I'm looking for a list of chores - Good websites? Willing to share your own lists?

[LBC]

I'm attempting to create a jar of chores that can be completed by my dc (ages 8-15) in about 10 -15 minutes. I'm tired of being the motivation for everything around the house, so I'm going to have my dc "earn" their screen time by doing chores. I'm thinking that a lot can be done in 10-15 minutes when a child is motivated.:D

 

Do you have a list you could share? Is there a good website I could copy and paste from?

 

Thanks,

Lori

[Oak Knoll Mom]

I'm a big fan of Motivated Moms. It is a chore planner with a list of daily chores (plus extra room for you to add your own) in one column and weekly chores in another column. I assign my boys two daily and three weekly chores from the list and then my dh and I split the others. (As my boys get older and more proficient, I'll assign more.)

 

Do a search on the board for "motivated moms" and you'll find a lot of people here who use it. There's even a social group, but it doesn't seem to be very active.

 

I love it!

[6packofun]

I've always loved this age-appropriate list of chores for kids. It's a church website. There's definitely some wiggle room for when kids start some of these, but it's a great start!

 

http://www.new-life.net/parent09.htm

[MomOfOneFunOne]

My 9 year old's list:

 

daily

-- work on a project in her room (organize something, deep clean something; we choose the project on Saturday and she works on it a bit each day. It has to be done by the following Saturday).

-- do small things to keep her room tidy (basically pick-up after herself and make her bed)

-- pick-up two piles of doggie stuff in the back yard (if there are two)

-- Feed/water animals

-- She also has to help with whatever cleaning I do

 

Twice/week

-- cook supper

-- do her laundry

 

Once/week

-- make sure all doggie doo is gone from back yard

-- clean bird cage

-- help with house cleaning

 

My daughter does a good job of doing her chores w/o fussing. I have to remind her sometimes but not that often and she helps around the house w/o grumbling. We instuted an allowance two weeks ago but really, she's had to do her work all along and would still have to do it whether she had an allowance or not. We decided to give the allowance mostly for money management reasons. However, I did tell her that for the allowance I expected to remind her less often.

[cougarmom4]

I have a bunch of quick little chores that can be done anytime and I call them my Five-Minute Fixers...I wrote them on little circles (the ones that are attached to keychains sometimes, with the silver around them--kwim?). I listed things like: dust the piano, sweep under the table, wipe baseboards in LR w/clorox wipe, wash door handles, wash back door window, gather empty hangers & take to laundry room, wipe window blinds with clorox wipes, wipe down kitchen chairs, dust stair banister, etc. Basically anything that is just a quick little job and pretty much always needs to be done around here. Every little bit helps! When I announce it's time for a Five-Minute Fixer, everyone reaches into the bag and grabs one. Can't say they don't grumble...

 

I like the idea of tying it to screen time--thanks! I'm going to have to do something like that. I really like having a fun little name, for some reason that makes things go over a bit better here. We also have Ten-Minute Tidy...that we usually do before dinner time or if someone is on their way over or I've just gotten tired of the mess. :001_smile:

[lllll]

I'm attempting to create a jar of chores that can be completed by my dc (ages 8-15) in about 10 -15 minutes. I'm tired of being the motivation for everything around the house, so I'm going to have my dc "earn" their screen time by doing chores. I'm thinking that a lot can be done in 10-15 minutes when a child is motivated.:D

 

Do you have a list you could share? Is there a good website I could copy and paste from?

 

 

I don't have their lists with me because we're at a motel as our power went out and the pipes froze ... but I can tell you how I went about getting our lists.

 

First, I wrote down every single little thing dh and I did around the house, property, cars, etc. Then, I let this list sit for a few weeks while I constantly added things to it that I had forgotten or never even noticed because they had become second nature to me. Once I felt like the lists were mostly complete, I presented them to dc as a group, informing them that they would now be doing all of these things. I also told them I would be helping them learn how to do things they didn't know how to do.

 

They then took the lists and divided them up into 5 general areas (for 5 dc) and posted them on the frig with their names on magnets. They decided they would rotate lists weekly. Switching so often shortened the learning phase - worked well.

 

Next, they, and I, worked all the bugs out and altered the lists over several months until they had the chores running fairly smoothly - not perfectly. We still alter things now and then. And they've been doing this for a few years, which means our 15yod was 12 or 13 when she began. And just-turned 18yod was 15 or 16. And they've done just as well or better than her much older brothers.

