How I Used Home Assistant to Get My Kids to Do Their Chores

Getting my kids to do their chores has always been a challenge. Even something as simple as cleaning up after breakfast often turns into a battle of wills. That’s when I decided to use my smart home setup to create something fun and motivating a Home Assistant chore tracker.

Choosing the Right Chore Tracker for Home Assistant

While you can build a chore tracker from scratch using automations and helpers in Home Assistant, I wanted something ready to use. After exploring the community options, I found KidsChores, a brilliant HACS integration that uses gamification to motivate kids. They earn stars for completing chores and can redeem them for rewards later.

Setting Up KidsChores: A Family Project

For the system to work, the whole family needed to participate especially the kids. My wife loved the idea of not having to remind them constantly, but getting the kids excited required making them part of the process. We sat down together and decided how the system would work.

The setup process walks you through each step: naming your in-app currency (we picked stars), adding users, and creating chores. We made both daily and weekly tasks and assigned a star value for each. We also added rewards to keep them motivated:

• 🌟 100 stars – Friday candy
• ⭐ 250 stars – Weekly allowance

We even discussed losing stars for bad behavior and to my surprise, the kids came up with their own list of “star penalties.”

Building Smart Dashboards for Kids and Parents

Next, I needed a dashboard so everyone could interact with the system. Thankfully, another Home Assistant user (ccpk1) created a great YAML dashboard for KidsChores that includes chore buttons, stats, and approvals.

I split the setup into separate dashboards — one for parents to approve chores and one for each child to mark them complete. This prevented any clever “self-approvals” from happening! The dashboards now run on our Echo Hub, so everyone can easily access them.

The Results: Chores Are Actually Getting Done!

To my surprise, the system works amazingly well. The kids love checking off their chores and watching their stars accumulate. They also enjoy cashing them in for rewards — and the fear of losing stars for misbehavior keeps them in line.

It’s too early to say how long this excitement will last, but for now, Home Assistant + KidsChores has made a noticeable difference. Mornings are smoother, rooms are tidier, and we spend less time nagging.

Final Thoughts: Turning Parenting into Automation

Setting up a Home Assistant chore tracker was one of the best uses of smart home tech I’ve tried. It’s practical, motivating, and surprisingly fun for the kids. Huge thanks to VaReTaS for developing the KidsChores integration and to ccpk1 for creating such a great dashboard template.

If you’re a parent with a love for home automation, give this a shot — it might just make your home run a little smoother and your kids a little more responsible.

Would you try using Home Assistant for chores? Share your setup or ideas in the comments below!