Hopefully this will be helpful tool for you too! I believe it will not only teach your kids how to be responsible in their own spaces, it will also help them be great contributors to your household.
Our Chore Chart system consists of both Daily Chores and Helper Chores. The Daily Chores are things that are their own personal responsibilities, while the Helper Chores are things that contribute to the household.
All five of the kids have the same Daily Chores/Tasks:
Our goal is to always have these daily tasks completed before we get started with school in the morning - but we certainly aren't perfect in this area. And that is A-okay!
In addition to the Daily Chores, the kids also are responsible to doing a Helper Chore. This chore is something that helps our whole house - not just the person doing the chore.
While I prefer these get done immediately after Daily Chores each morning, that too, does not always happen. I'm all for progress over perfection though, so sometimes these Helper Chores don't get done until late morning or early afternoon.
Each of these Helper Chores gets rotated through all of the kids - so they all get to help with each of these chores at some point.
Here are some ideas for "Helper Chores" (& the ones we use in our home)
As far as choosing Helper Chores for your kids, I would highly recommend something that actually helps you!
Here's the thing, your kids no matter how old they are, are super capable of helping in some way. Yes, of course your little may not clean the windows as well as you could, but they will eventually get there. And, honestly, any help you can get is good help!
So yes, while some chores are more age appropriate than others, you can still get your kids in the habit of helping around the house.
We have never been ones to wait to have our kids help until they are a "certain age". They are helping in some form or fashion as soon as they can - even little tiny ones can put their toys away! It's important to teach them to contribute while they are still young, so they are contributing when they get older.
Here are all the things that kids could help you with around the house:
I'm sure there are many more chores that I'm not thinking of. But like I said before, you've got to choose what works best for your kid's ages, but that is also helpful to you!
Feeling like 'This is great for my kids - but I need help getting my days organized!!'? Hustle over to check out How to Use Themed Days of the week to be more Productive!
Getting a chore chart system up and running is actually pretty easy - once you've decided the chores that your kids will help with. I love printables & there is no shortage of Printable Chore Charts available to you online.
While there are dozens, hundreds, or probably actually thousands of Printable Chore Charts out there, I would recommend getting a fully Editable + Printable Chore Chart - especially if you have multiple kids!
Editable Chore Charts (or other printables) give you the ability to change text, colors, and even position of some items on your printable!
This Chore Chart is one that my family uses (& loves!) because we can change the colors of the name + days of the week to suit each kiddos tastes. And it helps me quickly see whose chores are getting done and whose aren't!
The other thing that we do with these Editable Chore Charts that I think is a total must is laminating them! I love the ability to be able to customize the Printable to the way I want, and then laminate it so I don't need to print a new one each week! We put all of our clipboards in a cute basket in the kitchen so they are easy to see and easy to remember to deal with.
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Basically, it's a super shortlist of 3-5 tasks you will do EVERY.SINGLE.MORNING. that help you feel like your house isn't going to implode by 10 am. This is something I've been doing for several years now, as a mom to 5 kids (ages 8,8,10,13,15), that has helped me immensely on a day to day basis!!
Here's how I would, and did, look at what I needed on my Morning Cleaning List: Ask yourself what are the things that, if done daily, would help you to feel more at peace in your home.
I realize that this list could be daunting if you really wrote out all the things that would be nice to have done... so let's not think about having a perfectly clean house, even if that would be lovely!
Honestly, if you are able to accomplish all of those tasks in the morning, you'll already feel like you're ahead of the game. But, if you don't get to your easy morning cleaning routine, then you'll feel behind all.day.long!
Then, as you feel up to it, add in all those big extra cleaning tasks, like cleaning toilets, changing sheets, washing windows and what not!
Just click the picture below to find out more information on this awesome planner!
The reason you do this is kind of two-fold: first of all, how awesome is it to wake up every morning to clean dishes (& a clean counter/sink area)?? Right?!??
But secondly, it's so that work can be getting done while you are sleeping. You won't have to wait around to unload the dishwasher at some point throughout the day.
It's an under 10-minute task, so just get it over with - trust me on this!
You want to unload the dishwasher every morning so that throughout the day, you can be loading your dishes straight into the dishwasher once they are dirty.
The kids can get in on this too! Have them rinse their plates and load them for you.
That way at the end of the day, when you are getting the dishwasher to run at night (cause it's like having a magical kitchen fairy there to do your dishes while you sleep), it will only take a couple of minutes to get all the dishes in.
Remember I said these would be quick things. This may not even take you 10 minutes!!
After unloading your dishwasher in the morning, set that timer.
