Hi Guys. Welcome back to my channel. In today's video I'm going to talk to you about how we
implemented chores for the kids at home, and the system that we're using. And I also have
a free printable for you guys that you can download and print off and use it for yourselves.
It's available on my website, so I will link it in the description down below. It was really
fun to design and it's really working for us. I hope you like it as well. But basically
this all started a couple of weeks ago when I was feeling I was just doing so much around
the house. We've always involved the boys in terms of like we'd play the tidy up song
and they would help us tidy up toys. We've encouraged them to make their beds and to
finish their meals and to load the dishwasher and little things like that.
But I always felt like I was nagging, and I am sick of it basically. So I started to
research chore charts and the benefits of giving your children chores, and I couldn't
believe some of the research that I found. It said it would not only make them more independent
and responsible, but that children who had chores have increased health and wellbeing
as adults. They're less likely to overindulge and there's so many other benefits as well,
so I was like, "Right, I'm going to do this." So I turned to Pinterest and found all types
of different chore charts. There were magnetic ones, there were ones on pegs, there were
chores sticks, there were wipeable ones, so many to choose from. But in the end I went
with these wipeable ones and we also have chores sticks, which I will show you in a
moment.
Before I do tell you about the system, I just want to say that two weeks in from giving
the kids chores, that it has been completely life changing. I feel like the house is a
lot more zen and running so much more efficiently. The children are really happy doing their
chores. They have a real sense of achievement once they've ticked them off the list, and
I feel like I am not nagging at all anymore because the kids responsibilities are always
down here. They basically have to complete their chores before they get any kind of screen
time or rewards. So they can just refer to the list, to get everything done that they
need to get done. And that's sort of put onto them now rather than me constantly nagging
them and telling them what they have to do next in their routine. So I just feel like
it's been so brilliant, and of course it's great to just encourage your kids to help
out anyway. But by having like an official structure, I have really seen the benefit
of it. So if you have a child that's like four or five and up, I would totally recommend
giving it a go.
So the first thing I did was to go onto Pinterest, choose what I'd like to look up and I actually
ended up redesigning our own chore charts that would have morning tasks and evening
tasks on it. And then because I don't have like a lamination machine, I bought these
plastic envelopes on Amazon. They came in a pack and they're just brilliant because
now I can use like a wipeable marker, write the chores and then you can tick. And also
like wipe away anything. And that also means I can change the chores from day to day. If
I want to, for instance, Fraser on a Saturday, he needs to wash his football boots. So I
can add that on if I want to, or you can just keep changing it, which I think is great.
So that's what we did first. We chose the one we wanted and then Matt and I chose the
chores together. This was like behind the scenes, before we talked to the children,
we decided what we thought should go on there, what was reasonable. Of course you want to
choose chores that are age appropriate and there are also some great lists online that
you can find, you know like what are children that are five years old, what are they capable
of doing? What can they handle basically. So once you've got the chores themselves,
we then sat the boys down and told them that this is what we were going to do. We're going
to implement chores for the children. You know, they're a bit older now. It's time to
help around the house because it's our family home and we all need to chip in together.
And then we talked them through the chore charts, which I'll show you now. This is Caleb's
one and this is Fraser's. It's the end of the week, so I hope it's not too scruffy.
And they've done their morning things. They're currently at school and then they will complete
these once they get back. So over here is Caleb's, and you can see he has his morning
chores that he needs to get done before he gets any kind of screen time. We made the
reward screen time because that's the thing that they want the most. And then again, he
has some afternoon chores, which he needs to complete again before he gets any screen
time or any treats. And then at the end of each day, you can tick whether they've done
it or not. And then at the end of the week, if they complete everything, they can choose
a reward. So for Caleb, he put that he wants a black Fanta. At first, I didn't know what
that was and I put it on Instagram and someone said, do you think he means Coca Cola, because
it's like a fizzy drink.
