How to Teach Children Responsibility with Chores {FREE Templates}
Galatians 6:4-5 – each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.
We see chores as a contribution to the whole family. We all live together in this home and should rightfully help to keep this house clean. We have chosen not give allowances for chores in our home, but that in no way means that anyone else should not. We have tried them before, but it doesn’t really seem like the best incentive for us. This Chore System can be used with or without an allowance. We reward our children based on their level of responsibility in doing their chores completely and with minimal reminders and corrections. I do not expect perfection, but that does not mean that I don’t ask for completeness and thoroughness in their chores.
First, let’s define Contribute: to give a share to or participate in; to bring together or unite, collect.
and Responsibility:
- Liable to be required to give account, as of one’s actions or of the discharge of a duty or trust.
- Involving personal accountability or ability to act without guidance or superior authority: a responsible position within the firm.
Each day we have a Morning Routine. It covers the things we need to do to take care of ourselves and our bedrooms. This routine is usually completed before breakfast, except the brushing teeth which is after following breakfast.
Morning Routine
The top portion of the Morning Routine lists what needs to be done in the morning. The bottom of the card is just a reminder that they have a few things that need to be completed by the time they go to bed which also involve themselves and their bedroom.
We have assigned shower days so that we can all get in and out without using up all the hot water. We try to only have 3 people per day max taking a shower.
Now that the Morning Routines are completed we move on to school lessons. We are a homeschooling family, which means I added a whole lot more work to my day. It is really hard to keep school time between X o’clock and Y o’clock, therefore I have to be on top of my routine all throughout the day. I created a set of routine cards for me to follow with chore list on one side and daily schedule on the other. I put things on the schedule that I really need to remember. For Example: appointments, chili cook-off at church this Friday, my daughter’s work schedule since I have to drive her to and from. These things are also in my main planner, but I really need to see it here to make sure I get it all done. I have one card for each day of the week and one for a Monthly To-Do List.
Daily Chore Cards for Mom
Daily Schedule for Mom
After lunch, I begin working hard on completing my chore list so that I can monitor the kids doing their chores if I need to. They have their own chore cards which are color coded. The reason I color code them is so that we can all see easily who is responsible for what chores. I may remember day to day who has what chores, but in over a year of switching chore cards weekly, I don’t usually remember. We have used many other chore systems that I have either found online or made myself. It seems like the chore systems needs change as my kids get older and also as our way of life has changed over the last 5 years.
How the chore system works:
- Write each of the the children’s names on 2 different small pieces of paper and fold each one in half twice.
- Place these in a baggie
- Someone picks a name out of the baggie. Because of the way the chore chart prints, the cards are assigned in this order:
- Green
- Red
- Purple
- Blue
- Each week, Fridays in our home, new names are chosen.
If someone gets picked for the same chores again the next week as last week, then they stick with it for another week.
However, if they are chosen for the same chores for a 3rd week, we choose another name.
The Morning Routine is included on each chore card because sometimes my kids forget something, and I don’t usually check their morning routine in the morning since I am busy doing mine and getting ready for the day. This reminds me to check those too.
Chore Cards – Contributions
Wednesday is our day to clean things that don’t always need to be done daily. There are times when we need them to be done more than once a week and Ta-da they are already assigned. Below is a breakdown of each color chore card. I will say this: the Green card is the most challenging of them all, and the Blue seems to be the favorite, which means it is the easiest in my kids’ opinion.
- Green
- Wash dishes – This person is responsible for making sure the kitchen sink is empty enough all day that dishes aren’t piled up high above the counter level. I prefer at least ONE clean sink for when I am preparing a meal. I cannot stand to drain food over dirty dishes. That drives me bonkers.
- Clean the sink – make sure it is clean and sanitary for the next person to use it. It is just the right thing to do and prevents scum & mold from forming. Also clean around the outside the sink along the edge, and the faucets. Can you tell these are pet peeves of mine?
- Clean the counter next to the sink probably where all the dirty dishes were sitting anyway. This needs to be clean and sanitary for the next person using it. In our case – to make dinner. This is the only counter space next to the stove to put all my ingredients for my pan.
- Glass/Metal/Cardboard – we recycle. this person makes sure the bins in the kitchen are emptied out into the larger bins in the garage. They are also responsible for making sure the recycling area in the garage is neat and clean. They should be informing mom when the bins in the garage are full.
- Dust LR/BR/Kit – Living Room, Bedrooms, Kitchen – the bedrooms only get done when that child has the job. My boys won’t go in the girls room, probably because the girls would make a huge deal of it. My girls are the same about the boys’ room. I dust my own room.
- Clean Windows & Mirrors – at least they get done once a week.
- Mop all tile floors – when I made these cards the floors were all tile. In our new house, the kitchen & bath are linoleum and everywhere else is wood. I mop the wood floors. The person who has the Purple chore card has to remove the kitchen furniture and other items from the floor to sweep the whole kitchen before it is mopped by the person who has the Green card. Therefore, the person here (Green) has to mop the floors, then put all the furniture and other items back after the kitchen is dry. The same for the bathroom.
