Anyone else out there need some kind of motivation to get your kids off their lazy hind ends and do something around the house? I have the perfect system...at least for us anyway :) I have been using this system for around 3 years now and the kids love it!
You begin with a list of chores:
Unload the dishwasher, unload the silverware, set the table, feed the cat, feed the kittens, water for all cats, etc... you get the idea. There are columns for each day of the week and a magnet attached. I chose to do it this way so we could switch the chores around daily. One of the things I disliked most about when I was a child was getting stuck unloading the dishwasher for eternity!! This way, the kids won't get bored as there is something fresh every day. They each have their own color pom-poms which I switch daily. My 13 year old is red, 10 year old is blue, 7 year old is pink. My younger 3 are still a little too young for the chore chart, but do help where they can.
Rules for the Chore ListYou live in the house so you have to do them whether you like it or not. When you do the chores everyday, you get to participate in the family fun box activity at the end of the week. If you do the chores on time (first thing in the morning) you will also get an extra incentive...an allowance. So, do the chores, and if they aren't on time...no allowance. Once you do a chore, remove your pom-pom and place into your jar (labeled with your name)
If you do the chores without complaint, you get a pom-pom on a seperate chart under the day of the week. However, you have to be careful!! In order to participate in the Family Fun Box activity, you have to have at least 4 out of the 5 pom-poms. Have 3? Can't participate. Get all 5...you get some sort of bonus. For example, if we have dessert for dinner, you get to pick the dessert. You are always in jeopardy of losing your pom-poms. We have rules posted; do chores without complaints, no talking back, do homework without complaint, no whining and so on...Since the kids love having this day all together, they really try to be careful so they can be involved in our day.
The Family Fun Box
The Family Fun Box was created by my children. They would all make suggestions of things they would like to do as a family; Dessert for dinner, make smores, take a walk, go to the mall, etc... Suggestions from my husband and I and our 6 kids are in the box. With such a wide range of ages, we could end up with eat out or blow bubbles! We agreed in the beginning that whatever is picked, we do without question (since it isn't really exciting for my 13 year to play with Play-doh, my 2 year old's suggestion). We also have a seperate smaller box that has some more expensive activities; plays, sporting events, museums, etc..which we will pick out of the week that we get paid.
We have found that this program really has helped our kids to be more responsible and more caring towards us and their siblings. Don't have your own system that works? Try this one...I won't mind :)
