I have been wanting a chore system for my kids, but none of the ones I saw marketed for preschoolers (either to buy or to make on pinterest) seemed to fit what I was looking for. Seems that most people consider toy pick up and personal hygiene to be the main chores of a 3-5yo. Not in my house! I consider those things a given, and I want their help with other stuff! I wanted a list of available helpers, otherwise I tend to enlist the child who is being least cooperative, which means that two of them work a lot more than the third. (Hey--just being honest here!) The jobs I usually call on a kid to help with are unloading the dishwasher, setting and clearing the table, wiping down the table, and moving laundry from the washer to dryer (or dryer to basket). Those are things I wanted on a chart. I saw this post, with a chore wheel for much older kids and much more specific tasks, but I thought the format could be made to work for us. The inner green circle has their names (obviously). The yellow middle circle has meal-related chores that I need help with every day. The dishes person will help unload the dishwasher, the table person will help wipe down the table. Both of those together will help set and clear the table. The floor person will sweep crumbs, which is a new job for them, but one I think it's time they learn.
The outer teal circle is for jobs that I don't need daily help with, but that I'd like to know who to call on when I do need them. Laundry helper helps with laundry (obviously). Mommy's helper can help me with my daily cleaning chores (bathrooms, vacuuming, dusting, etc). Parent's choice is for a job that we see that needs to be done and can be done by a preschooler, like gathering shoes that are misplaced and taking them back to the cubbies in the mud room (common). I plan to rotate jobs weekly.
I love it. It's simple, it's flexible, and if it's a total failure, it cost me $1.50 in 12" scrapbooking cardstock in 3 colors at Michaels. No biggie.
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