Our new chore system.

I am going to post some pictures on a very simple chore system we are using right now. I just came up with it one day because I realized I had everything I needed to make them. I love not spending extra money, it makes me seriously giddy to recycle things in my house and give them new uses. First I have to say that there was nothing wrong with our old chore system (we did chore packs=cards or "post it notes" with chores written or drawn on them, then shoved inside a clear badge that attaches to the child). It worked great, but I was sensing it was time to change things up a bit. My kids are military kids, and you have to keep them on their toes sometimes :)

Anyhow, where was I?

Oh yes! The new chore system. Soo first I went to Microsoft Word and found clip art of some chores I wanted the kids to do. You would not believe all the clip art you can find on that thing!
For instance..
A picture of a Cat= do litter box
A picture of a lady washing dishes= wash some dishes
A picture of a dishwasher= empty dishwasher (or whatever things you know how to)
A picture of a toy= put away all the toys on your bedroom floor
A picture of a hanger= hang up or fold all you clothes in your bedroom
A picture of a child brushing his teeth= well, you get the picture (pun intended)

Anyhow, as you can see I just put them on a Word Document, then printed them all out (I made doubles because I have two children and they each need their own pictures for their chore list).

Then I took my laminator (they sell these at Sams club for a very decent price and we love ours) and laminated the page with the clip art then cut them into small squares.

After that I took a roll of magnet tape (the thick kind) that we had laying around and cut smaller squares and attached it to the back side of the laminated clip art picture. I was able to attach it easily because the magnet tape roll had an adhesive side on it.

After that I took these LARGE white magnets that I had attached to the side of my refrigerator. I had bought these in the winter at Walmart because they claimed you could just simply put them up on some of the vents in your house that are not being used as much, and it would keep the cold draft form seeping in. They were not the right size for our vents AND they did not stay on. So we had these random huge rectangle magnets on our fridge for 4 months. Finally they have a use.

OK I did it again.....rabbit trail........

Sooooo I wrote in permanent marker a child's name on each one, then divided them in half and wrote "morning" on one side and "evening" on the other. Because once a day is not enough to have kids helping around the house. I'm just sayin....

Then all you do is put the magnet chart and clip arts low enough to be eye level with children and VIOLA! you have a chart. I simply walk over to the fridge in the morning, after I turn my coffee machine on, and put some "chores" onto their "charts". They magnetize perfectly and the children simply take them off the chart when they are done. We love it. It works for us. The pictures are so easy and I can change the chores daily if I feel like it. I like that freedom. For instance if the child fusses at doing his chores I simply let him know that I will add another chore if he whines, and then of course follow through if he/she doesn't stop immediately. Having that option of adding chores if necessary is not used often, but when it is used, it is highly effective and VERY handy :)

The last picture is the finished product with ALL the chores on the list. I did this only to show you all the clip art I made. I usually though only have about five for the morning and five for the evening, give or take.