Have you heard of this thing called "Pinterest"? Oh...you have? Silly me. ;)
Anyway, the Mr. and I were trying to find a good chore checklist to help with our kids getting their chores done. We're terribly inconsistent about making them stick to their duties and there is so often a "it's not my kitchen night" battle happening, that we decided we needed something in writing.
And a little positive reinforcement.
Back to aforementioned Pinterest...I scoured Pinterest, trying to find just the right checklist...but they were all just...well, not right. Pretty, yes. Some organized by day, some by week, some by room, some by the phase the moon was in, or the correct alignment of the stars...but nothing that was quite what we were looking for.
So, I took it upon myself to create a little something that worked for our family. And this is what we came up with (for winter, anyway...summer will be different chores...like, no shoveling snow, for instance!), which seems to be working quite well for our large family:
I don't know about your kids, but our kids LOVE checklists. We've found that a checklist will not only help to keep our kids on track, ensuring that their assigned chores are getting done fully and completely, but it also gives them a sense of on-going accomplishment. How great is it to see the progress you're making, by being able to check items off a list?!
One of the problems I had with the "other" checklists on Pinterest is that they would say, "Kitchen" or "Bathroom" but not list out the actual chores that needed to be completed. It was important to us to list out what, exactly, we expect to be cleaned in those rooms.
And the icing on the cake? The carrot to keep them going? A weekly incentive drawing...ranging from $5 to a night free from kitchen duties to one-on-one time with mom and dad. The incentive keeps them going during the week and we've found them frequently talking about "what do you think this week's incentive will be?!". They now know that chores must be completed in a thorough and timely fashion to be included in the drawing.
The weekly chore day is more of a "suggestion" as the deadline for being included in the incentive drawing is Friday at 6pm. Chores MUST be done by then to be included.
What have you found works well to keep your kids on track with their chores?
Anyway, the Mr. and I were trying to find a good chore checklist to help with our kids getting their chores done. We're terribly inconsistent about making them stick to their duties and there is so often a "it's not my kitchen night" battle happening, that we decided we needed something in writing.
And a little positive reinforcement.
Back to aforementioned Pinterest...I scoured Pinterest, trying to find just the right checklist...but they were all just...well, not right. Pretty, yes. Some organized by day, some by week, some by room, some by the phase the moon was in, or the correct alignment of the stars...but nothing that was quite what we were looking for.
So, I took it upon myself to create a little something that worked for our family. And this is what we came up with (for winter, anyway...summer will be different chores...like, no shoveling snow, for instance!), which seems to be working quite well for our large family:
I don't know about your kids, but our kids LOVE checklists. We've found that a checklist will not only help to keep our kids on track, ensuring that their assigned chores are getting done fully and completely, but it also gives them a sense of on-going accomplishment. How great is it to see the progress you're making, by being able to check items off a list?!
One of the problems I had with the "other" checklists on Pinterest is that they would say, "Kitchen" or "Bathroom" but not list out the actual chores that needed to be completed. It was important to us to list out what, exactly, we expect to be cleaned in those rooms.
And the icing on the cake? The carrot to keep them going? A weekly incentive drawing...ranging from $5 to a night free from kitchen duties to one-on-one time with mom and dad. The incentive keeps them going during the week and we've found them frequently talking about "what do you think this week's incentive will be?!". They now know that chores must be completed in a thorough and timely fashion to be included in the drawing.
The weekly chore day is more of a "suggestion" as the deadline for being included in the incentive drawing is Friday at 6pm. Chores MUST be done by then to be included.
What have you found works well to keep your kids on track with their chores?
Genius
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