Easy Chore Chart for Families, free printable included!

How To Teach Kids to Help Around the House

Teaching my kids how to work is a huge priority for me. In today’s world with busy schedules and so many kids focused on screens, it’s hard to find the right way to instill a hard work ethic. I’ve tried so many different methods and kids chore chart to try to encourage my kids to be hard workers. Many of those methods have failed, but the method we are using right now has been going strong for 5 years. That’s definitely a record in my house! Of course, I don’t know if it is teaching them the hard work ethic I desire, but I know it has been teaching them a lot about household chores and so I am happy with it!

Honestly, my cleaning system is nothing fancy, SO un-fancy in fact that it probably shouldn’t even be called a “system”! 😉

My kids have 4 main household chores that they are responsible for each week.

Bedrooms

First, the kids’ bedrooms are responsible to keep their rooms clean and tidy, including making their bed each day. This usually only takes 5 minutes each morning, sometimes more or less. Once a week they are required to vacuum and clean their rooms, we usually do this on Saturdays. I always check on Saturdays to make sure they did what was asked of them and to verify that they haven’t stuffed anything under the bed or in their closets (because, that has been known to happen….). 😉

Dishes

We have three “Dish Duties” that we rotate each week between our three kids. These duties are: Load the Dishwasher, Sweep the Floor, and Wipe the Counters. After our nightly dinner the family all cleans up the dishes together with the kids each helping with their specific assignment.

Household Chore

Each week my kids are assigned a Household Chore. The Household Chore is usually centered around a room in the house; one that the entire family uses, so we all need to help keep it clean. These chores are rotated each week through each of the kids.

Our current list of household chores are:

-Kitchen

-Bathroom

-Great Room

-Basement Family Room

-Your Choice

I include a Your Choice week so that the kids have one week where they can have a little control over the area they clean. They really look forward to this week! The Your Choice options are:

-Do the Laundry

-Wash the Walls

-Clean the Car

-Clean out the Refrigerator

-Wash the Windows

These household chores are rotated weekly between each child. This gives everyone an equal amount of turns with each chore.

I keep a chore list hanging in our kitchen so that my kids always know exactly what is expected of them each week. These chores are changed every Saturday as we prepare for a new week.

Paid Chore

My kids are assigned one paid chore each month. (other paid chores are given when they request it). Our paid chores revolve around taking care of our animals (six chickens, one dog and one cat). Subsequently, they will ONLY get paid if the chore is completed. These chores are rotated monthly and the kids are paid monthly.

You can read my article Teaching Kids Smart Money Habits to learn more about my views on giving kids an allowance.

Are my kids perfect? No way! Am I perfect? Not even close! But, we are trying. And for now, this is what has been working for us.

I have turned my Family Chore Chart and Chore Responsibilities into free printables for you! These are the exact charts we use! Plus, you can download them here!

How to Use Chore Chart Printables

I highly suggest laminating the Family Chore Chart after printing it. Or, you can just stick it in a page protector like I do! 😉 This way I can use a dry erase marker to write down all of the chores and adjust them each week.

Next, cut the Cleaning Chores printables into sections and laminate each section. This is obviously not necessary, but I have found it helps to keep the instructions more durable with my kids use.

Lastly, remember to keep the chore instructions hung up in a place that will be easy for your kids to reach and find their weekly chore card.

Related: Kids Chore Chart That Works!

I truly believe one of the greatest gifts we can give a child is teaching them how to work. They WILL look back one day and thank you for giving them this gift. I whined and yelled and cried and complained and told my parents they were the meanest in the world…..but I grew up….and I realized just how GRATEFUL I am that they taught me how to work!

The saying says there is more than one way to train a horse! That falls true with kids too! This is what works for my kids, you might find something different that works for your family. All that matters is that we are TRYING. Keep trying mamas! We got this!