Print Your Own Chore Chart for Kids

If you've been following me lately then you know that I am busy organizing my family. Last week I redesigned our snack and lunch situation in the house. Now it's time for chores.

I ask my kids to help around the house all the time. They do most of the time, but we've never really put together a chore chart where they are responsible for specific tasks or domains within the home.

Teaching children at a young age to help around the house is the key to develop good habits in older kids. Not only does it develop responsibility, but it can foster self esteem as they start to take pride in their work and become masters in their jobs.

Source: The Happy Housewife

I knew I needed a chart for each of my children. I did not want to have one big chart for the family, but something for each of my 5 children - yes, even the almost 2 year old.

Here's what I was looking for in a chore chart system....
- I wanted them to be responsible for a specific room in the house (ie: bathroom, playroom)
- They had to be responsible for a daily chore (ie: garbage, laundry)
- I wanted there to be a separate spot for Shabbos.
- I wanted to incorporate the morning prep and afternoon rules (ie: get dressed, brush teeth)

I went perusing all over the internet for instant downloadable chore charts, but there wasn't anything out there that would cater to my families needs.

I ended up going to my favorite of all places ETSY. If you are unfamiliar with ETSY, it's a site that acts as a store front for artists and crafters to sell their original work to customers. I too have an ETSY store :)

I ended up finding The CreativiDee Workshop. She had exactly the look I was going for. The best thing was that I could print these charts directly from my own computer instantly!

I love this bedtime routine chart.
I have it hung up and framed in my children's bathroom. 

I also bought the Morning and Afternoon Routine Charts. I have them framed side by side in my hallway upstairs as a daily reminder for the kids to see what is expected of them.

Order it here!

I had Denise tweek the afternoon routine to fit my families needs.
Obviously we don't have a dog :) 

Then I saw the chore chart I wanted, but it didn't have what I needed. I asked Denise if she could create a chart specifically for my family.

The Inspiration.

Here's my original email query to Denise...

Hi!
Can do this custom order for me? I know this may seem like a strange request, but I think it will look great and will totally serve the purpose I need it for. I would need (5) 2 girl and 3 boys custom charts. I want it to look like your Daily School Routine, but I want to use it for chores for my kids.

Where it says Morning Checklist- I want it to say "Daily Chores"
Each box should have the letter of the week on top - M,T,W,TH,F
Where it says Daily Reminders - I want it to say "House Zones"
Each box should have the letter of the week on top - M,T,W,TH,F
Where it says Other -It should say "Tasks"
Saturday  - Should say "Shabbos"
Sunday - Should say "Behavior"

I would also like the boxes to be blank so I can put in my own chores for each of the children. Is it possible to create squares of images of chores that I can attach to fit into each square with velcro?

Within 48 hours I had my new chore charts for the kids. What I received from Denise was absolutely perfect!! 

I was so excited. I instantly downloaded the charts and printed them out on hard cardstock. I then took the pages to Staples and within 3 hours I had them back laminated. I put velcro on chart as well as behind each of the chore cards. 

I now have all of my kids charts hanging on a bulletin board in my kitchen.  I love that it's laminated because I can use white board markers to write down notes for each kid and then erase them for the new week. 

Purchase Here 

The last thing I needed was a reward system for my kids. I do not believe in paying children to do chores around the house. We pay a house keeper to clean the house, my children clean their home because they live in it and are responsible for it's maintenance, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't earn a reward for helping nicely and doing a good job. 

So I asked Denise to create a punch card to match the set of chore cards she made for me. There are 10 punches on the card and when they are finished with the card they get to pick a prize from our list of Chore Rewards.

I put together a list of some age appropriate chore rewards. I'm sure that some of these will be great ideas for your family! 

After instituting the chores in my home this past week I can tell you 2 major things. 

#1 You must be consistent with your kids. They have to know that this is their routine/job and they have to be responsible for it. 

#2 In the beginning it will be more your job then theirs. You must teach them how to be efficient in their chore. My 5 year old has learned to sweep. It took a couple times, but he now knows how to do it. It's not only a learning lesson for them, but a teaching moment for you. 

I am so lucky to have found Denise. She was such a pleasure to work with and my purchase with her was very budget friendly. Most of her instant downloads are just $5 and the custom charts were in the $25 range for all 5 of them. If you know how much graphic designers usually charge, then you know this was a really great deal! 

When I mentioned to Denise that I would be creating a blog post about my new chore system she graciously offered to give away $30 to her shop! You can use the money to make your own custom chore chart like mine, or you can use it on one of her instant downloads. All you have to do is enter below! I will be picking a winner at the end of the week :) 

Till next time!
Abbey 

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