Moms of the world, we cannot do it all on our own. I mean, you can try, but it’s likely that you’ll burn out and all the wine and lavender in the world can’t help with that. Life is so crazy with work, school, cooking, fitness, extra curriculars, and so on… that keeping a tidy home is impossible without help.

So in comes the Chore Chart: An organized and efficient way of getting your children to help you with the housework. (And because let’s face it… they make most of the mess.) It’s much easier and organized to have something for the kids to refer to (instead of YOU every 15 minutes) when they need direction in terms of chores. Not only is it a good visual (kids LOVE visuals!) of what needs to be done, but it sets expectations, establishes a goal and presents an incentive or reward.

Sounds great, but where to start? Pinterest. (Follow me here!) Actually, that should be your answer to almost everything diy and/or crafty. What a resource! Seriously… a lot of you Creatives out there are awesome! Through Pinterest, I was able to take a few of the different wonderful ideas I found and molded them into a system that works best for me and my kids. Here’s how it turned out:

How to Make a Chore Chart that Works

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What You Will Need

(most of these can be purchased at the Dollar Store or via the affiliate links below):

• Scrapbook Paper
• Clothespins
• Glue stick
• Scissors
• Double sided tape or Glue Runner
• Regular tape
• 2-3 Sheet Protectors
• Dry Erase Markers
• 1 small clipboard
• Command Hooks

What to Do:

Background: Cut the scrapbook paper to a size that fits onto your clipboard. Then create a simple 2 column table in Word with the child’s name, days and check boxes. Print, cut, and glue the table onto the scrapbook paper and place into the sheet protector. Cut to size and tape closed.

Clothespins: For the clothes pins, I simply looked up pictures online, used my own photos (my kids enjoyed these the most) or found free printables (through Pinterest) for Chore Charts. I printed, cut, and taped the pictures onto the clothespins and wrote “done” on the opposite side of the clothespin.

Clipboards: Get some small clipboards (try the link above for a recommendation that comes with a pen attachment). Attach the backgrounds to the clipboards. Of the three clipboards, the first is just for all the chores. I like to rotate the chores for the kids so as to avoid them getting bored and they learn new chores as we go. Also, not all the chores need to be done daily, so it becomes a good place to store the extra pins. I attached our charts/clipboards to the side of the fridge (a visible location in a room we most frequent) with some Command hooks. Bam! Done.

Daily: I “reset” each board at night and every morning, the kids check their charts for the tasks of the day. Once they complete a chore/task, they simply flip it over to the “done” side. No more lally-gagging in the morning- they know what needs to be done before school and I don’t have to go down the list of what they need to do before they go. It really does make things easier. After school, they need to refer to the chore chart and get their chores done. No electronics until all the chores on the chart are done.

Every Night: What a sense of accomplishment for them! (And stress-less system for YOU!) They really love completing the chart. Each day, I check to see what was completed, and if everything was completed, I put a check mark in the box next to that day. I use a dry erase marker for this so that it’s easy to clean up at the end of the week (hence the need for the sheet protectors and pen holder on the clipboards).

Rewards: As far as rewards- I gave the children the option to get paid cash at the end of the week for the days completed OR they can choose the “mystery” gift. The “mystery” gifts are items that I find at the Dollar Store or dollar section at Target that I know they would like.

Both of my chore-aged children seem to be really motivated by this and it helps to keep things running smoothly in our home. It makes my life a lot easier, too!

For more ways to make your life easier, check out my posts How to Simplify Your Morning with a Clothes Cart and Swapping Toys for Sanity.

Do you have a system? What kinds of charts or systems do you use to get your children to do their chores?

Pam

Pamela is a Freelance Writer, Blogger, WAHM of 3, and Veteran Military Wife living in Southwest Texas. Raised in the Northeast and having lived a few years in the Pacific Northwest, she likes to write about mom life, parenting, frugal living, experiences, and WINE. (Lots of wine!) When she’s not busy chasing toddlers around, you can find her on the blog or on social media. Check her out on Instagram: instagram.com/wineandlavender