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Chore ideas

Alicia - posted on 11/11/2008 ( 3 moms have responded )

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My girls are 7 & 8 (1st & 2nd grade). I am looking for some helpful chores around the house for them to do. By the time I get off work it is time to make dinner and pick up the house from the night before, do laundry, you know all that wonderful fun stuff.



I have not had a problem in the past with them helping me but I would like to give them the responsibility of having chores and I don't know what is age appropriate for them. They share a bedroom so sometimes it gets challenging to have them clean their room because they are either playing or fighting.



Any ideas at all would be very helpful...Thank you in advance!!!!

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Alicia - posted on 11/12/2008

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Thank you very much for tha ides. They sound great!!

Chris - posted on 11/11/2008

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I have 4 children, ages 7, 6, 4, and 20 months. The three older kids do chores daily. The way we worked it out was fairly simple, I sat down one day and wrote down all the things in the house that have to be done, and then I asked each of the kids which chores they thought they were able to do. They actually picked pretty acurately! So now, each child has three chores to do daily, the chores rotate through the kids on Friday. The chores that they do are clean the main areas of the house, clean their bathroom, make sure that all the jackets/backpacks/shoes are in the correct places, sweep the kitchen floor, wash the table and chairs down after supper, take out the garbage, and sort the laundry into colors, whites, and towels. Instead of offering an allowance for chores, we have a system where each child gets $2 a week in nickels (I put it in a jar on the counter), and each chore is worth a certain amount of money. Instead of paying the child to do the chore, they have to pay someone ELSE if they don't do it. For instance, if my oldest decides that he doesn't want to do one of his chores (or if he doesn't do it after I've told him once, if I ask/tell again, it's fair game), the chore gets offered to the other kids. . . and they fight over who gets to do it! Then the kid that actually did the chore gets paid by the kid that didn't do the chore out of his/her allowance. (I also get "paid" for doing their chores) The first week, there was a lot of slacking, but once they saw that $2 dwindle down to 35 cents. . . well, they got right into gear!! We also have a system where the kids can "get out of one chore free" by doing something above and beyond what they are expected to do.



Now, about cleaning the room. My boys share a room, and here's what I do. Every week one of them is responsible for the cleaning of their room, and the other one is responsible for "inspecting" the room before I go in to check it. The child that is the inspector can make the cleaner reclean as many times as he wishes until the room is clean enough for them, then the inspector comes and gets me, if I inspect and it isn't good enough for my standards, the inspector has to get it to my standard. . . works wonders.

Rebecca - posted on 11/11/2008

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I have two boys, 6 & 8 yrs old, and we just started chores for each with a chart that they could check off each day. The older one takes out the trash and feeds our dog, the younger takes out the recycling and feeds our cat. If they complete their chores for the week they get an allowance on Saturday, and can add bonus chores if they like to make extra dough. They both have really taken to this system! I had to help them for the first day or two, but now they know the system and the reward!

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