Setting a timer for just ten minutes can be incredibly motivating (for kids & adults!) to bust through a task.
If you do this every single day, it's probably going to get easier and easier, because every day, there will be less & less to clean up and put away.
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This right here is why it's saving me from letting the house fall apart. Knowing you only have to do something for a certain amount of time is a huge incentive to just do it.
It's easy to give more weight to a task than necessary. So sometimes you end up just not doing it at all!
By using a timer you will just get it over and move on with your day.
You will focus on the tasks at hand & likely get more done in that short amount of time than if you were trying to complete the task throughout the day. All the while trying to complete several other projects/tasks. You know how you know you've worked all day, but it feels like you didn't actually get anything done?
Well, it's because there is so much on your plate to do. If you are trying to do 15 things, versus focus on one at a time, you will continue to feel that way.
And that is a pretty deflating feeling!! Using a timer is a great way to get focused on specific tasks!
If you any ounce of being competitive, especially within yourself, or like a good challenge. Then using a timer becomes a game with yourself.
Meaning that every time you set your timer, you challenge yourself to get more done. Soon you will be able to breeze through tasks. And maybe even end up with some left overtime at the end to do something else, or call it good.
Either way, using a timer is a great motivator to get after it!
If you are using a timer on a weekly basis for chores, you will find that each week you get more done.
Those daily chores are a must and have really just become a part of my everyday rhythms and routines (mostly!).
So I don't feel the need to use a timer for those. But, there is, of course, so much more to get done when you have a full-size family and home. So I've made a list of 5 items that are my weekly chores.
Because I'm only going to give myself 30 minutes to work on these tasks. If they don't get done, oh well! They are more done in 30 minutes weekly than they would've been otherwise.
So I'm totally good with imperfection here.
The other thing is, sometimes I just don't get to it. No big deal, it'll come up again next week, so I don't stress about trying to "make it up".
You can think of the "extras" that you want to do weekly, or daily, and be using a timer for those items. But for reference, here's my list.
As I said, I don't always get to these things, but its way more than I would've otherwise. All because I'm using a timer. I've also found I am using a timer more when I wear my watch. It's right there on my wrist all the time, ready to go!
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Don’t judge me on this, but it seriously is one of the things that helps me the most to keep a clean kitchen! Most people’s struggle when getting their kitchen clean is getting the dishes done and out of the way.
What if you didn’t have all those dishes? How nice would it be to walk into your kitchen at dinner and not have to clean it before you cook?
You can use paper platesfor all the meals in your home each day. Or do what we do and just use them for breakfast and lunch. Either way, cleanup is quick. Then you can move on to more important things to do with your time instead of cleaning your kitchen.
This might seem a little crazy too, but it seriously helps keep the kitchen from getting overwhelmingly dirty.
Keep one set of dishes per person in the cabinet. So if you have 5 people in your family keep 5 Dinner Plates, 5 bowls, and 5 cups. Everyone will have what they need come dinner time (especially if you are using paper plates the rest of the meals).
You don’t have to completely get rid of the dishes that aren’t staying in the cabinet. If you like to entertain you can find some other, out of reach from the kitchen, place for them to live until you have company over.
Otherwise, if someone needs a plate, you know they are reaching into the cupboard to get it out versus quickly washing a dirty one. That is strategy #2 for keeping a clean kitchen.
As soon as dinner is over, even though vegging out would be way more fun, hop up and clean up that kitchen! If you’re employing strategies 1 & 2, this should be a breeze for you.
Load your dishwasher, if you have one, and set it to run overnight while you are asleep.
Now, I realize you can just start it right then. But it’s almost like you have cleaning fairies in your kitchen if you run it while you sleep. Plus, if some extra dishes need to get added at the last minute you aren’t half way through a cleaning cycle.
If you do not have a dishwasher, I would just use paper plates for all 3 meals!
This is a bit more of an involved strategy. Because you have to have a meal planned & already got your groceries, but it will absolutely help you keep a clean kitchen!
The thing that’s awesome about meal prepping is that it will definitely help you keep a clean kitchen. But it will also save you so much time on those busy weeknights!! And what mom doesn’t need help saving time and cleaning??!!
**Get your FREE Meal Planning Worksheets in the Resource Library Below!!**
There is something about having a clean kitchen plus having it smell nice that makes the whole home feel wonderfully clean! Find a candle or get yourself a diffuser & oils that you can use once the kitchen is cleaned up.
You will find it is so relaxing to have the kitchen done and be able to sit down & relax at the end of the day with your hubby + a nice smell going on in the background.