Help Around the House

I stopped making New Year's resolutions a long time ago, but my husband and I usually talk about some changes we can make that might make our year better than the last. One of the things we both agreed on was holding our kids, especially the two oldest ones, more accountable for helping out around OUR home. With a family of five, it's going to take some team work, or mom and dad will be continually exhausted. I have seen so many cute chore charts in blog land, but a) if I made one that looked THAT cute I wouldn't have it finished until mid-year, and b) I didn't want to spend a lot of money. I did however want to have more than a sheet of paper; a more interactive chart. I cleaned out my junk drawer over the holidays and ran across all these refrigerator magnets that were about to go into the trash when I remembered the chore chart I had on my "to do" list.

I used a magnetic dry erase board that I had from home schooling last year. I thought that way I could change or adjust things a few times until we get figured out what way works best for us. I started making the glass magnets, but they were too big, so I downsized to just the magnet and covered it with scrapbook paper.

Then I made the chore magnets and days out of the old magnets I found. I decided to just do Monday through Friday. I used some Mod Podge and covered them with scrap paper. My four year old was determined to help so I let her glue on the words.....thus the smeared lettering.

Now we've got to figure out what incentives to give, as well as consequences when things don't get done.

I would love to hear if any of you out there have found something that works for kids under 12. We were really thinking about giving a small allowance or tickets to get extra TV privileges, etc.