Questions, answered plainly

Playnook is a mobile app for parents of special needs children ages 2 to 12. It suggests simple at-home activities using everyday items, lets you log how long your child stays engaged in a few seconds, and gently blends avoided activities into loved ones so tolerance grows. You bring the play, Playnook brings the memory. It was built by a special needs parent, and the parent is always the user, never the child.

No. Playnook works from what your child loves and avoids, not from a label. It fits kids with autism, ADHD, sensory differences, speech delay, or no diagnosis at all. Diagnosis info is optional, always. If you choose to add it, it only tunes suggestions, is never required, and is never shared with anyone.

No. Playnook is for you, the parent. The activities themselves are screen-free, real-world play with cups, rice, pillows, and puddles. Your child never needs to see a screen. You glance at your phone twice, once to start the timer and once to stop it, and the rest of the time your hands and eyes are with your child.

Playnook is designed for children ages 2 to 12. You pick an age band during setup, and every activity, plan, and suggestion adjusts to it. As your child grows, change the band and the plan grows with them.

A blend wraps an activity your child avoids inside one they love, in small doses. Drawing at the table lasts 2 minutes, but bath crayons during water play last 8. Playnook suggests blends automatically, tracks each attempt, and shows you the trend line rising, so you know it is working. When the avoided activity grows strong inside the loved one, you try it on its own again. More on how it works.

No, and we say this plainly. Playnook is an activity planning and observation tool for parents. It does not diagnose or treat anything, and it never replaces professional care or your own judgment. What it does is help you see clearly what engages your child, and that picture makes every conversation with your child's care team more useful.

Yes. One tap creates a clean, one-page summary: weekly engaged minutes, preference bands, and blend progress, in plain words with no jargon. You choose exactly when and with whom to share it. Nothing is ever sent without your tap. Many families bring it to appointments so the session starts from real observations instead of memory.

About five seconds. Tap start when play begins, tap stop when it ends, pick one of four faces for how it went. A note or photo is optional, and skipping them is completely fine. If you can start a timer, you can use Playnook.

Playnook is free to start, with a core activity set and full engagement logging. Premium unlocks the full 200-activity library, unlimited blends, weekly auto plans, shareable reports, and multiple children, for $6.99 per month or $49.99 per year. Every Premium plan starts with a 14-day free trial, and no card is needed to begin.

A nickname is enough, we never require your child's real name. Photos stay on your phone by default and are never uploaded unless you turn that setting off. You can export or delete everything at any time. No ads, ever, and your data is never sold. Full details are in our privacy policy.

Log it with one tap, no guilt attached. A refusal is information, never a failure. Playnook rests the activity, adjusts tomorrow's plan, and often suggests a blend to reintroduce it gently inside something your child already loves, when the time is right.

Just what your home already holds: plastic cups, dry rice, clothespins, cotton balls, pillows, playdough, a laundry basket, a cardboard box. No kits, no printers, no shopping lists. If a plan ever calls for something you do not have, swap the activity with one tap. Browse the free activity guides to see the style.