A Chore Box for Children

Hi all! I hope you had a nice long weekend. We are savoring the nice temps and spending as much time outside as possible. I am popping in to share with you our new chore box. Over a year ago, we made a chore chart. You can read about that here.  It worked like a charm as the children were just beginning to learn about responsibility. We have come a long way since, “Brush Your Teeth” was actually on our chore chart. Now they are old enough to get the idea that you can’t have bad breath or bad teeth and that is just part of being a human! Onto bigger and better chores that will actually help run this house. I love it! I wanted something compact and simple. Here is what we came up with.   I saw that my girl Jen over at Tatertots and Jello used craft sticks. That was when I realized we need two sets of sticks in this house. The issue I kept coming across was that we had daily chores and weekly chores. So I set out to find something with four sections. And there they were . . . calling my name. HomeGoods of course! This darling little container was only $5.00. It was exactly what I had been looking for. Now onto making this into a chore box!         You could of course leave well enough alone and forget customizing it. But have you met me? I somehow have to alter everything. To cover each one, I was able to cut one sheet of 81/2 x 11 paper lengthwise. It was exactly the size I needed to leave a bit of the patterned border on each edge. I used spray adhesive to adhere the paper to the box. Super easy and fast. I used my favorite brass bookplates for the children’s names. They are just peel and stick and I sort of love them. I have used them here and here.   If you have a label maker you could use that. I couldn’t as my batteries exploded in mine. R.I.P. label maker. So I hopped on the computer and typed up our chores. Print and cut. Didn’t take long at all. I used spray adhesive for this as well. We all discussed the chores over lunch together. We talked about what needed to be done around the house daily and weekly and they both came up with things they wanted to help do. I think if they help create the chores, they are much more apt to follow through with them.  Daily chores include things like setting the table, clearing the table, and picking up their rooms. So the front compartments hold the sticks for the chores that need to be completed. The left side is for daily chores and those sticks must be moved to the back each day as completed. They will be reset in the morning to the front. The right side is for weekly chores and they have all seven days to complete those items. They can do them whenever they choose during the week. Those will be rest on Sunday night. These chores must be completed in order to earn their commission for the week. My hubby is all about commission versus allowance. He is all about the finance lessons from birth! Anyhoo. . . their weekly commissions are then placed in their spend, save, and donate jars. You can read more about those here. They really have worked out well. For instance, when we go to church on Sunday, the kiddos take money from their donate jars to contribute. I like that it comes from them rather than mom’s purse! I think it means much more and they are learning the importance of setting money aside for savings and donations. What about you? Do you have a way to keep track of what your children are responsible for around the house? We talk a lot about the fact that it’s teamwork that runs a household. That allows to get things done so there is more time for fun. Speaking of fun . . . I’m off to get my craft on for some fun February projects! Wish me luck. Enjoy your day.