Getting to know Stars and Rewards
What are Rewards?
Rewards are celebratory moments that can be earned with Stars! Create rewards for your family from the Hearth Companion app by choosing from our suggested templates or creating custom rewards that motivate your family.
Rewards can be anything that celebrates the little (or big) wins to make tasks and habit-building more rewarding- a special treat, a family outing, even a fun surprise. It is important to note that only adult profiles with access to the Hearth Companion app have the ability to create and manage rewards.
What are Stars?
Assign Stars to your family’s to-dos and routine steps to be earned upon completion. Stars can only be added to to-dos and routine steps from the mobile application.
How do I add stars to an existing Routine?
- Open the mobile app and tap "Routines."
- Select the Routine you want to update, then tap the edit icon (top-right corner).
- Tap on a step within the Routine.
- Add stars to the step as needed.
- Repeat for any other step you'd like to update. You can also add stars to your family's To-dos as well!
How to Earn Stars ✨
By completing to-dos and routine steps that have a star value, family members will be able to earn Stars that can later be redeemed for a reward. You can view all Star-related activity in the History tab on the Hearth Companion app.
Manually adjusting Stars:
In the Hearth Companion App, adult profiles can adjust a profile’s Star balance through one-off adjustments: for example, adding bonuses for extra efforts or removing Stars to stay on track. To make adjustments:
- From the Rewards tab, select “Make Adjustment,” then choose the number of Stars.
- To remove Stars, toggle “Make Negative.”
- After selecting the profile, you can add a reason for the adjustment - like “completing an extra chore” or “needing accountability”! 🌟
- Once saved, you will see the changes reflected on the Rewards and History tabs.
Redeeming Stars for Rewards
There are two ways to award or redeem a reward once someone has earned enough Stars:
-
Awarding Rewards from the Hearth Companion app
When logged into the mobile app, only Adult profiles can award a reward directly to someone in the family. This might be a surprise moment, a way to recognize effort when you're away from home, or a special reward you’ve talked about together. To award a reward:
- Tap the reward you wish to award
- Select “Award"
- Choose who it’s for and tap “Save”.
As long as they have enough Stars, the reward will be ready to open on the Hearth Display for a magical celebration!
-
Requesting Rewards from the Hearth Display and approving them from the Hearth Companion App
From the Hearth Display, anyone in the family can request a reward.
To request a reward from the Display:
- Tap your profile page on the Hearth Display.
- Select “Cash Out.”
- From here, choose the reward you wish to request! A reward can be requested as long as they have enough stars. Greyed out rewards indicate that this person does not have enough Stars to request the reward.
Reward requests from the Hearth Display will appear under the “Rewards” tab of the mobile companion app for approval. Here, reward requests can be approved as long as the person who requested the reward has enough Stars. Rewards can also be declined as needed. Only adult profiles with access to the Hearth Companion app can approve reward requests. Once approved, the reward will be ready to open on the Hearth Display to celebrate!
Opening the Reward from the Display
Once a reward has been awarded or approved, it’s time for the fun part - opening it on the Hearth Display! When someone has a reward ready to open on the display, they’ll have a small reward icon next to their profile image. Simply tap into the profile of the person who received the reward and select the reward to open it for a magical celebration. It’s a special moment to recognize effort and build excitement!
Rewards Tips and Tricks
Set your own Star values and rewards to fit what works best for your family! You can use Stars as part of an allowance system, reward extra effort with bonus Stars, or create your own reward ideas that match your family’s values- like a movie night, an extra snack, or saving up for something special.
Our reward templates offer a starting point if you’re assigning values of 1–5 Stars per task, however, everything is fully customizable, so rewards values can be adjusted based on your family’s needs!
Working toward a specific reward? From your Hearth Display, you can pin one special reward to track your Star progress as you complete more to-dos and routine steps.
Pinning a Reward
1. From your Hearth Display, tap on your profile page
2. Next, tap "Cash out" to view the available rewards
3. Select the reward that you are working towards
4. From here, tap on the small pin icon that appears. Once added, you can watch the progress bar add up on mobile & your Hearth Display as you earn Stars! It is important to note that you can only pin one reward at a time.