I have been on a desperate search this week to find a chore chart that will help us get into a better routine with the kids helping out with taking care of themselves and household responsibilities. They have been expected to do most of these things already, but it was becoming a battle to get it done.
Sometimes I am so afraid of adding another baby into our family because of the added responsibilities and I get overwhelmed. I had one of those moments yesterday morning.
I realized that life doesn’t have to be so stressful. Creating stress doesn’t help anyone out, especially not me.
Our children have such sweet hearts and they really want to help, but they often get distracted. It is part of my job as their Mommy to keep them on track, to gently lead them, and to set clear expectations for them that they can understand.
It is our goal to set our children up for success.
I just needed to find a way to do that.
Yesterday I wrote down all of the chores that the girls are responsible for and divided them up between the morning, afternoon, and night. Most of them are things that are teaching them to be responsible for taking care of themselves, such as getting dressed, brushing their hair and teeth. I also picked a few more age-appropriate chores for them to be responsible for each week. For now, the plan is to let the girls choose one of those chores to be responsible for. In the future I would like to increase that to two extra assigned chores a week.
I took those and put them on a chart in PDF format. You can click on the image or the link below to view and print it out for your own use if you would like.
I’m still working on my plan as far as motivation is concerned. For now, the girls are happy to get a sticker on the chart for completing each chore.
I think that I may give them a prize each week for accomplishing a certain number of chores. I’m not sure what my goal will be yet.
We’re working it with the stickers for now and some plans for extra motivation will be put in place next week.
If you have any thoughts on motivation and rewards I would LOVE to hear them!!!
I’d also love to hear your thoughts on the chore chart that I created. I’m working on a potty training chart for Will as he is making some progress in that area…Yay!
Shanna says
I LOVE these!! I am definitely going to use them too – I am using something similar I found online, but these are perfect for what I need and what the girls are capable of doing right now. THANKS!
We give the girls a small allowance for their chores, but Brad and I can’t agree on the amount, and he kept forgetting to bring it home each Friday from work. So last week, after several of weeks, he brought them $10 in quarters to split. We explained that is for a LOT of work!! They happily added it to their coin stash; their goal is a trip to Disney. I think it will be while….ha! Anyway, we plan to eventually agree on a small amount to give them each week, and they want to start putting something in the offering plate at church, so we will help them give out of their own money.
Kimberly @ Raising Olives says
I love the idea that the Maxwell’s share in Managers of their Chores about having a picture of each chore (just like you do) in a little clip on pocket that they clip to their clothing. As they do each task they put that picture into the back of the pocket and then work on the next thing. This helps them stay on track and lets them know what they are supposed to next. That would work in conjunction with what you already have.
For my little ones I even break down tasks into more simple steps. (pull sheet up on bed, pull blanket up on bed, put pillow on bed)
.-= Kimberly @ Raising Olives´s last blog ..4 Moms, 35 Kids – Our Schedule =-.
mandi@itscome2this says
That looks great!! What ages are your girls?? My oldest is just four, so I hadn’t thought about a chore chart yet, but he’s doing most of those things anyways. A chart might be a good thing for him to have & take some pride in. There’s power in stickers:)
LifeAtTheCircus says
This is great and I think I will give it a try. We made one on a wipe off board last fall for my son but I wasn’t great about following through on it. I love that your setting them up for success, not nagging. My almost 6 yr old and my 4 could and should be doing this. Thank you for sharing. I also love the few optional chores that you gave them. Sometimes my son will do things, so eager to help, and then I want to make them a chore, but it sometimes tends to take the joy of the task away.
.-= LifeAtTheCircus´s last blog ..Because I’m Crazy Like That =-.
Linda@cookingtipoftheday says
I know this sounds old fashioned.. and a lot of people don’t like giving allowances… but that’s exactly what I did… something small… enough for a small candy treat and a little left for the piggy bank… it teaches them to save… when they’re a bit older they can save to get you or their daddy and brother a birthday card… I remember when he gave up his candy treat for 3 weeks just to get me a birthday card… (I cried)… it was so sweet… and it meant so much to him and of course to me.
.-= Linda@cookingtipoftheday´s last blog ..Yana’s Fabulous Flourless Chocolate Cake =-.
Stephanie says
I love your chart! I wanted something like that, but didn’t know how to create it. I did find a dry-erase chore chart with magnetic stars at Target, and it seems to be working. Our girls ahve 10 opportunities to earn their stars each day. If they earn 7, including the toy clean-up star, they get $.50 each day. This is working for us because they have started to understand the concept of money, and saving for something you want. It would not have worked a year ago, but stickers sure did! I think your choise is very age appropriate. One thing we have on our chart that you do not, is clearing the table at breakfast, snack time and dinner. It took me a long time to be willing to let them handle the pottery dishes and glasses, but they are handling it like champs. We also offer opportunites to earn extra stars for doing things without us asking like folding a load of laundry instead of just putting thiers away, or emptying the dish washer (what they can reach) without us having to ask for help. That has been great! Not that it is a perfect system, or that it goes smoothly everyday, but we are getting there. So will you!
Jennifer Scruggs says
I am just now cleaning out my inbox– and somehow had missed reading this post! I love it!! We have the dry erase magnent board, but my kids were just taking off all the magnents to play with them. The first thing I thought when I saw your chart– was this lady was a SPED teacher. 🙂 It reminded me of all the worksheets I made when I was teaching HS Self-contained. 🙂 I LOVE some clip-art. :):):) I hope to start something like this once school is out— with one in school and one out, the morning stuff would be hard for me to be consisitent with right now. I am saving this and will be “stealing” it. 🙂 THANKS for sharing– and for bringing up a fun teaching memory. 🙂
Jennifer Batiste says
I love your chore worksheets…I am the proud mother of 8 children. Six of those 8 are boys and the other two are girls…I couldnt seem to find the right chore chart for each of my kids due to ages being so different…but then I saw yours and thought perfect..I can add what I need to and the rest is already done for me..Thanks so much..and Great idea!
Jennifer Batiste
aka..army wife with 8
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Freddy says
Hey! I know this is kinda off topic but I’d figured I’d ask.
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