Use chore charts to teach kids organization

by Jen (April 19, 2008)

Chore charts are a great way to keep kids organized and teach them how to build good habits. The one in the picture comes from Chart Jungle, which is a great source for printable charts of all sorts, including a blank version of this one.

Seeing all the days chores laid out visually makes it easier for kids to remember what they need to get done. It’s like a game of bingo - they know it’s not over until they’ve filled all the squares. To make it interesting for younger kids, you can use gold stars or heart or smiley stickers instead of a boring check mark.

For slightly older kids, Chart Jungle also offers Chart Bucks. These are printable coupons kids can earn and “spend” on rewards from you. If you aren’t sure you want to pay kids for doing chores, or you’re concerned they need to learn the value of money while they’re at it, this is an alternative that teaches them the concept of working for money but enables you to reward them with gifts or events you choose. You might even want to redeem some of their chore bucks as cash that you put into their college savings account so that as the years go by, you can tell them how much they contributed to their own education - an expense they’ll be able to appreciate by the time they’re ready for college.

There’s also a Point System Chore Chart which is more similar to earning grades at school. If you want to make sure your child understands the concept of doing class assignments and passing tests in order to make good grades, this is a good way to go.

For organizing the whole household and making sure everyone does their part, you can print a chart for each room, put it in a plastic sheet protector and hang it up on a door or wall with a dry erase marker attached. Everyone checks off chores as they do them each week, then you wipe off the checks at the beginning of the next week and start fresh. You can have them initial rather than check off if the kids are complaining that they don’t all do equal work (or for that matter, if one of the parents feels they’re pulling all the weight). This teaches kids the concept of working for the good of the whole family instead of just themselves, and also reinforces the idea that doing a little bit of maintenance frequently prevents the need to do big miserable jobs later.

For more ideas on how to get kids doing their chores:

• Scrape dishes before you wash - one of those tricks where everyone takes about 10 seconds to do something that saves the person who washes dishes a whole lot of time.
• Avoid arguments about who has the most chores with an Impartial fair chore list, generated online
• Before you tell kids “Do these chores, and I’ll give you this allowance”, read How to give kids an allowance, which discusses the problem of kids learning to barter (”Okay, keep your money, I’m not doing the chore”) instead of learning the values of work and money, and how to avoid that happening.
  

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