Working4 vs First & Then

Working4™ makes motivation clear, visual, and encouraging. Working4™ is a simple visual tool that helps children and learners understand what they’re working toward, how much effort is needed, and how close they are to reaching their goal. By making expectations clear and progress easy to see, the app supports positive routines and joyful engagement throughout the day. Families and educators can use Working4™ for learning activities at school, chores at home, building independence, or everyday moments like mealtime and transitions. Choose the number of tokens needed (1–5), create a personalized choice board using built-in symbols or your own photos, and let the learner select what they’d like to work toward. As tokens are earned, progress is shown visually—making success feel concrete and motivating. When the goal is reached, learners can “cash in” and celebrate their accomplishment, then reset the board or choose a new goal to begin again. Designed to be flexible, intuitive, and supportive, Working4™ helps learners of all abilities stay engaged, feel successful, and build confidence—one step at a time.

Designed by an Occupational Therapist. First & Then is a very simple app that uses a board with photos to show that one activity must happen before the next can occur. A fantastic tool for visual learners! The idea behind a First & Then board is to encourage a child to complete an activity that they don’t particularly enjoy. The board motivates the child to engage in a less preferred activity, knowing that a preferred activity (or a reward) will follow. For example, the ‘first’ activity may be something such as handwriting, homework, eating vegetables, using the toilet or visiting the dentist. The ‘then’ activity may be playing outside, computer time or a chocolate treat. The App is extremely simple to use, the board is set up from one page, with clear prompts to help along the way. The app allows the user to quickly and simply insert photos from the device’s camera or photo library, meaning that ‘First & Then’ boards can be made on-the-go and with little fuss. Photos taken are saved within the App to use again and again. The app includes a coloured visual timer, that the user can choose to use, to show the child how long they need to spend on an activity. As well as a digital display, the time is also represented by a coloured pie chart. When the pie is green, the child needs to keep going. When the pie turns amber, the child needs to get ready to finish. The pie turns red when it is time to stop the activity. The app also includes a ‘Finished box’. The child can drag the photo into this box when the activity is completed. The App is complete with the option to use exciting tones to reward the child for completing the activity.