Have you accepted our Challenge: Shed 300 in 30 days? Wednesday is day 30, the last day of our challenge. Whether you have been following our challenge or have been doing your own spring cleaning now is a great time to start a chore chart. This is a way to keep my kids and myself on track each day.

We moved almost two years ago. I quickly realized we needed a chore chart to keep things semi clean. Why semi clean? When young kids are helping clean they are trying their best (most of the time) which means their standard is not my standard. They may think the table is wiped off well but in reality there are crumbs or smear marks still left on the table. I have learned to tell them they did a good job for trying. As they have more practice and gain confidence from their praise they have improved in their abilities. But, I have also learned as they have more experience it is ok to ask them to go back and check their work and then give them a refresher course if it still isn’t done well.

This is what our job chart looked like. It was very simple. Each person had 3 jobs per day as well as their own room and helping in the playroom.

The biggest lesson I have learned is do NOT re-clean what you have assigned the kids to do while they are around. Many times I do re-clean the table after my kids are asleep. If they see me redo their work they do not do it as well the next time because they know I will fix their mistakes. This is not the lesson I want to teach them. Sometimes the next morning at breakfast I say oh wow this table is a little sticky I wonder why. Someone will say it was from last night. Then we will talk about trying to clean it a little better next time.

I have also learned that reminders are constant. Reminders that they do have jobs. Reminders what their jobs are; ours change daily. Reminders how to do their jobs. Reminders is why I have come up with our new chore chart lanyards. On each lanyard is one job with the steps it takes to complete that job. Obviously this requires knowing how to read. I believe my older children who read are able to complete these tasks once they are shown. They have been doing almost all the steps for the past two years. Adding in a couple more details will be minor adjustments to them.

As I was doing each job I wrote down the steps. I typed them up, then printed them and slipped them into some lanyards. We have 10 jobs therefore we have 10 lanyards. I have created some free printable chore charts for you to download, cut and slip in the holder.

We have hooks by our back door where we keep the lanyards. Each day when it is job time they put the lanyards on. They wear them backwards so they do not get lost, but so they are not in the way except for the current job they are doing.  When their job is done they put it on the hook next to their own so it is ready for the next person tomorrow.

Now they can’t tell me they don’t know how to do their jobs. All they need to do is read what is on their lanyard. It is a great reminder of what their jobs are for the day and how to complete their jobs. I am finding they are completing their jobs to a higher standard.

If this idea doesn’t work for you try this Cleaning House chore chart. It is a great one, just a little different.