Teaching kids responsibility requires a bit of application.
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Sutherland Shire father-of-two, Anthony Torr was concerned when his daughter, Charlie lost interest in her new pet hermit crab.
So he decided to develop an app to teach her how to care for her pet.
“We were living in unit in California in the United States so we couldn’t have a cat or a dog but I felt it would be good for my daughter, who was seven at the time, to have a pet to learn about ownership and responsibility,” Anthony said.
“So we got her a hermit crab but she gave up on it after four to five days.
“I felt there had to be a way to make pet ownership more exciting and enjoyable for her.
“In a digital world where kids live it is hard to get them motivated and involved in the real world.
“So I decided to make a connection between the digital world and the real world.”
Anthony, who has developed websites and apps over the years, decided to design the Krabooz Care App which creates an experience for children to educate themselves in pet ownership and car for their pet hermit crab through alerts and push applications.
“The app will notify kids several times a week that it is time to feed their pet hermit crab.
“If they compete the care alert to change their pet’s water, give them more food or change their substrate, they get rewarded with vertical shells.
‘’They can compete with kids in other countries and check how well they are performing on a global leader board.
“The app also sends a report to parents at the end of the week showing whether or not their child has completed the required number of care alerts to feed their their pet.
“Hermit crabs also need a heat mat in winter. The app provides a heat mat monitor.”
The app goes hand-in-hand with the Krabooz range of branded hermit crabs and associated accessories.
“We have created four different characters for the hermit crabs who are all part of a different tribe to make the experience of looking after a pet more engaging for the child.’’
Each tribe has a different educational tool to help children understand four key learning messages. Children complete an adoption certificate on purchase of their crabs and download all the necessary care information online.
“The main thing is to teach children responsibility and to understand how their behaviour and actions affect others,” Anthony said.
“Kids learn that all living things need more than just food and water for survival.”
The Krabooz app can be downloaded on Itunes or Google Plus.