 

Finally, after they had the actual processes down, I called them together to discuss the way in which they went about doing the chores. (ie their attitudes) This was a revealing discussion. Some of them didn't understand why minimum wasn't sufficient and why they should strive to do the best possible for them. So we delved into various Biblical principles and talked about how attitudes towards menial chores often carry over into attitudes towards jobs, etc., and that, in the end, all that really matters is the attitude they had and whether they did the best they were capable of doing at the time.

 

Anyway, I think the reason this worked so well is because the lists were very specific to our family. Unlike lists you find in books and such. I used to try to use some of those lists when our dc were younger and always wound up frustrated. I think it's because you really have to tailor your list to your particular family, and you may even need to write out every little step for some chores in the very beginning to make sure they do it correctly and to minimize your teaching time.

 

Also, this did not go as smoothly as it looks on your screen. They were a little stunned. Some were annoyed and objected, saying they had too much school to do. I didn't fall for that excuse, however, because I remember going to college full time, doing all the housework, raising oldest ds, and even pregnant my senior year. I also worked in the hospital micro lab for part of that senior year. (dh was in graduate school) They got no sympathy from me on that one. But be prepared for that particuar complaint. Try to look at it this way. What kinds of things will they suddenly have thrust on them if/when they go off to college? Wouldn't it be better for them to learn at least that much now vs when they're overwhelmed by the move itself and the sheer volume of bookwork expected of them in college? Think how much more time they'll have for studying vs learning to cook and do laundry and such.

 

Anyway, if you'd like to see our lists, let me know and I can post them the next time we come down to town.

 

HTH.

 

PS - It works better if you approach them when you're calm and think of it as an extension of your hs'ing them; versus, say, angry and frustrated like I was. ;)

[LaxMom]

I'm a big fan of Motivated Moms. It is a chore planner with a list of daily chores (plus extra room for you to add your own) in one column and weekly chores in another column. I assign my boys two daily and three weekly chores from the list and then my dh and I split the others. (As my boys get older and more proficient, I'll assign more.)

 

Do a search on the board for "motivated moms" and you'll find a lot of people here who use it. There's even a social group, but it doesn't seem to be very active.

 

I love it!

 

I second that. My 7 year old makes the beds in the kids' room, feeds the pets, and does a general pick-up daily (the 4 year olds help with these). I also pick a chore a day off the weekly list (her favorite is doing the toilets) for her / them. Older kids should be able to pull off any of them, and you could assign each of them a color to check off their completed chore, so you can easily track who is doing what.

[LBC]

I have a bunch of quick little chores that can be done anytime and I call them my Five-Minute Fixers...I wrote them on little circles (the ones that are attached to keychains sometimes, with the silver around them--kwim?). I listed things like: dust the piano, sweep under the table, wipe baseboards in LR w/clorox wipe, wash door handles, wash back door window, gather empty hangers & take to laundry room, wipe window blinds with clorox wipes, wipe down kitchen chairs, dust stair banister, etc. Basically anything that is just a quick little job and pretty much always needs to be done around here. Every little bit helps! When I announce it's time for a Five-Minute Fixer, everyone reaches into the bag and grabs one. Can't say they don't grumble...

 

I like the idea of tying it to screen time--thanks! I'm going to have to do something like that. I really like having a fun little name, for some reason that makes things go over a bit better here. We also have Ten-Minute Tidy...that we usually do before dinner time or if someone is on their way over or I've just gotten tired of the mess. :001_smile:

 

Yes, this is the general idea of what I've been trying to accomplish. We already have certain things that each child is responsible to do, but there are lots of little things that don't get done (dust baseboards, clean under beds, tidy top of dresser) unless company is coming.:tongue_smilie:

 

One of the reasons I'm tying it to screen time is because when I'm having an exceptionally busy (or lousy) day (I manage the office/bookkeeping for dh's business, do our personal investing, banking, taxes, etc.) the kids know that I'm an easy target for allowing them to do whatever they ask so that I can get my work done. When I emerge from my work, I find that nothing has been done, messes have been made in the kitchen, and the kids are glued to the tv or Wii. I need a system that is self monitoring. I've made a new rule that they are not allowed to ask me if they can have screen time. They need to manage it themselves. Each litte chore in the jar (which I'm color coding for each child) will earn them half an hour of screen time, and on school days they can only choose from Discovery Chanel and Wii Fit. After they do a chore, it goes into a different jar. This way the chores will get rotated so that they're not always looking though the jar for their favorite chores.

 

I have tried laminated lists, and they only work when I'm the enforcer. I don't always have the energy to enforce everything, so I'm hoping that this new system will be more self-enforcing.

 

Thanks for all the great ideas!

Lori