spend points on, and the family calendar. No finances, no settings, no family management. Kid Mode is the same screen you can hand them on your own phone if they do not have one yet.
Why a PIN and not a password
A password a kid picks is either "password" or something they forget by Thursday. A PIN they type every day sticks. And because the PIN only works together with your family code, and locks after five wrong tries, it is not a security hole either.
Try it
Kid logins are part of the free plan. Add your kid on the Family page, set the PIN, and send the link.