Carrots&Cake: Parental Control app for iPhone and iPad

Carrots&Cake is a science-based app that makes screen time healthier for kids. Winner of the 2023 Moms Choice Award, 2023 Family Choice Award & Best New Mobile App Award.


Parents select their favorite educational apps (anything available in the AppStore!) When kids turn on their devices, they have to complete the educational apps — Carrots — before they can enjoy free time — Cake. Screen time becomes intentional, learning focused, and age appropriate.


The Carrots&Cake approach benefits kids’ developing prefrontal cortex. It balances dopamine levels, introduces delayed gratification, and develops self-control, resilience, and grit while countering the persuasive design of apps that keep kids hooked. Kids have fewer screen time tantrums, and parents can hand over devices guilt-free.

Designed using science-based solutions, Carrots&Cake is a parental control learning app for kids. Its built by parents and developed with doctors, teachers, and scientists. It allows parents to design their kids’ approach to tech by choosing the order in which kids interact with apps. Carrots&Cake elevates screen time and helps kids develop healthy digital habits that make screen time more beneficial and less addictive.


With Carrots&Cake, kids learn first and play later. The app applies the oldest parenting technique to screen time: "Do your homework before you play." In other words, "Eat your carrots before your cake."


Carrots&Cake follows an approach grounded in behavioral neuroscience, psychology, and cognitive science.


Behavioral Neuroscience:
Carrots&Cake promotes healthy screen use by reducing the firing of the brains reward pathway. Dopamine levels stay balanced. This helps kids remain in control of devices and reduces tantrums when its time for kids to come off.


Behavioral Psychology:
Asking kids to first complete Carrots — learning apps with a high cognitive load — results in delayed gratification. This develops resilience & grit. Kids learn to self regulate. Motivational interviewing is used to help kids identify their intrinsic motivation and improve behavior.


Cognitive Science:
With Carrots&Cake, kids focus on learning without distractions. Through micro-learning, kids compound knowledge with small but consistent daily effort.


Carrots&Cake was developed in response to growing concern around screen time-related issues that families face. Kids aged 5-8 spend an average of three hours on devices daily.

Anxiety and depression in kids have increased, and self-confidence has decreased. Traditional parental controls fail to address the root of the problem. They set blind time time limits and trigger reactance, a negative behavior caused when children feel they don’t have agency. Kids become determined to engage in forbidden activities. they bypass restrictions and hack out of the controls. Kids suffer tantrums because allowances arent made for their developing brains and executive function control.


Carrots&Cake provides a healthy and balanced solution to the screen time dilemma. Kids benefit from technology, they utilize cutting-edge educational apps on the App Store, and they get to maintain their agency during fun free time. Parents using Carrots&Cake have reported their childrens’ time on learning apps tripled, while overall screen time was cut in half.


With Carrots&Cake, kids no longer spend mindless hours watching YouTube and playing Roblox and Minecraft. Screen time becomes healthy and balanced. Kids develop skills to become good digital citizens, and families can reclaim quality time.


For more insights, browse: carrotsandcake.com/faq
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