With summer quickly approaching, I am starting to anticipate all of the down time we have and the incessant cries from my young cherubs that THEY ARE BORED! Oh no, sweet one, oh no…Mommy has lots of things for you to do, don’t you fret. It’s this lovely thing called chores!!!
I’ve been somewhat lenient on them this past school year. Partly because we got into bad habits of not enforcing enough chores and partly because we were so busy with sports, Girl Scouts, and other extra curriculars that I cut them some slack. That’s going to change now because I am tired of wiping toothpaste out of sinks when someone forgets for the 1000th time to rinse it out. I’m tired of picking up dirty laundry up everywhere in the house except in the hamper. I’m tired of unloading the dishwasher 2x a day. I’m tired of cleaning out the car, and could literally pack a lunch with all of the leftover snacks I find in there. Yes, I’m tired.
I had to get these kids helping out more around the house, but I needed to make it fun, so I decided to make chore charts!
Chore charts are nothing new, but my kids love anything they can track, and with these charts they can see their progress throughout the week. Here are 2 easy steps for creating your own cute chore chart.
#1. Grab some old picture frames
I had 3 old picture frames in my basement and I gave them a fresh coat of paint. You could also find some at the Goodwill for a couple of dollars and paint them as well.
It took about 3 coats and I used the leftover paint from my Vanity Stool project.
#2. Use Printable Chore Charts
I found these printable chore charts on I Should Be Mopping The Floor blog. She has tons of cute printables and I just wasn’t in the mood to make something from scratch. This looks so much more polished too!
I printed this one out for Grant and found two other cute ones for the girls. I placed the charts in the frames with some card stock for a border.
Here’s the finished product…
I write the chores down with dry erase marker, which means I can change things up whenever I want…like adding extra chores if needed, lol! And, I’m not constantly changing out the paper chore chart. Just wipe clean and start over!
I will tell you this….as soon as I finished this project, Grant ran and did his laundry. For him, that means folding and putting it away. He even taught Quinne (6 yr. old) how to fold and put her clothes away! Score!
My kids would never admit that they crave routine and structure, but when we have lots of down time with no clear schedule, they start to meltdown. Having a few tasks laid out for the day that need to be accomplished by a set time helps add a bit of routine to our day.
Who knows when the “newness” of this chart will wear off and when I’ll have to start reminding them to do their chores. However, I’ll bask in today’s success that at least one of my kids happily did their chores and was excited to check it off in the box!
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