Chore Charts Galore!

Chore charts, behavior charts, reading thermometers, jars on the counter half full of colorful pom-poms awarded for “being nice”…. There is a special graveyard in our house where my lame attempts at “consistency” go to die!  The stickers are eventually donated to the art drawer, and the pom-poms have been commandeered and glued to countless works of art. I have a 100% success rate when it comes to failing at these “pinterest worthy” attempts!

My more organized and disciplined mom friends use these tools to their advantage.  In our house,  the kids secretly use them to confuse me and attempt to overthrow the powers that be.

When you have any more than ONE child, behavior  charts are like a bad story problem in math. It goes something like this...

Peter earns 1 pom-pom for helping clear the table.  However on his way to put the pom-pom in the jar, he shoves his sister out of the way, losing 1 pom-pom.  He falls to the floor flailing and kicking where he is threatened with losing all pom-poms forever.  At which point Luke chimes in to bring attention to his own excellent behavior, because he is sweeping the floor…pom-pom awarded. But, while sweeping he discovers that Natalie has thrown all of her chicken and broccoli under the table instead of eating them…pom-pom lost.  At some point I momentarily remember that I took 1 pom-pom away in the car for one of the kids using the word “poop” 761 times, thus cancelling out any recently earned pom-pom.  At this point, I think they have earned 3 pom-poms, and have lost 2,473….just pour the whole damn jar out and start again….never.

I’m not that good at simple math and it’s exhausting to waste half of your parenting brain-power counting colorful pom-poms purchased at the dollar store. 

I've given up on behavior charts, but am taking another shot at the chore chart.

This is NOT to say that our kids don’t do chores.  Oh they DO chores!  And they do them well.   But, I find myself saying, “What were your chores today?  Did you do them?”  And then they say things like, “How much allowance do you owe me?  You haven’t paid me since April.”  (Again with the simple math…geez give it a rest!)

With summer bearing down, I was forced to contemplate how best to achieve my plan of child labor implementing "everyone works, so everyone plays."   In my desperation, I did the unthinkable…I went on to Pinterest and searched “chore chart.”  I immediately ruled out all charts that involved popsicle sticks, painted clothes pins, burlap, old pallets, laminators, and anything requiring me to handwrite chores in beautiful chalk-board style art on a daily basis. That eliminated 99.9% of the ideas.   I ended up combining 2 ideas, and I settled on what's below.  This was my real inspiration.  I simplified a little because there was a bit too much spray paint, and mod podge involved.  I had to crank this baby out!

Here’s how I made the charts....

Chore Tokens:

• I bought flattened bottle caps ($3.50 for 50), and epoxy stickers ($5.50 for 50) from Annie Howes' Etsy Shop (both 1 inch)
• I used an online template from Avery for 1”circles.  Using MS Word I printed our chores onto card stock.
• I used my 1” circle punch to cut out the chores (in hindsight, you could easily buy 1” circle labels from any office supply store and save yourself a whole bunch of time.)
• I attached the chore to the bottle cap using these.
• Then I stuck an epoxy sticker on top.  These things are seriously cool!
• Put a magnet on the back and you’re ready to go.  I bought a strip of adhesive-backed magnet from Joann Fabrics. It looked like this, but it was smaller and only cost $.99.  It was in a basket below all of the hanging packets of magnets.  Don't spend $8.99 on magnets...that's just silly!

Chore Boards:

• I purchased 8”x12” metal shingles from Home Depot (right by the gutters) for $.95/each.  I had to trim them down a bit to fit the frame.  I trimmed them with an old pair of scissors.  It worked just fine...no need for steel cutters.  Be careful, the metal is SHARP!
• I used MS Word to design the "to do" and "done" and printed that on my card stock. If I was doing this again, I'd pick up some pretty patterned paper.  But, I had blue card stock on hand, so that's what I used.
• At this point, I got fancy, and used Mod Podge (a first for me)!  First,  I attached the metal shingle to the paper.  To do this, use a very thin layer of Mod Podge and smooth any air bubble out with a credit card. The paper will be 1/2 inch wider than the metal.  No worries, just center the metal shingle and don't worry about it!   Once that's dry (20 min or so) apply 2 layers of Mod Podge over the entire front of the paper. Letting it dry between layers. The Mod Podge gives you an overlay that will make the paper much more durable. 
• I removed the glass/plastic from the frames I purchased at Ikea ($1.99 each).  The paper fit in perfectly, and the charts were ready!  These frames were a great find because they are cheap and they are made for documents (8 1/2" x 11"). 

DONE!  FINISHED!  BRING ON THE CHORES! WHO'S EXCITED?!?!

We have 4 kids, age 2 yr to 9 yr, so the kind of chores they can do varies.  However, I strongly believe that kids can do much more than you think they can.  Our Natalie has been setting the table for dinner since she was 3 1/2.  It's not perfect, but it's done!

For some chores, I made multiple copies of the same job because I anticipated it being a 2-kid job, or  it's something I want all of them to do on the same day....like "Clean Bedroom" or "Read 20 min."  Here's a list of our chores so far.

• Dust Living Room
• Dust Dining Room
• Chef's Helper
• Kid's Bathroom (This is a quick clean up...use Clorox wipes to wipe down sink, toilet, rehang towel that has been thrown on the ground)
• Dirty Laundry Round Up
• Pick Up Outside Toys
• Dusting
• Vacuum Downstairs
• Vacuum Upstairs
• Empty Dishwasher
• Load Dishwasher
• Set Table (dinner)
• Clear Table (after dinner)
• Clean Bedroom
• Car Clean Out (get garbage out of car)
• Read Bible & Pray
• Water Plants
• Garbage Round Up
• Take Garbage Out
• Take Recycling Out
• Organize Shoe Bins
• Clean Play Room
• 20 Min. Reading
• Surprise Chore (insert evil laugh here...bwahahahahaha)
• Serve Your Neighbor (this is when we think of a way to serve someone in our neighborhood or community)
• Sabbath (No chores on Sunday)

 So there it is!  Our attempt at the chore chart.  I am hoping for big success!  I think you should make your own, and then send me a picture so I can see how you made it even better!