Chore Charts, the REMIX

It's the last day of January! Why does that matter? Because this year, I'm tentatively welcoming back a favorite New Year's goal of mine to create something every month (and share about it). I didn't do it for 2013, which I honestly think was a wise choice. What a busy year! Michael graduated, we moved, and we traveled to Russia (all in the same breath, it felt), and then we continued the move until we finally settled here in Arizona. And settling is something that usually happens over time. :)

Now to business! My kids needed a new chore chart. I pondered much over how to make it fun. And with much pondering, I really got nowhere until one night during my prayers the idea just *popped* into my head, fully formed. Here is the product:

As Ender completes the chore on each hot air balloon, it can "fly" to the neighboring city.

And as Scarlett completes her chores, her monkeys swing from the left tree to the right.

If you'd like to copy this one, I do have a suggestion...with laminating (I used tape, I'm tough like that), don't cut closely into the curl on the monkey tails. They DO tangle.

We even have a family chore chart. The reason I decided to do that is I wanted the kids to have daily chores but wanted certain chores to be shared and traded. The family chore "chartwheel" (haha! I just made that up right now, like cartwheel? Does no one else find that amusing? Anyone...?) can be changed as needed, but the kids are still expected to complete certain daily tasks. Their chores are even ALMOST interchangeable between morning and bedtime.

If you're wondering whether my kids like it, yes. They do. But as with any chores, I still have to step in and enforce responsibility. They get excited, though. Sometimes to get them started, I bribe them with the promise of a sticker once all their chores are done, but it's nice that they rush from one chore to the next without complaint.

Want to copy? Go for it. I'd love to see pictures of what you come up with! I even have some ideas for customization with this basic idea of moving chores along a string:

• VEHICLES: a train or plane moving across a map
• CLOTHES: pretty princess dresses or awesome crazy costumes moving from one person to another (or from a closet to a person--but you'd have to get crafty to make the pile-up of chores work). 
• ANIMALS: birds flying to a nest, kitties running to a ball of yarn, mice running to a hunk of cheese...anything, right? 
• FOOD: ingredients going into an oven (maybe this has turned into brainstorming, and you're getting all the debris my brain throws out there, but hey...it might strike up a newer, better idea for you), the parts of a sandwich coming together...
• PEOPLE: going to a party, a park, work, etc. Or superheros zooming around to save the day... :)

This was our old chore chart, made for Ender. He liked being able to choose the order in which he did his chores, and pictures were really helpful at the time so he'd know exactly what to do. That chore chart was very useful! But when it came time to finding something that would work for Scarlett, I knew I had to do something different. Scarlett still loves to rip things apart...she can be a fiery ball of destruction. 

If you have a different situation, though, the old chore chart is also very customizable. Instead of "boring" pockets, maybe they can be decorated like toy boxes or presents. Maybe the chores can be magnetized and displayed once finished, kind of the way an advent calendar works.

Basically, I think there is a need for motivation when it comes to chores...for parents AND kids. It can be fun or at least approachable, instead of a daunting checklist.

If you're at all interested, here's much of the work done for you. Right-click, save. These are .jpg versions.

Enjoy!