Chore Chart

My kids don't do well when they are presented with a list of chores to check off. Let me rephrase that: DANIEL doesn't do well when anyone is given a list to check off. He systematically checks off everything on the list as soon as he sees it, which drives Sarah insane. She happens to LOVE lists, in fact she even asks me to write lists of things for her to do. It really ruins her day when Daniel crosses off her chores before she can do them.

I've seen several ideas on organizing chores for children, but they all had problems in my book. I needed pictures of chores instead of words, and I needed something hands-on for Daniel so he was kinetically involved.


Here is my own solution:

(Okay, tilt your head to the left...the file refused to be flipped)

First I laminated a poster board. I picked one at the teacher supply store that was bright and colorful. I laminated it so (hopefully) it will last more than one year without getting ripped. Next I taped library envelopes onto the poster board. Each child has a different color. There is an envelope holding the 'To-Do' cards and an envelope to hold the cards of finished chores. There is also an envelope holding the cards of weekly chores, such as scrubbing the bathroom, doing laundry, and mopping.

The chores are on little squares of card stock. I had purchased these a few years ago with a book called 'Choreganizers'. It has a picture of the chore on one side, and the back side lists the steps required to complete the chore. I ended up drawing additional cards to customize my list. I drew them on card stock, Sarah colored them, and I 'laminated' them with packing tape. 


You really could make the entire set yourself, rather than buy the cards.

Each child has a list of daily chores they are expected to do before they can play on the computer or watch television.

These chores include:

Make your bed
Daily grooming- teeth, clean clothing, hair brushed
Tidy bedroom
Read scriptures 15 minutes
Home school workbooks for 30 minutes
Perform a Kind Deed of your choice
Put away the clean dishes

The children really enjoy sorting their cards each morning and deciding what to do first. They surprised me twice this week by waking me up by creeping into my room and asking with anticipation, "Mom, is it too early for us to start working on our chore chart? It's not? Let's go!"

For me, that's a true sign of a winning system. The Pros: It's cheap to make, it's easy to organize, switching chores or adding chores is simple to do, it's child-friendly in format.