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