DIY Chore Bucket for Kids
A few weeks ago, I was inspired by Reviews, Chews, and How-Tos DIY Chore Chart post for kids. The post showed how to make a spray painted cookie sheet chore chart for your refrigerator.
The Deuce is a very independent 6 year old, but if he can get away without doing something…he will. Lately he’s been showing a desire to help me in the kitchen and help around the house. Particularly if there’s a reward for it. After the umpteenth time of telling him to pick up his clothes and towels from the floor, I headed to Dollar Tree to get some supplies for a chore and reward system.
Supplies I used
100 pack of jumbo craft sticks $1.00
1 red mini bucket $1.00
1 blue mini bucket $1.00
4 sheet pack of foam letter stickers $1.00
440 pack of self-adhesive foil stars $1.00
100 pack of glitter animal stickers $1.00
clipboard (already had)
Sharpie permanent marker (already had)
printer paper (already had)
Total cost: $6.00
What I am trying to accomplish
I blogged previously about The Deuce’s list of things to do before going to bed every night. It has since grown as he has grown. Also taped to his bedroom closet door are general rules for him to abide by, e.g., turn off all the lights in his room when he leaves out, flush the toilet when finished, etc. Those things are givens. I want to help him to mature and learn responsibility by assigning him chores and things to do.
How I created chore buckets
The Deuce loves bright colors like most kids. So I placed yellow foam letter stickers on the red mini bucket spelling out TO DO. I placed green foam letter stickers on the blue mini bucket spelling out DONE.
I wrote a specific chore with a Sharpie on a jumbo craft stick starting from the left end and applied the colorful glitter animal sticker to the right end. I did this on both sides of the craft stick so you don’t have to flip it over to read it. I don’t consider reading a book a chore by any means, but it’s something that I have to “remind” The Deuce to do.
I then placed all of the craft sticks in the TO DO bucket with the right end sticking out to showcase the glitter animal stickers. The TO DO bucket stays in The Deuce’s bedroom.
Aren’t sure which chores are age-appropriate for your kids? This list from Home Viable is an excellent guide.
How I am implementing the chore and reward system
The Deuce can choose (or be prompted by me or Hubby) to complete any of the chores on the craft sticks. Once a chore is completed, The Deuce has to tell me or Hubby that he is done. This is to ensure the chore was done correctly. If so, then the chore stick can be placed in the DONE bucket which is kept in my home office space.
In order to make this most effective, the deadline for completing chores and receiving rewards for those chores is two weeks. I also duplicated the same chore on a few sticks because some can be done more than once during the two week period.
I created the reward chart in an Excel spreadsheet and printed it out. I keep it on a clipboard in my home office. I apply 1 foil star per chore stick in the DONE bucket to the reward chart as the two week period progresses. As you can see at the bottom of the reward chart, I have a system for how many stars garner rewards. At the end of each two week period, The Deuce receives the applicable amount of rewards. These include an iTunes gift card in a small denomination, a trip to McDonald’s, a small toy, a sweet treat, etc.
In the future
As this becomes more effective, I will add more chores to the list with corresponding chore sticks for the TO DO bucket. It will also lighten my load at home as well as make The Deuce appreciate and earn special surprises.
We are still in the beginning phase of this, but look what happened after the first day…
Do your kids have assigned chores?
Do you give them rewards or an allowance?
What was your favorite chore to do as a kid? Your worst?
See ya later,
Kimberly
Great idea! I need to come up with something like this for my family. Thanks for sharing this idea! #trafficjamweekend
The results are amazing. Thanks!
Send Deuce my way! I have a mountain of laundry that needs to be folded. Sigh.
I love this idea. I did something similar with my kids and they’ve turned out to be pretty productive people. (Pats myself on the back.)
Thanks for linking up to #ShowMeYours XOXO
Deuce actually needs a refresher course. LOL I’m enjoying #ShowMeYours. 🙂
Cheap & effective. I like it!
#ShowMeYours
Thank you!
It’s great that you added a done bucket. It always encourages people to do more if they can see what they have accomplished I think.
It’s time for a new one because he’s asking for more! LOL Thanks Heidi.
This is a great way to entice kids to help and learn responsibility! Thanks so much for sharing on Makeovers & Motherhood’s Welcome Party Wednesday Link-Up Party! I am featuring it this week!
Alisha
I am humbly honored. Thanks Alisha!
Yes, we definable do chores around here, and the gold stars mean so much to kids! At the end of the week, if my daughter earns X amount of starts she knows there is a reward for her, and I told her that it could be anything, she’ll never know cause it’s a surprise (honestly I don’t know either, so it’s a surprise for us both!)
Surprise is right! I promised my son an iTunes gift card not knowing that most stores carry the lowest denomination at $15. I was expecting $5 or $10. I had to eat my words. Thanks Kalley!
Wow!Wow!Wow! I am beyond impressed!!
Awww, thanks Christy! I’ve been sharing it like crazy.
So glad I stopped by here today. Just last night I told the hubs that I needed to create a “chore list” of some sort for our little one. We’re trying to teach her about responsibility and EARNING money/rewards. This is a really good idea. With this she could even practice her reading. Love it. Pinning it. Doing it.
Oh good, Andrea. Thank you. I had been thinking about doing this for a while. Then we had a parent-teacher conference with Deuce’s teacher and she expressed how she knew he was “well taken care of”. AKA he’s spoiled! She told me that when she tells him his shoe is untied, he sticks his foot out for her to tie it. Oh no! And how he constantly misplaces his personal things like supplies, sweaters, coats, etc. That was the final straw for me. Hope it helps your little one.
Believe it or not, my favorite chore was cleaning. I’m still a cleaner! I swear sometimes that I’m going to open a cleaning company, but I think professional organizing will more than do. My least favorite: cooking. I’d do anything rather than cook. I was scared of oil splattering on me and getting burned, and it seemed to take so long to get the cooking process over. Hated it! And now, I love to cook. Who knew? LOL
If my mother even started to use the word “chore”, I would cringe. Washing dishes was the worst. Now that I have my own house, I get it! Just like my mother always told me. I’m still afraid of oil splattering on me. But I definitely enjoy cooking now. Thanks, Alison!