Empowering Kids Through Personalized Chore Charts

I wanted something to set a clear routine, be consistent, easy to follow and see progress, and give them positive feedback for completing it.

We’ve never had chore charts before, but life has become more complicated as the kids have grown—so much to remember to do. They are such helpful kids who usually mind their things and do their best with fulfilling their responsibilities. Lately I’ve found myself reminding them about the same specific tasks daily, so I made these chore charts to save my sanity.

Make Life Easier

“What are the things I don’t want to have to remind them about again?” 😂 I thought I could get away with a little spreadsheet, but after researching chore systems (there are so many good ones out there!) I decided to just do my own. This one is laminated so it can be checked off with dry erase markers. It has daily and weekly tasks, illustrated with a card set I bought off Etsy. At the bottom is a space for us to negotiate their reward for a job well done. They can choose, and grow in self confidence as they accomplish what they set out to.

Family Chores, Too!

I created a separate chart for Saturday family chores, and included tasks that my youngest can comfortably do by himself. The tasks don’t take forever because my kids need an attainable goal and I want to be encouraging. The whole family cleaning together makes it better and easier for everyone! Kids can see the direct result of their hard work, everyone is doing their part and we can do tasks together so it can be a time of learning and bonding with great music or making a game of it, and we have a chance to finish at the same time and enjoy a family activity or something special afterwards. These are tasks that for me are “nice to have”, so that if we spend a weekend away or they don’t get done for some reason it’s not a big deal.

It’s also important to me that I never assign something that I wouldn’t do, myself. I will teach them how to wash dishes, clean a toilet, scrub the bathtub, mop floors, or do laundry, and eventually they will be able to do it by themselves well. For now I do not attach these more core chores to what I expect from their responsibilities because I want to make sure to teach them properly first.

There’s nothing Sunday for a day of rest. Some chores still need to be done such as pet care and help in the kitchen, but no one is assigned anything and we all just help with whatever needs to be done together. The hope is that since we cleaned really well on Saturday, we can enjoy our mostly clean home on Sunday.

How We Reward Our Kids

The kids can earn privileges by completing their Chore Chart. If all their chores are done, I don’t see why they can’t go outside, play with or visit friends, take a treat from their Halloween stash, have extra reading time, and on Fridays/Saturdays play video games or screen time. Later we’ll take them to their favorite restaurant, or something special and one-on-one or maybe a Big item that takes several months earning. I didn’t want to tie any chores to money because I like them being intrinsically motivated when it comes to picking up after themselves and taking care of our home / things. They can earn money in other ways, and we will teach them about money management, but not via these chores and cleaning.

What Did the Kids Think of Their Chore Charts?

The kids had input on their chore charts before they ever went to print. We reviewed the chores I had for them, revised wording as needed. They were enthusiastic about the this new system! L was even excited about helping me make dinner on Fridays so she can learn to cook and things don’t take as long for me with helping hands. They chose the colors and L helped me with making them a cohesive match. When I came back from the store where the charts were laminated, the kids all met me at the door and wanted to hold their charts. They tested out the dry erase feature and how they wanted to check things off (most decided on X’s), and F exclaimed before leaving for school, “I can’t wait to do chores!” 🤣 Wasn’t expecting that!