Looptimer with Kids: "We can all choose our own color and the direction of the light"

Jake Gronsky
Use case Building shared household routines where everyone has their own timer
Who C.B., parent of twin toddlers. Bought four units, one for each family member.
How they used it Each person chose their own color and light direction. Used for daily routines, activities, and taking turns.
Our take This is awesome. As a parent (and a person always trying to find ways to build routines for our family in...dare I say...a fun way, this really hits home. Going to try it myself!! - Jake
Try it Let each person in your household pick a color before you run the first routine. See how the dynamic changes when the timer belongs to them.

“I got four for my family, and we can all choose our own color and the direction of the light. I have twin toddlers and I'm starting to incorporate these into our daily routines.”

C.B. · Verified Buyer

C.B., this is such a great use case and one I find really moving to hear. Four units, four colors, twin toddlers, and a household that now has a shared visual language for time. That is genuinely cool to see. I'm going to try it with my family, too. 

Routines with young kids

When I think of routines, I'm not trying to be a mean-old-dad. I want to build a routine and schedule visible enough that the child can participate in it. “Time to clean up” means nothing to a kid. We hear this a lot as a visual timer for teachers and students. A loop closing means something they can see. It's wild that I haven't put this together until reading this review. 

Why color choice matters more than it seems

Few notes on what I like about picking color. I have strong opinions on color choices for visual timers, but thinking through it for parents and kids timers: 

  • The timer becomes theirs, not the parent's
  • They have a stake in what it does
  • Watching it run is something they chose, not something imposed on them
  • The end of the loop has a different emotional weight because they own the loop

It is part of what makes the tool feel like yours.

Taking turns with a visual timer

Cool to see how this family took turns with a visual timer.

How to set this up:

  • Decide on a turn length, 3 to 5 minutes works well for toddlers
  • Run the loop in the child's color
  • When it closes, the turn passes to the next person's color

Visual timers for kids and families

I really appreciated this use case. It made me think about how I'm using Looptimers with my family and how we can build routines with them. We hear a lot of fantastic use cases for a visual timers and I'd like to know more. Let us know if anyone else uses a visual timer with their kids and family. 

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