Kids negotiate constantly
Every limit becomes a debate. Every debate has a rematch.
Sprout Founding Families
Kids earn the fun stuff by doing the useful stuff first.
Sprout is a free iPhone app for technical families testing a better loop for screen time: habits, rewards, approvals, and earned screen-time minutes, with parent-controlled AI where useful.
Sprout is free
technical parents wanted
early product, things will break
Today's deal
First this, then Roblox.
The whole trade, visible to the kid up front.
Read 20 minutes
Clean your room
then
Roblox · 30 minutes
The problem
Most families run on a deal.
Apple Screen Time is mostly built around saying no. The family agreement is usually "do this first, then you get that." The hard part is making that deal visible, consistent, and less annoying for everyone.
Parents become the blocker
Every yes and no routes through you. All day, every day.
Bonus time is confusing
Nobody remembers what was promised, earned, or already spent.
Limits are easy to misunderstand
Downtime, app limits, always-allowed. Even you aren't sure what's set.
Rewards live everywhere
Charts, notes, texts, and memory. Mostly memory.
It falls apart when you're tired
The system can't depend on the parent having a good day.
How Sprout works
First the useful thing. Then the fun thing.
A trade your kid can understand, spelled out up front.
You pick the useful thing
Reading, chores, homework, music practice, brushing teeth, the bedtime routine. You set the plan and what it's worth.
Your kid does it
They mark it done and it comes to you to approve or send back. Photo check-ins exist as a rough manual beta in the parent app; first-class photo-proof tasks and other verification helpers are planned. Today, you're the checker.
Sprout keeps score
Gems land as progress credit when you approve. Spending them on screen-time minutes and rewards you define is what founding families test first. First-class streaks are planned.
The fun thing opens up
Your kid requests screen-time minutes for the fun stuff, you approve with one tap, and the minutes come out of what they earned. This flow is in testing now; founding families try it first. Pointing minutes at a specific app (Roblox yes, TikTok no) is planned.
For technical parents
Connect your own agent. Keep the parent in control.
The app is free, and the family system lives in Sprout: habits, rewards, approvals, permissions, and screen-time grants. You choose what AI, if any, helps your family. Sprout decides what tools exist, what permissions they have, and when a parent must approve.
How you can run it
- Use no AI at all for simple routines
- Connect an agent you trust over MCP, where it helps
- Let it suggest plans or write you summaries
- Sensitive actions sit behind high-sensitivity scopes only you can grant, and you can revoke them anytime
- Screen-time grants stay permissioned and auditable
claude mcp add --transport http sprout https://api.sproutgoodhabits.com/mcp
This works today. Connect your own agent over MCP with scoped OAuth permissions. You grant the tools, scope by scope.
Live today
- Connect your own agent over MCP, with per-scope OAuth permissions
- Tasks with gem rewards, set by you or your agent
- Gems land as progress credit when you approve
- Approve or deny task completions; sensitive scopes stay with you
- Kid canvases your agent can read and write
- Saveable, invokable agent skills
- Spending gems on screen-time minutes and parent-defined rewards
- Kid screen-time requests with one-tap parent approval
- Photo proof as a first-class task mode (manual beta in the parent app today)
- Per-app minute grants (Roblox yes, TikTok no)
- Local / on-device inference paths
- First-class streaks and kid-visible learning programs
- AI-assisted verification helpers
AI can suggest. Parents decide. Sprout handles the system.
Founding families
We want technical parents who will break this.
The first Sprout families should be opinionated. If your kid has already found three ways around Screen Time, you are probably the right person. Your kid will probably try to hack Sprout too. Please tell us how.
You're a great fit if
- Kids roughly 5–13
- iPhone / iPad family
- You've already fought with Apple Screen Time
- Roblox, YouTube, Minecraft, or games are part of family life
- Willing to join a small Discord
- Willing to install early builds over TestFlight
- Willing to tell us what confused you
What founding families get
- Founder badge and early-group status
- Direct access to the founders
- Gift cards for real testing
- Priority access to experimental builds
- Optional private setup help
The ladder
We pay for real testing, not signups.
No payment for just joining a list. The ladder rewards day-to-day use and blunt feedback.
