Saturday, September 25, 2010

New Color Coded Chore System

We are starting a new chore system in lieu of the chore list. I found this idea at http://suchtreasure.com/2008/05/08/chore-system-chore-cards/ .

Each child has their own color. Hannah is blue, Lauren is pink, Micah is green, and purple for general chores that are rotated between them. The top envelope is their chores for the day. The bottom envelope is their chores completed. When all are completed they are allowed to play Wii with daddy when he gets home. Then at the end of the week they recieve their allowance, which is divided into 10% savings, 10% church offering, 3% missions/outreach, 77% to spend how they wish.

Some of the reasons why I prefer this method instead of the chore list are:
  • No more writing out the chores each week.
  • Chores can be assigned as per the needs of our household on a daily basis.
  • Each child learns how to master all the tasks in helping to maintain our home.
  • It is a visual and hands on approach.
For your littlest one(s) who aren't reading yet, you can add pictures of their chores. I did this for my four year old son. He likes having his own belongings on the cards. With his pick up toys card, he said, "I see my dragon." There is no doubt for him what his chores are.
  • Hannah's Chores: Pick up toys and room, make bed, brush teeth, brush hair, get dressed, put laundry away
  • Lauren's Chores: Pick up toys and room, make bed, brush teeth brush hair, get dressed, put laundry away
  • Micah's Chores: Pick up toys and room, brush teeth, get dressed, make bed, empty trash cans, feed cat, put laundry away, 
  • Chores that are rotated: feed fish, sweep bathroom floors, clean bathroom sinks, vacuum upstairs, dust, help cook breakfast, set table-dinner, load morning dishes in dishwasher, water garden, load lunch dishes in dishwasher, help cook dinner, set table-breakfast, sweep back porch, tidy up toys in backyard, unload dishwasher-morning, clean litter box, mop bathroom floors, clean bathroom toilets, clean baseboards, wipe down school furniture, clean windows, vacuum window sills, wipe down doors.
Now the chores that are rotated are not done everyday, but on an as needed basis and we all share in the responsibility of completing them.
To make the pockets I used 3 5/8" x 6-1/2" envelopes and cut them in half.
For the chore cards I used 3" x 5" index cards.
I then laminated them all.

With us working as a team to maintain the house it gives us more free time to spend together doing the things we enjoy as a family.

We do workboxes for the 4 yr old and 7 yr old.  The first tag they have to flip over is chores.  I do this as a reminder to go back and make sure they completed everything in the to do pocket before they can begin their school assignments.

1 comment:

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.