Chore Chart

Chore Charts

We started using a new chore chart called Accountable Kids for our daughter this summer and we have loved it! She has chores that are her responsibility to do throughout the day along with a few chores that we are willing to pay her to complete. Now that we have this chore chart set up, she runs to the chart to see what she needs to do next and is SO excited to turn over each card. Before it was a battle to get her hair done and for her to eat her vitamins. But now she dances to the kitchen announcing it is now time for vitamins! She loves this system and it helps her feel so grown up.

My favorite thing about the chore chart is I can simply say, it’s time to check your chore chart and she follows through on the next series of tasks. I don’t have to remind her over and over again to make her bed and clean up her room. She works through each set and lets me know when she is finished. Overall I highly recommend this set up. It’s really easy to use and my daughter loves it. I looked into several systems and finally settled on this one. On a scale of 1 to 5, I’d rate it a 5 for being so easy to use and instilling accountability and independence.

Once she is finished with a set of chores (color coded for different times of the day), she earns a ticket. She can turn in a ticket for different activities. We chose activities that we wanted to keep limited and ones we thought she felt entitled to instead of grateful for them. It has really helped her feel so grateful to watch tv or play a computer game. We also stopped doing time outs and will simply ask for a ticket when there is negative behavior.

Before we did time outs and I felt they made the situation worse instead of better. She would completely fall apart and scream in the laundry room instead of having time to calm down and collect herself. By taking away a ticket, she has to walk away from the situation to get a ticket and this gives her time to collect herself and break the negative behavior. I’m thrilled how well this has worked.

Because she is only 4 years old we are holding off on implementing the rest of this accountability chart. We will wait a few months to add in the privilege passes which work on correcting negative behavior and best behavior cards which reinforce positive behavior. I absolutely love these concepts but want to make sure I slowly implement each level of the chart. The chart also has a system where the child can work towards special dates with mom or dad by completing all chore for 10 days.

At 4 years old here is a breakdown of how we have her chart set up. These will change as she gets older but the kit as 50 chore cards so it will be easy to implement new chores as she gets older:

Morning cards (yellow)
Make bed
Brush teeth
Say family prayers

Midmorning cards (red)
Shower
Get dressed
Comb hair
Eat vitamins (I put these on the counter for her in the morning)
Clean up toys (whatever mess was made that morning)

Afternoon cards (blue)
Clean up toys (whatever mess was made that afternoon)

Evening cards (purple)
Put on pajamas
Clean up bedroom
Lay out clothes for the next day
Pick out a book to read for bedtime routine
Brush teeth

With the chance of earning 4 tickets in a day, she can use these tickets for the following:

Watch 30 minutes of tv or a movie
Play computer games
Play a game on my phone
Pick out movies at the library (we always pick out books and music each week, but if she wants to pick out movies a ticket is needed)
Paint fingernails
Paint toenails
Stay up 5 minutes past bedtime
We also let her turn in unused tickets at the end of the week to spin for a little prize (items we would have normally purchased such as craft supplies, new socks or stickers).

Tasks she can chose to do each week to earn money:
Dust
Help clean bathrooms
Sweep the kitchen with a small dustpan and broom
Help sort laundry or help put laundry away