After setup
You installed the build and got your family running.
After a week of family use
Seven days of family life on Sprout, plus your feedback.
Deeper feedback and referrals
Feedback calls, direct critique, and referring families who go on to test.
Paid builder bounties
Get paid to build one working Sprout workflow.
We are paying a small number of technical parents, creator-builders, educators, and digital-wellness people to build working Sprout routines and show what broke. Endorsement is optional. Honest findings are the deliverable.
The deliverables
- One family routine or template, built and running
- One walkthrough video
- One honest critique, including what broke
- One feedback call or Discord AMA
- Optional: a post, newsletter, or thread if it fits your audience
Who we're looking for
AI-for-moms / household operations
Technical parents
Homeschool / online learning
Screen-time & digital wellness
Developer educators
Teachers / tutors / coaches
Kid-safe AI builders
Most early build bounties land between $300 and $1,500, depending on audience, effort, and deliverables. Larger packages considered for a strong parent/tech audience.
Example builds
Seven builds we'd pay for tomorrow.
Roblox, earned
Roblox time earned by reading and chores.
YouTube after homework
No homework, no videos. Simple as that.
Minecraft after music practice
Twenty minutes of scales buys block time.
Model-drafted weekend plan
Your model drafts the weekend screen plan. You approve it.
AI-literacy plan
A kid earns rewards by learning how models work.
Hard-stop bedtime routine
No entertainment minutes after a set hour. Ever.
"What my kid hacked this week"
A feedback workflow that turns exploits into bug reports.
The demo
First this, then Roblox.
This is the basic Sprout loop. The useful thing comes first. The fun thing comes after.
01
One parent. One kid, age 9.
02
The kid wants Roblox.
03
Parent sets the deal: read 20 minutes, clean the room.
04
The kid sees the reward up front. No mystery, no lecture.
05
The kid does the work and marks it done.
06
Sprout asks the parent to check. Approve, or ask again.
07
Gems land in the kid's account, ready to spend on minutes or rewards.
08
30 earned minutes approved for Roblox time. Sprout keeps the score, you hand over the time. (Hands-free device control: planned.)
09
The parent gets a short summary. Reading done, room done.
10
Optional: a model drafts tomorrow's plan. The parent approves.
Where this stands today: tasks, approvals, gems-on-approval, kid canvases, agent skills, and MCP agent connections are live. Spending gems on screen-time minutes and rewards, and the kid's screen-time request flow, are in testing now; founding families try them first. Photo checks and hands-free, per-app device control are planned. Helping us get there is exactly what founding families are for.
FAQ
Fair questions.
Is Sprout free?
Yes. Sprout is a free product. No subscription, no paid tier hiding behind a trial.
Is this another paid AI parenting app?
No. The app is free, and Sprout handles the family system: habits, rewards, approvals, permissions, and screen-time grants. Parents choose what AI, if any, helps.
Does AI make decisions for my kid?
No. Sensitive actions stay parent-approved. A model can suggest routines or write you summaries today; AI-assisted verification helpers are planned. The parent remains in control.
What age is this for?
The first target is families with kids roughly 5–13.
What devices do you support?
iPhone and iPad families first; that's where the early builds run. If you're an Android family, tell us in the form. We track that interest separately.
What are you looking for right now?
Technical parents who will install early builds, join the founding-families Discord we're opening with the first group, and tell us what broke.
Do you pay testers?
We give small gift cards for real testing and feedback. We do not pay just for joining.
Do you pay creators?
Yes. We are paying a small number of builders, educators, and creators to build working Sprout workflows and share honest feedback.
What counts as a good builder demo?
A working routine, a walkthrough, a critique, and a specific explanation of what worked or broke.
Sprout is PRIVO COPPA Safe Harbor Certified.
See the certification listing for Sprout Good Habits, Inc. at cert.privo.com.
Apply
Blunt feedback wanted.
Two ways in. Pick the one that fits. Either way, we read every word, especially the part about what your kid hacked.
Join Founding Families
For technical parents with kids 5–13 who will install early builds and tell us what broke.
Apply for a Paid Build Bounty
For builders, educators, and creators who'll make one working Sprout workflow and say what broke.