Thursday, August 13, 2009

Chore Chart

As I mentioned, the chore chart idea came from an organizational magazine I saw at my mom's house. It didn't really say how to make it - so this is what I came up with!

The background of the chart is simply one piece of heavy weight 12 x 12 scrapbook paper.

To make the pockets:

* Cut 3.75 x 5 inch pieces of scrapbook paper. I used four pieces, to make four pockets.


* Cut a slit at the two lower corners of your paper.


* Fold the bottom edge up and crease.


* Cut side edges to meet the diagonal edge of the folded up edge.


* Fold side edges over to create the pocket:


* Lay pockets out on your paper to decide where you want them.


* Use a glue stick, double stick tape or whatever you have to attach the
edges of the pockets to your background paper.


* Use scrapbook letters to spell your children's names if you choose to.

* Then, mount your chore chart on the wall or side of your fridge.

I put a lot of thought into the chores as well. Here is a list of what I ended up deciding on:

* Wash entry window
* Put laundry away (I made two of these)
* Wash front of stove, fridge and dishwasher
* Help wash car
* Help wash dishes
* Give Katie (our dog) food and water
* Clean toilet
* Put mail out
* Empty trash
* Sweep
* Help start laundry
* Wash cabinets
* Water plants
* Mop
* Wipe sink
* Pick up sticks
* Help in garden
* Wipe off table
* Set table for breakfast
* Help fix dinner
* Wash doorknobs
* Set table
* Dust

I printed out pictures from Microsoft Word that matched the above chores. I cut the pictures out and had them laminated. Then, I hot glued the cards to brightly colored popsicle sticks.

An empty sidewalk chalk container was transformed into a cute chore stick holder!

I also made two happy face cards and these go in their charts when they complete all their chores and they have been so excited to work on their chores to get the happy face on their chart!

Did I forget anything? Enjoy making your own chore charts!

12 comments:

Bonnie said...

And I have to go to Joanne Fabrics tomorrow. This post couldn't have come at a better time!

Unknown said...

How cute, Monica! I am still in the process of re-vamping everything for homeschool, chores, & fall schedule...this might be just the thing I need to do for their chores! Thanks for pass on this wonderful idea!

So, you found photos online of the various chores? Or you took actual photos of the chores in your home and printed them off?

Thanks for the info about Family Night!!! Now I've got lots of ideas!

Thanks a million! Have a great day!

Amy

Anonymous said...

so cute! way to make chores fun! :-)

~eunice

RT said...

Thanks for sharing your good ideas! I want to make a similar looking chore chart--this is a great start.

Kristin said...

Hi Monica!

Thanks for the chore ideas! I'm wondering how you handle all those chores? Do you swap out the chores that go in the chart each week? When they do it, do they pull the chore stick from the chart and put in the bucket? Do you split them up between the girls, or do they both do all of those? Just wondering how you execute the process also! I'm getting something together too, an am curious as to the carrying out of the process!

Thanks! Cute charts!
Kristin

angie said...

I think most kids are more visual learners than auditory, so I think this will be very effective. Besides, as moms, it is less annoying to simply say "check your chore chart" (tongue twister!) rather than reminding them of each chore 55 times! Since my children are both readers now, I have used a great chore chart from simplemom. It has been so effective this summer.
It is wonderful that you are teaching your littles at such an early age to help with the family's chores.

Jennie Shutt said...

Very nicely made and I like how creatively you used what you had instead of buying new. I like that it is all reusable so you don't have to keep buying stickers or printing out calendars like most chore systems.

Debbie Fisher (debbiedee) said...

What a wonderful idea and a way to have the kids have FUN with chores. Ü

Jake said...

I've been working really hard over the past few months on a website called called PowrHouse (http://powrhouse.net/). If your kids are old enough to read and use e-mail, I think your whole family will really like it.

It's currently in beta, but it works well (we're using it in our household). You add everyone you live with (kids, spouses, roommates, etc.), add your chores (names and how often they should be done), and PowrHouse keeps track of whose turn it is to do each chore (and sends email reminders every night, with links to click to signal that you've done the chores).

If you do end up using it, please contact me (my info is on the site) and let me know what you think, as I'm trying to make it as useful to as many types of households as possible. If not, thanks at least for reading this far :)

Lynette said...

Thanks for posting! I am going to be making this!

Unknown said...

I came to you by way of Tip Junkie. What an awesome idea!! I think my girls would love something like that. :)

Anonymous said...

Wonderful idea!