How the Buys' do Chores - Epiphany Crafts

A year ago we sat down as a family and planned out chores for the two oldest. We had a short list of things that needed to be done daily and then a short list for Saturday chores.

Our goals were:
1. Teach the boys responsibility and give them a sense of pride in their accomplishments.
2. Teach the boys that as a part of the family, they could contribute, too. It's not just the parents doing all of the work to make the family/house run.
3. Show them that work can be enjoyable, even if it is just enjoying the aftermath of a clean house.
4. Show them that doing a little each day is much easier than having to do major clean-up every once in awhile.

So, we're doing okay. We're still working toward these goals. Some weeks were fabulous, others - not so much. As this school year came around, I found the boys dragging their heels and decided that we needed to revamp our system. First, I needed to upgrade from a piece of paper on the fridge. Second, I needed to include Jaxon (who is now three). Third, we needed to fine-tune what was actually done on a daily basis. Along came this pin on Pinterest, and shortly thereafter, an assignment from Epiphany Crafts to use the Round 25 tool. Our new chore charts were born (click on picture to see larger):

We started with a family planning meeting again. We made our list of chores and then split them evenly between Colten and Carson, saving a couple of easy ones for Jaxon. Last year we had an "A" and "B" list (which constantly caused conflict - I'm A this week. No, I'm A this week! Insert sigh and eyeroll from Mom here). This time around, there is a blue set of chores and a green. They switch chores every Monday with a simple swap of the magnets. Because these charts are interactive, the boys have a much easier time of keeping track of their progress - and it's a little bit fun.

To make a chart like mine, you'll need a frame, cardstock, neo-magnets, the EC Round 25 tool and bubble caps, patterned paper and thin metal sheets. We found the metal at Home Depot in 8x12 sheets for $1 a piece. We just had to trim off a couple of inches.

Type up your chores and cut them into strips. Glue them to patterned paper and use the EC tool to create the epoxy circles. Add neo-magnets to the back. The Neodymium magnets are strong enough to hold through the glass of your frame, which will help the chart stay clean. Hands doing chores get dirty, you know ;).

Print out your chart. Put the child's name at the top and make two columns - "to-do" and "done". Add the chart and the metal to the frame and voila - your chart is complete.

I have discovered that we need a "key" for the chores, a list of everything that is expected for each chore. For example, "trash" means kitchen, bathrooms, and computer room, not just the kitchen. I'll be typing that up really soon and including it in a frame next to the chore charts.

So far, so good. Colten said to me yesterday, "Mom, my chores were really easy today. I did a good job yesterday, so today it wasn't really messy." I love it when light bulbs go off like that! Fingers crossed that it continues ;).

I'd love to hear about what works and what doesn't work for you in your home. Thanks for stopping by! Tessa