So he's actually not allowed fizzy drinks. So that's probably why he wants that to be
the reward. But I think we're just going to take him to the news agents and see what he
chooses. If we can work out what the black Fanta is. And for Fraser, he has very similar
chores as Caleb and then the reward that he wanted was a sleep over. So in the morning
before they get any screen time or TV, they need to have their breakfast and load their
dishes into the dishwasher. They also need to get dressed into their school uniform and
put their pajamas away. They're really good at getting dressed, but I would find the pajamas
on the floor or on the couch once they'd gone off to school. So now it's in the washing
basket or if they're still clean, you know, put them away into your closet. They also
need to brush their teeth, wash their face, do their hair as well, make their snack and
drink to take to school, and also make their bed.
So when we get home from school, the boys have to eat their dinner and load the dishes
into the dishwasher. That one sounds like a really easy one, but I was constantly asking
the boys to finish their dinner, have another bite, keep going. But now it's just like,
well you just can't have any traits or any screen time or anything until you've actually
eaten all of your dinner. And it's really made a difference. They also have to do two
chores sticks. S
o this is what I wanted to show you. I saw this on Pinterest and I just thought it was
such a cute idea. You write chores onto these like Popsicle sticks or lolly sticks and then
they can choose like two. I may actually up Fraser's to like four a day, because he can
do some of these so very quickly. So I'll lay them all out and show you the type of
thing that we do. For a lot of these ideas, I found them on Pinterest. There are so many
good lists and kids chores ideas on there, but I also added in ones relevant to our family
and also just some fun ones as well. So you have like Hoover or vacuum the living room.
Wipe the microwave door. Read Jackson a book, because I thought it'd be really nice for
them to play a bit more with Jackson. Fold laundry. Say something kind. Wipe one fridge
shelf. Wipe the surface. Do five pushups. So I've done like a few health and fitness
ones as well. Little simple ones like give mommy a kiss, take the stair basket up, sweep
under the chairs, empty the bins upstairs, help make dinner, clear out your backpack,
put your shoes away.
All of them are quite simple and achievable. Some of them I have had to show them how to
do them, like wipe down the kitchen doors. I'll show them where the spray is, I'll show
them where the cloth is and I'll help them do it. Because I think for the first few times
with some of these, I of course will have to help them, but then in the future it will
just be second nature. I've also done like play reading eggs, dust the frame's, clean
the windows, Hoover your room, tidy up cushions. I put fold laundry in a few times, because
I thought that's one that will always need to be done. Play flashcards. With Jackson,
I've even put in cut toenails because they hate doing that, so I thought if it was like
an official chore it would get done.
The chore sticks have gone down so well and because the chores are different every day,
that's really exciting for them. It's almost like it's playtime or a game. As soon as they
run in from school, they will run to the chore sticks and choose which ones they have to
do and then complete them straight away. So they're like a big thumbs up. They also have
to help pick up the toys. Basically before we go up to the bath every night, I just say,
"Okay, Google. Play the tidy up song."
Sure. Time To Tidy Up by Dave Moran. Here it is on Spotify.
So it's basically a two minute song and we run around and pick up all the toys while
it's playing. Then they also have to do their homework and read a book. Fraser needs to
read for 15 minutes and Caleb just has one reading book that he gets home from school.
And they also have to bath, wash the hair and brush their teeth. That's basically what
we've been doing for the past two weeks and I don't think the novelty is going to wear
off. They're really enjoying having these responsibilities and it's so lovely to see
them take pride in how their room looks and how they make their beds and it's been brilliant
having some more help around the house. The other day I went to clear away all the breakfast
dishes and almost all of them are already in the dishwasher. It's been amazing and I
don't know why I didn't think about it sooner. I just totally recommended it, and I'm so
pleased that this is just great life skills for them.
I'm hoping that my daughter in laws in the future will thank me for this, because my
boys will be able to cook, they will be able to clean, they'll be able to do laundry, there'll
be able to do everything. They'll just be independent people and I'm really proud of
that and they're loving it. It's like fun for them. So that's good as well. I have had
a few messages on Instagram saying, "You shouldn't call it a chore chart. It shouldn't be a chore
to eat, it shouldn't be a chore to read." And I totally respect that. So if you wanted
to call it like a to do list or you know, things to get done or responsibilities, something
like that, please do. As I said, link is down below to go ahead and print them out if you
want to give them a go. And I'll link these envelopes and pens as well. Thank you so much
for watching and I'll see you in my next one. Bye guys.