- Help Others – They have to help one other person complete their chores.
- Red
- Clean Table – clear everything off the table, everything that does not belong should be put away. Wipe & Dry the table. Put everything back that actually belongs on the table.
- Sweep floor under the table – after each meal this should be done – this does get confusing with the Purple card holder at times. The purple card holder sweeps once a day, unless it is needed more. The Red Card holder sweeps up dropped food after each meal. I hate stepping on food, how about you?
- Dry Dishes – along with the Purple Card holder, this person dries dishes and puts them on the table for the Blue Cards holder to put them away. This person is only responsible for half of the dishes.
- Kitty Litter – if you have a cat, they empty the bag out, clean, wash it the box when needed. This can be used for whatever animals you have. When we had four different animals, we split them up between all 4 kids.
- Feed the cats – we have 2 and this person makes sure they are fed daily.
- Move furniture LR – (Living room) Remove the furniture that can be taken out, this is to help either vacuuming or sweeping of the living room.
- Vacuum, rug rooms – whatever rooms those are in your home, this person vacuums them. In my home they are area rugs in the bedrooms, living room & Basement
- Clean Shower/Tub – this is for my older child when they happen to get this card. I do it when the younger ones have it. It means scrub the shower walls, faucets & tub.
- Help Others – They have to help one other person complete their chores.
- Purple
- Clean Counters – clear everything off the counter. Then wipe & Dry the table. Put everything back.
- Dry dishes – along with the Red Card holder, this person dries dishes and puts them on the table for the Blue Card holder to put away. This person is only responsible for half of the dishes.
- Compost – we compost food at our home, so this person is responsible for taking it out to the compost bin in the garden, and making sure the bucket is rinsed or washed between fillings.
- Sweep all floors – This person sweeps all the floors including their bedroom floor once a day. they only have to move furniture on Wednesday.
- Clean Outside toilet – wipe down the outside of the toilet, and the seat & lid with paper towels and cleaner. Sometimes I also ask them to wipe down under the seat as well, but I usually do this.
- Move Furniture Kitchen – this person moves the furniture out so it can be swept & mopped. Green Card holder puts it back.
- Help Others – They have to help one other person complete their chores.
- Blue
- Clean Stove – wipe down the stove top after each use.
- Put food away – This person is responsible for putting away the leftovers after dinner. Otherwise, whoever gets food out, has to put it away themselves throughout the day.
- Put Away Dishes – the dishes that are on the table from Purple & Red
- Take out the garbage – This person empties out the trash can when it is full, and also the burnable bags as they are filled. They are to replace with new bags when emptied
- Clean the Bathroom Counter & sink – (2 jobs) wipes down the sink, counter, faucets, behind the faucets, hangs up wash clothes that are left on the sink.
- Clean Garbage Can – This person wipes out the garbage can and recycling bin bags once a week. We use plastic bags in the recycling bins to aid in keeping them clean. This person would replace the bags as needed, wash the garbage can and lid and wipe the cabinet where the recycling bins are kept.
- move furniture LR – living room. This person puts all the furniture back after we are done mopping the living room, or after the vacuuming is finished. It will depend on what you have in your home.
- Help Others – They have to help one other person complete their chores.
Putting it all together. We also have School Task Cards which we use to help the kids remember certain daily tasks in regards to their school lessons. I found a way to keep all these cards together and hung on the wall/door. It is also easy to remove the chore card and switch them weekly.
Routine/Chore/School Tracker on a Ring
Our Chore Tracker Door – This is in the kitchen on the back of the basement door. Everyone who needs it can see it, and when company comes I can just open the door to hide them. Functional yet organized.
- Poster of the Chore Cards in a Sheet protector – When names are chosen each week, we write the name above the color they are assigned. This way I do always have a way to know who does what when I need to. Most of the time this is not needed unless the kids are arguing.
- Poster of when these Routines & Chores should be getting completed throughout the day. My kids seem to think there is now time to play in our day sometimes. They haven’t figured out that the less time they spend complaining, arguing and avoiding, the more playtime they have.
- The baggie of names. Two of each name, folded twice.
- Hooks for our chore cards. Mine are in order by age, so that know with a look, whose cards are missing. I am all about saving time!
The chore cards are printed, cut and laminated. We use dry erase markers to check off each chore as it is complete and to write items on my schedule & routine as they come up. This makes the cards flexible and reusable. As I probably mentioned above, we have ben using these cards for over a year and they are still holding up great!
I hope this Chore system helps you in teaching your children to be more responsible in their contributions to the family.
Have questions? Have some ideas to add to this system? I am always happy to hear how we can make our system to be even better. Please type them in the comments below or shoot me a message.
Here are the clickable links to the Templates for our Chore System. Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by!
