21 Chore Chart Ideas
With all our moving, renovating, and new-school-year hoopla this month and next, I’m craving some routine and rhythm in our home life. After a year of homeschooling, we celebrated the start of summer with a lot of down time and rest, and it was much needed. But now… I’m ready to get back to the swing of things.
It’s been awhile since we held our kids to a routine, admittedly. We bought our new house back in April and immediately began renovations, but we honestly started our house search back in February. Once we decided we definitely weren’t staying in our tiny 1,000-square-foot house, it was like we waved the white flag on a sane home. Where do these craft supplies go? Um… Well, put them wherever. We won’t be here forever.
Several months of this will make you punchy, and even our kids are craving some focused routine. So for the past few weeks, one of my “prepping for fall” tasks has been working on our chore chart list for the school year.
My kids are still young—7, 4, and 2—so I want a simple but creative approach to chores. My younger ones still think helping Mom and Dad is a lot of fun, and our oldest has shown herself responsible and genuinely useful around the house.
I’ve been searching Pinterest for great chore chart ideas, and my word, there are some creative people out there. Here are some of my favorites.
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1. Make it fun with stickers
Little ones love stickers—make chores fun by rewarding each one with a new sticker. | Sticker chore chart from The Coterie Blog
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2. Create a chore chart station
I like how this system keeps everything in one place and is easy to read for the kids. And I love that it's not too cutesy-cute. | Magnetic chore chart from Sabby in Suburbia
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3. Make it portable
This simple chore chart uses Velcro circles instead of magnets, and provides a clipboard the kids can carry around while they do their tasks. | Clipboard chore chart from In Her Shoes
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4. Give them choices
This chore system gives kids the freedom to choose their chores based on how much they'll earn for doing them. And if you don't feel like making one yourself, she's got them for sale in her Etsy shop. | Magnetic chore chart from The Baeza Blog
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5. Add behavior, not just tasks
Good ol' Melissa & Doug has a cute chore chart with the usuals—put toys away, empty dishwasher—but it also provides options such as "stop whining" and "show respect." Gotta love that. | Magnetic Responsibility Chart from Melissa & Doug
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6. Grab your tools and make your own
Alison of How Does She? built a system using craft sticks and blocks of wood—and provides instructions on how to build your own. | Chore sticks for multiple kids by How Does She?
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7. Clip 'em on, flip 'em over
I love the eye-catching clothespins holding the day's chores—kids would love getting to flip these over when they've finished the job. | Clothespin chore chart from A Turtle's Life
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8. Keep it simple
I love this sweet, simple printable where you can fill in your kids' names and write in your own jobs. This works well for older kids who can read. | Free chore chart download from Sew, Craft, Create
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9. Make it changeable
This chore chart uses a basic cookie sheet and chalkboard markers. If you want to change it up, just erase and start over! | Cookie sheet chore chart from Chaos Served Daily
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10. Get the whole family involved
This chore chart includes Mom and Dad and uses hooks and tags to assign chores to family members. | Clean-up crew chore chart from Back 40 Life
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11. Start 'em young
Why not include the toddlers, since they love to "help" anyway? This super-simple chore chart provides motivation and visual cues to your little ones. | Toddler chore chart from Dandee Designs
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12. Make it visual
This chore system is great for kids who need visual motivation—simply take photos of the chores-at-hand and assign a day for its completion. | Photo chore chart from Ladybird Lane
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13. Easy-to-read means easy-to-use
This clear-cut chore chart is great for larger families, and for a great price, you can customize this chart with names and specific chores. | Family chore chart from Abbie's House
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14. Who wouldn't want to earn stars?
Great for little ones, this chore chart uses classic star stickers as a reward (which are redeemed for nickels). | Star sticker chore chart
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15. Divide your house into zones
This chore chart divides the house into zones, and the family members are given zones for which they're responsible. | Daily job zones from The Creative Homemaker
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16. A place for everything
Create a frame for each kid and assign a different set of chores each day. When the job is done, simply turn around the card. | Adhesive hooks chore chart from Workman Family
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17. Round and round
Turn the wheel with two paper plates—kids can easily see their chores for the day (or week) and anticipate what comes next. | Paper plate chore chart from Smockity Frocks
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18. Go digital
Prefer everything online? Sign up for this free online chore chart; great for the digitally-minded kids. | My Job Chart
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19. Go big—build a burger
For you uber-creative parents, make chores visually fantastic for little ones—build a burger! She's also got an ice cream cone and a veggie garden chore chart. | Burger chore chart from Child Made Tutorials
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20. Make it a game—draw a stick
Craft sticks, a tin can, and a printer is all you need for this colorful, easy-to-use chore jar. | Chore jar from Whatever Dee Dee Wants
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21. Make it easy and buy a set
Want a pack of organizing printables? These chore checklists are trendy, modern, and easy to use. | The Everything Planner chore chart printable from Brought to You By the Letter B
Ultimately, our goal is to keep our kids’ chores simple but non-negotiable, and to shower them with lots of grace and praise as they learn to do their jobs well. I have no intention of crippling my kids with an easy life; a strong work ethic is one of the best gifts we can give them when they leave the house.
I’ll share our chore system in a bit, after we get into the groove of school and aren’t so consumed with still unpacking from our move. One thing at a time.
How do you handle chores in your home?
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we just started a chore chart in our house. the girls are two and i wanted to start easy-they have four “chores” they need to complete. share, pick up toys, say please and thank you and no hitting (for one) and no whinning (for the other.) i will slowly add more jobs as they understand the concept. it seems to be working for now.
thank you for adding my project to this great list. have a great day.
Nice work, Thanks
I made a set of rules and consequences and posted it up in my house for the children. I have six children and the rules and consequences seem to be working.