Making Life Simpler – 5 Easy Chore Charts

Last week I started a series called Making Life Simpler, kicking things off with a post about T-Mobile's money-saving prepaid phone plan, Simply Prepaid™, that can save you money while helping you stay connected with the kids. Today, I am sharing another way to keep dibs on the kids: Chore Charts. These 5 DIY Chore Charts or chore chart alternatives are a great way to get the kids to do their chores and help minimize the number of times you need to repeat, “Take out the trash!” So, here ya go… 5 Easy Chore Charts:

1. Bulletin Board Chore Chart

All you need is shipping tags, markers, and a bulletin board to make this super easy chore chart. I made this one for my kids and they love it – so easy, 3 chores a day, and my house stays clean (ish….) LOL

2. Cookie Sheet Chore Chart 

This is a fun and affordable way to make a chore chart with dollar store cookie sheets. Score!

3. Chore Monster

This is an app you can put on your phone. I first heard about it from Heather Mann of Dollar Store Crafts. You assign tasks that have point values and the kids can then use the points on rewards that you create. Like for Katie we had a trip to the mall with friends was 100 points. She could earn that by doing tasks that were 5 – 20 points each. We abandoned the idea because it is all tracked on smartphones or tablets and, since Matt did not have either of those at the time we tried Chore Monster, and he could not really read, it was darned near impossible for him to do anything. NOW, he does have a smartphone (yeah, T-Mobile Simply Prepaid™, $40 a month!) and we are totally looking at Chore Monster again. It is the answer to all those pesky questions… “Mom, can you buy me this?” and “Mom, can you take me to this place?”….sure, that'll be 100 points! Mwaaahahaaa. But seriously. 100 points.

4. Put the Money where the Chore is!

I have tried a chart like this in the past but this one is way more thought out than the one I did. What a way to motivate — do the chore and you get cashola in hand, right now!

5. The Clip System.

The school teachers around here use paper clips to track the kids behavior in class so this system seems like a total no-brainer, right? Put all the clips around the edge of a jar or can. As the kids do the chores, they put the clip into the jar or can. It's simple, cheap, and easy for the kids to do and understand. 

All week long we will be sharing more “Making Life Simpler” finds and tricks and DIYs to make things go a little easier as we enter Spring. 

Author: Jennifer Priest

It started with jewelry, beading, sewing, home decor, painting, basket weaving, pottery, and cross-stitch. Marry that to an entrepreneurial spirit & at 9 years old a girl is selling her wares at craft fairs as far as her parents and grandparents would drive her. These days, Jennifer enjoys crafts of all genres from sewing to scrapbooking to jewelry with a little dabbling in the mixed media world. Her style is approachable and she wants everyone who sees her work to feel that they too can embrace creativity and make their home and life beautiful.