Our Kid-Motivated Chore System

(Tanja, this one's for you girl....sorry it's taken me so long)

So, one night I had insomnia and I thought of an idea. It seemed great. I dug in. It came out pretty good and worked better than anything we have ever tried. The kids were really excited at first of course but they are still chugging along well too. In fact, they hound us to refill the chart so they can get paid. So, I guess WE are the ones slacking now! LOL!

Materials

• One poster board (I used black)
• Half as many envelopes as you have chores for your child (if they have ten chores, you need five envelopes capisci?)
• Markers you like
• Colored card stock cut in "bucks"

(one color or color theme per child)

The Process

• Cut the envelopes in half (I use cute scissors)
• Decorate how ever you want (I just lined in the color)
• Label the chore on the envelope in the color of that child's "bucks"
• Glue onto board
• Fill with as many "bucks" as are needed for that chore in a week
• Separate the chores by child
• There is no need to name label, you just tell the children what their color is.

The Concept

You decide the value of the chore. For our kids it's 10 cents. So, your "bucks" are worth ten cents. There are enough in the envelopes for each day they do the chore (I have them labeled now Mon-Fri and Sat has one for Sat chores that I group together). They go to the board, see their chore, go do it and come back to claim their "buck". This system is completely kid motivated although we do hand out the occasional prompt. They are responsible for keeping their bucks, if they loose one, it's gone and we don't replace it. Caedmon has a dollar store wallet just for this but the girls chose to use envelopes.

Each week we have them bring us what they have earned and they get paid.

The RULES

• Some chores must be done by certain time frames or you do them anyway and don't get your buck
• Other chores are so crucial that if Mommy has to do them, you pay mommy the amount you would have received
• You loose it, you lost it
• Some chores are optional and only there to earn money if you want (bible reading, produce eating etc)

I do morning and evening high fives that are worth one buck. I got this concept from Life As Mom . For us those are things in the AM like make your bed, brush your teeth, pack your backpack etc.

IF you have any questions, comment. I hope I covered it all. I have a friend who has all ready taken this idea and made it her own, and you can certainly use it as a spring board.