It’s officially Back to School time. Moms everywhere are taking a deep breath and resolving to be more organized and teach their kids to be responsible.
How do I know this?
The number of people finding me by searching for “Kids Chore Charts” or “Daily Checklist for Kids” has at least quadrupled.
So, since I’m working on my “Get Started!” tab anyway, I thought I’d make a printable version of the chore chart we use.
Like I said in last week’s post about the printable version of my own Daily Checklist, I’m not one to give advice. This is just what has worked for us. As a scatter-brained mama who only remembers to remind the kids to pick up toys and feed the dog . . . after they’re already asleep . . . I needed something that would motivate them to remember on their own.
My totally un-fancy chart includes 6 chores/tasks/whatever-you-want-to-call-them. I chose these 6 because they are the basic things I want my kids to do, but that they weren’t doing consistently pre-chart. Like myself, they need to develop habits. These things aren’t big jobs, just things that need to be done daily . . . that weren’t being done daily.
Your chore chart may look completely different. If your kids already automatically take their dishes to the sink after meals . . . there’s no reason to start paying them to do that. I’m embarrassed to say that we’ve added teeth-brushing to our chart. Although I personally am a fanatical multiple-times-a-day brusher, I sometimes forget to remind my kids to brush theirs before bed. I choose not to view this chart as a list of my parental-failings, but as a way to compensate for my slob-brain.

I explained our allowance/commission/reward/payment/whatever-term-is-least-offensive-to-you system when I originally posted about the chart, but I’ll briefly re-tell how we do it. The kids earn 10 cents per chore, but I have no interest in rewarding them with random dimes whenever they feel like brushing their teeth. My goal is consistency. So, they have to reach 1.00 to hit payout. At the end of the week, I count the number of boxes that are initialed, and for every 10, they get 1.00. If they have 27, they get 2.00, and I cross off 20 of the boxes. The other 7 go onto the next week’s total.
Make sense?
And just a note about readiness/age-appropriateness. When I first made the charts last spring, I only made them for my 6 & 8 year old boys. My just-turned-four daughter wasn’t ready. She did some of the things the boys did, but the money didn’t motivate her at all.
Yesterday, that all changed. She saw a Barbie Holiday Doll at Walmart, and was devastated that she couldn’t have it. (How in the world has she not accepted after 4 years that her mother does not buy random twenty-dollar toys?) After I explained (calmly and with no irritation whatsoever in my voice) that I was not going to buy it, she asked very specifically if SHE could have a chore chart so she could save enough money for that Barbie. She even came up with the idea that one of her jobs should be to change our dog’s water during the day, since the boys take care of her at night.
Out of nowhere, she was ready. And today, she has done all of her tasks with great energy. I’m sure the excitement will fizzle, but now that I know she is ready, it’ll be my job to work on the consistency part.
They truly do grow up in an instant.
Click here to see the printable version of my kids’ Daily Checklist.
Oh boy, I can sooo relate to your blog. You have no idea LOL. I'm reading a book right now called Sidetracked Home Executives, and I'm hoping it will change my life.
i actually have a note on my bar area that says "do you belong here?" to keep clutter from piling up!
No lie.
I'm your newest follower, I'd love if you would come check out my blog! I'm kind of doing a series on my slobbiness based on that book.
http://www.familyfriendlyfrugality.com/
Welcome Heather! I read that book summer before last, just before starting this blog. It's definitely inspiring, but I skipped over the part about how to actually change because it overwhelmed me!
Great post, I just started a chore chart for my daughter this week. I'm wondering now why I didn't start it sooner…mostly because I'm lazy 🙂
Hi Nony,
No, I'm your newest follower; sorry Heather LOL. My husband is naturally more of a slob than me, especially when we first met and now I'm maybe ;-D a bigger slob than him (he reckons that he's super tidy at work…he's a scientist and works in a lab LOL.) I live in Australia and I'm expecting our ninth child and found you from Kelly's Crawfords blog. I think deep down I know what needs to be done and sometimes it happens for a while but alas I'm inconsistent to say the least and that's putting it mildly. You're not alone on the teeth brushing business, I could've writen that myself 🙁 Today we actually did some bookwork, well not all of us. I often feel overwhelmed, it's not so bad as it used to be as my husband now works part-time, so that helps. We're all sick at the moment and if you saw my house you'd know why. I was a neat freak when I lived at home with my parents and my job was to vacuumme (sp?) and polish the house (all three levels of it.) So like you I know how to clean and I love cleanliness, BUT I think my biggest downfall is correcting my children's behaviour in a timely manner or at all 🙁 It's laziness, I think. I loved your chore chart/reward idea. I always want to way over-compensate my children (probably just as guilty as Eli…putting my children above God…very serious.) I'm beginning again to work on it, so I'm so very happy to have found your blog. So that completes my self-alloted amount of blogs for Hayley (me) at three..so I don't ignore my family. Thank you for such a candid blog and for being courageous.
Hi- I guess now IM your newest fan:) My kids and I were just cracking up watching your webisode. I really believe(d) that I have an organizational disability. It’s so hard to keep track of…. stuff. And all the annoyingly naturally organized friends and professionals who’ve tried to help me so far can’t relate to my inherent slobness and housekeeping-challengedness. So I’m looking fwd to learning from someone who “gets it” and will also make me laugh. Thanks for sharing your journey!
I’ve had that “do I have a disability” thought MANY times!
Welcome!
Hi my name is Jenna and I’m a mother of a 7 1/2 year old boy and a 5 1/2 year old girl. It’s so hard for me to get them to do chores. I’ve made so many check lists and none of them seem to work. I like how you do the ¢.10 a chore thing. So I’m g gonna try out that printable and see how it works. Wish me luck.
But but but the chart has to be fancy with the right font and pictures. That’s why I haven’t completed ours yet. I need to list 20 things and doll it up. We’ve been perfecting it for 5 months at least.
Thank you for the kick in the backside. I just need to do it simply and print it already!!
That is so much work to remember and do that chart every week. I’m so way impressed!
My kids are teenagers. I tell them a few things to do each day by text and what time it needs to be done by. This is working great for us. We are going on a year! So much less whining and complaining. And the kids are behaving better, too! 😉