10 Tips for Using a Chore Chart (+ Inspo Ideas)

If you’re struggling with not getting much help around the house, it may be time to start assigning your kids some tasks via a chore chart. This is a great way to introduce your kids to more effective cleaning habits too!

Regardless of what template you’re using, it can be difficult to get your kids to pay attention to a chore chart, much less actually complete the tasks laid out for them!

That’s why we’ve assembled this list of tips for implementing a chore chart system to get your whole family involved in keeping the house clean!

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10 Tips for Using a Chore Chart in your House

1. Communicate with your Family

While it may seem obvious, it’s going to be tough to get your kids on board with a chore chart if you don’t communicate why you’re using one, and how it works.

This may be difficult depending on how young your kids are, but it’s the only way you’ll be able to effectively implement this system. This is also a great chance to talk to your kids about what you expect of them around the house, as well as a chance to get their input on what chores they prefer or don’t like.

If you’re using a custom cleaning schedule like Home, Clean Home, consider going through it with your kids.

By communicating effectively, your kids will better understand why they’re being assigned chores, and what’s expected of them. Ideally this will lead to much smoother adoption.

2. Put Yourself on the Chore Chart

By putting yourself on the chore chart instead of just including your kids is a great way to make your family feel like a team tackling chores together.

While, yes, you’re probably still going to be doing the majority of the work, by putting some of your jobs up on the chart, your family will have a better idea of everything that needs to get done around the house.

This visual reminder may also stand to help your kids better understand the work that goes into cooking, cleaning, and organizing things everyday.

3. Incentivize if Necessary

Now, in a perfect world you wouldn’t have to pay your kids to help around the house, but as you know, the world we live in is far from perfect.

To get your kids more excited about following a chore chart, offering rewards for completing certain tasks may be a good idea. There are a few ways to go about this.

First, you can offer a reward for them completing all their tasks every week. This is a great way to give out an allowance, as your kid will actually need to earn the money you’re giving them.

Next, you can offer individual rewards for more infrequent or difficult tasks. This can be things like mowing the lawn, cleaning the bathroom, or anything else you deem appropriate.

Finally, remember that rewards don’t have to be monetary! Consider things like screen time, a fun outing, or a special food treat they love as great alternatives to cash.

Of course, you can make the rewards as big or as little as you see fit. If you’re looking to build the habit of helping around the house for your kids – rewards are a great place to start.

4. Have Patience!

This one is specifically for anybody who struggles with giving up control of their space. Understand that especially when kids are starting to help around the house, they won’t do nearly as good of a job as you could.

And that’s ok.

If your child is going to help around the house for years to come, you need to start somewhere. Being able to encourage your child’s effort will go a long way in building their self-confidence.

While there’s nothing wrong with giving a few pointers here and there, your kids will enjoy doing chores a lot more if they don’t feel criticized when they do them wrong.

By actively encouraging them, and letting them know that you appreciate their help, kids will feel much better about doing their chores. While it can be tough to let go of some control, it will all be worth it in the end.

5. Make Sure the Chores are Realistic

Of course, the chores you’re going to give to a 6 year old will be much different than the chores you give to a 10 year old, or a 13 year old. Be sure you’re keeping your kids’ ages in mind when assigning them chores.

This goes back to the piece about communication. By talking to your kids about what you expect of them, and what they feel ok with, you can come up with a set of chores that are realistic and manageable for them.

By giving your kid too much responsibility too soon, you risk the entire system falling apart before it even begins. You’re much better off having your kid help out a little bit consistently, rather than a whole lot for a week or two.

6. Start Slow!

As mentioned above, you’d rather have a little help for a long time rather than a lot of help for a little bit. This is why starting slow with added responsibility is so important.

Especially if this is the first time your kids are being expected to help around the house, remember that this is new to them. Build their confidence by starting slow with easy jobs.

From here you can slowly start adding jobs as they get more comfortable with their newfound responsibility.

7. Be Available to Help

While it’s important you don’t micromanage your kids too much to help build up their confidence, you should still be ready to help them especially with their first couple of tries at a new job.

Your kids might have a ton of questions, and it will be tough for them if they don’t feel comfortable asking you for help. Try to strike a healthy balance between helping them and letting them do it on their own – after all, they’ll only ever learn by doing!

8. Use a Chore Schedule

Keeping track of and assigning chores on a chart will be difficult if you don’t even know what needs to get done. This is why keeping a chore schedule or checklist for yourself can be so helpful.

While you can find any number of schedules and checklists online, more often than not they’re too cookie-cutter and just lead to more mental clutter.

This is why we offer a completely customizable chore schedule system called Home, Clean Home. It allows you to fully customize your schedule based on your home, with generally recommended frequencies for each chore.

Having this master chore list on hand is a great way to keep your family chore chart organized. As mentioned, going through it with your kids can be a good way to start your chore chart too. Download it for free below!

9. Find a Template that Works for You

There are a ton of different templates available online for chore charts. While you can pay for a premade chore chart, you’re probably better off either making your own or finding a free one. This way you can have more flexibility in the structure to find a system that works for your family.

There are plenty of free designs available to download on Canva, check out the hundreds of free templates people have created here.

Of course, if you’re looking for minimal effort, there’s nothing wrong with buying a premade chore chart on Amazon if you see one that would work well for you!

10. Get Creative!

This continues on the theme of the previous tip, but remember there are so many different ways to make a chore chart beyond a simple table drawn on a white board.

By coming up with a more fun design, or gamifying the assignment of chores, your kids will likely be much more excited about participating in this new system.

Below are a couple of great ideas from around the web for making chore charts more exciting for your kids!

Making a DIY chore spin wheel like this one from Kennolyn Camps is a great way to make chore assignments more fun. You can also find plenty of spin wheels on Amazon if you want a low effort way to do this. You could also use this fun chore wheel from habyts for a digital alternative.

Another fun DIY chore chart idea is these adorable magnetic charts made out of cookie sheets from The Spruce Crafts.

Photo from Moritz Fine DesignsFinally, if you’ve decided you want to incentivize your kids with money, this Instant Gratification Chore Chart from Moritz Fine Designs is a great way to visually show what they can earn for each chore!

Hopefully this Guide Helps you with Implementing a Chore Chart System in your Home!

While implementing a chore chart system may seem daunting at first, it will be so worth it once your kids get with the program! Hopefully these 10 tips make it easier for you to get this super handy system up and running smoothly!