Daily Chore Charts

At the first of August I shared the way my family uses zone cleaning chores. My kids and I have daily chores we do outside of that, and I made it available to those who wanted it. I had several ask for it. However, I have since realized(after talking with several who printed the zone chores to implement) that maybe I should have showed our daily chores in a post FIRST because doing zone cleaning chores will not keep your house in tip-top shape. Sure, your bedroom may have clean baseboards and crystal-clear windows but dusty furniture and hair-laden carpet. Not good.

Today, I will show you the daily basics!

Never fear, just like the zone cleaning chores which I boasted you will complete each day in 15-30 minutes, you will also have these daily chores completed in 30 minutes (depending on the size of your house). If it takes you longer than 30 minutes then you need either another cup of coffee and maybe a side of chocolate to put some pep in your step or alas, maybe you just need a maid. (Possibly both?)

Here’s the deal. If you have younger kids, ages six and under then I would start with the zone cleaning for them. But if you have kids ages six and up, then I would start with this. I know I used age six in both groups because your six year old may be ready to start this, but your friend’s six year old may not be ready (physically as in fine and gross motor skills).

Shoot, your kid might be an overachiever like my son, Andrew. We bought him his own vacuum when he was 13 months old for Christmas (old scrapbook photos).…

and he never stopped vacuuming (2 years old)….

I am sharing a guide with age appropriate chores to get you started with your child. Do not let this limit or control what you feel your child can do or what they want to do….

Chopping wood....

Leaf blowing....

Wash clothes (or at least help!)

He’s the one who at age 11 started making breakfast most mornings consisting of hash browns and eggs. In fact he has a recipe that one of these days he and I are going to share on the blog. ;)

In four simple words, “he likes to work.” Then there’s my girl. ‘Nuf said. She’ll get there though….

Click here to get the FREE "Training Children to be Independent Adults" printable!

So back to the chore charts. You all got me sidetracked with all those cutie-pie photos of my boy when he was a baby. *sniff*

This is what we have used for the last three years since we started homeschooling. I say that because I want you to know it works for us. Every family is different – the time you are at home plays a major role in this. If you have 30 minutes at home each day outside of getting ready to leave for work/school, eating, and getting ready for bed then please spend those 30 minutes together not cleaning house.

Spending time with your children is
more important than having a clean house.

You may have heard this saying, “Cleaning with kids in the house is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos." What do I have to say to that? Quit buying those Oreos and enlist those kids to help!

Below is the daily chore charts I use for my kids where I broke down the day (morning and afternoon) for all the things they need to do. Remember, we homeschool and this is what works for us. Elizabeth's schedule is a little different right now because of some extracurricular things she is doing during the week but this is generally her daily schedule. Click on each below to select either a PDF version (without a name on it for your child) or a Word document to edit how you want. (*You may not have two of the fonts I used on these - Wish I Were Taller and Reprise Stamp - so it will revert to a standard font in Word.)

Click here for a PDF. Click here for a Word document.

Click here for a PDF. Click here for a Word document.

All I do is make tables in Word as many of you can see. I have customized them to colors my kids like and you can too. I have also made a simpler chore chart that only includes the chores for your child. I made it where two will print on a page (two columns) so you can cut the sheet in half and use it for two children.

Click here for a PDF. Click here for a Word document.

Note

• On the chore charts I have shared "x1" means in one room and "x2" means "times two" or in two rooms.
• Chore charts are best implemented around ages 6-8. Money earned is better in encouraging children to want to learn and develop their responsibilities instead of being given an “allowance” where they get money for no actions.
• Some of the suggested chores may be on the lower age range and some may be on the upper age range. As the parent, you are the judge of your child’s abilities. This is just a guide to help you (and your child) know where to start and where to aim.
• To be able to print these charts, you need to click on the link and download them to your computer then open it in the appropriate program (Adobe Reader for PDFs or Word).

How to implement these if you do not have kids? Use it just for you. You may need to double up on an item to get the whole house but if you are single then you may not have as big of a mess to clean and will be fine as long as you cycle through other rooms the next week. If it's you and your husband or you have a roommate, then get them involved.

Chore money? Let me address this in case there are any questions. Every family has their own budget and what they feel they should give for these chores. What we have ended up doing is I only count the chores they do that I have in the column above called "to earn". AND to be able to earn their chore money they have to do every chore that week. Now, I do allow them to do a missed chore the next day but I encourage them to do it on the day it is assigned. I count how many chores I have them do each week (15 counting the extra) and divide it by how many they are to do each day (3) so they get $5 a week. That's only a dollar a day and  maybe you think that's not enough or that's too much. It's your family's decision but that is how we do it. ;) My kids do not get any allowance, only chore money. We do pay for their clothes and any church-related activities. Their chore money is theirs free to spend outside of paying tithe.

Do you use chore charts for your kids? Does this look like something your family would benefit in using?