Chore Chart

I got the chore chart all up and ready to go today. The kids were pretty excited – at least for now. Hopefully this system will serve us well for at least a little while!

There were a few things we wanted with our chore chart.

  1. It needed to be postable in one location. That could be on each child’s door or somewhere local for everyone, but I wanted it to be something they couldn’t lose or destroy through the course of the week.
  2. It needed to be check-offable (yes, I just made up that word. That was fun!). That way they could have the satisfaction of indicating what they’ve done, and I could also see what they claim to have accomplished and what is left to be done.
  3. It needed to be easily maintained. I didn’t want to have to rewrite it every week simply because I know that I won’t keep up with it. Think what you may of me, but that’s just me, sadly enough.

We tossed a lot of ideas around in our minds, tried to solve the problems with each one, but then managed to come back and figure out how to do the original idea: magnets. I love magnets! And, this is such a fun, flexible, and easy way to keep track of everything!

We already had all of the materials we needed for this magnetic project.

  • We used the side of the freezer as our magnetic board, primarily so as to not take our whiteboard out of commission. I drew a grid on the side of the freezer to organize the magnets (yes, I permanently marked on my 10+ year old chore chart 2freezer! Another fun moment in my morning!).
  • We had two sets of little magnetic pie wedges labeled with the days of the week. We just took them out of their pie shape and gave each one a spot in the grid. I put one set at the top and then another set right above Steven’s chores to help him keep track of the days a little easier since his chores are all the way on the bottom.
  • We also already had printable magnetic sheets. I’ve been dying to use them to create my own magnets, but I just hadn’t come up with a fun magnet usage…until now. (A package of three sheets is around $5, I think. I used two full sheets for this project.)

First, Doug and I sat down and delineated what chores needed to be done. Then we divided them among the family members and determined which chores needed to be done which days. The awesome thing about this system, though, is that we can change up a day here or there as needed simply by moving a magnet. I love it!

Next, Doug found a free online chore chart. He entered all of the chores into the online chart so as to be able to print a weekly PDF of each family member’s chores. (We have our printed PDF stuck to the fridge so we can know what we’re supposed to do every day, too! We do have a few chores that alternate for a two-week rotation, so the online chore chart is a tremendous help!

Then, using the information Doug organized online, I created a table on the computer and filled each rectangle of the table with a chore. The kids are supposed to clean their bedrooms every evening, so I made 21 “clean bedroom” rectangles, one for each child for each day. I gave each child a personal font and color so they could see at a glance which chores are theirs.

Finally, I printed out the magnet pages, cut out the individual rectangles, and arranged them in place on the freezer grid.

chore chart 1

Each child has a section of the grid with their name in the middle – just in case they didn’t recognize their chores by the chosen colors! Above their names are the morning chores. Below their names are the afternoon/evening chores. Then there is a “Done” column on the far right-hand side of the freezer where they can put the magnets once they have completed each chore. Then, Saturday night or Sunday morning Doug and I will come in and reset the magnets for the upcoming week.

Here’s hoping this works for our family! It really was pretty easy to set up. It took a little time, but not as much as either of us expected. And, it looks kind of neat there on the side of the freezer! That’s my favorite part!

Comments

Choate Family said…
I would have to get a bigger fridge! Very cute idea :-)

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