A chore chart you'll actually keep
Most chore charts fade by week three because nobody looks at them. This one is short, picked together, and kept alive by ten minutes at the table every Sunday.
- Time
- 30 min
- Cost
- $0
- Ages
- 5 to 14
- Where
- Kitchen table
What you need
- A sheet of paper or poster board
- Markers and a ruler
- Stickers or a pen for checkmarks
- Tape or a fridge magnet
Before you start
- Strong cleaners stay with you. AAP says to store strong cleaners high, locked and out of sight. Younger kids clean with water and a cloth.
- Mowing has real age lines. AAP says 12 for a walk-behind power mower, 16 for a riding mower, and no kid passengers on riding mowers.
- Knives, the stove and ladders stay "with Dad" jobs until you've taught them and watched them do it.
Steps
- List what the house needs. List the house's weekly jobs and circle the ones a kid could own.
- Let them pick first. Show the list, say everyone helps, and let each kid pick two jobs first.
- Write what done looks like. Write a few words beside each job that say exactly what done looks like.
- Make the chart together. Draw a grid with jobs down the side and days across the top, then hang it up.
- Point to the chart, then stop talking. Say "Check the chart" once instead of reminding, and praise what you see done.
- Ten minutes every Sunday. Every Sunday, ask what went well, what was hard, and what to swap.
If it stalls
- If the chart is ignored by Wednesday, it's too long. Cut it to one job per kid and build back up.
- If they ask "What do I get?", decide your answer before the first review: allowance, stickers, or "it's part of living here." Then keep it the same for a month.
Jobs done this week · Sunday review held?
Signed off: can do this.Signed by Date