Mom Blogs - AmazingMoms

Need creative solutions for your family chore challenges?

I have a confession to make:
Right around back-to-school time, I turn into an insatiable monster called "The Organizeaholic".
My children run and scream for cover, but with sticker charts and calendars in hand, I hunker down and brainstorm ideas for getting our house and hectic schedules organized. Not all of my creative solutions work, but a few have been successful because they were fun and involved the kids input.

You'll be amazed how a few art supplies and a roll of coins can inspire your kids to do their dishes, put away their back packs, and brush their teeth. Trust me; it's much better than nagging!
We could could all use more ideas....share yours in the commnet box below and tell me if they worked!

CHORE CLIPS
If adults have a hard time acclimating to the regular use of daily planners, imagine what it would be like if you gave your children a faux leather , pad filled organizing system – Hmmm maybe not such a good idea; especially, if your children
have yet to learn reading and writing skills. Let’s try another method where learning how to be a responsible citizen
doesn’t’ have to be hard work. Start small and keep it positive.

You’ll Need:
Two wooden clothespins per child
Acrylic Paint
Paint Brushes
Permanent Marker
Decorations: stickers, stick on jewels, craft foam, buttons, photos etc.
Sticker magnets or magnets and strong craft glue
Index cards and colored pencils

How to Make It
Your involvement in the project depends on the age of your children.
First, paint the clothes pins with the acrylic paint.

While the paint is drying, cut and prepare the chore cards, creating 2x2 square cards. Label the cards to match your child’s chores by writing, drawing, or take and print some digital photos of a bed, dog, and dishwasher. Then glue them onto the cards.
Each card will have one chore…Make My Bed, Brush My Teeth, Feed the Dog, Do My Homework, Water the Plants, Empty the Dishwasher etc. – I think the photos are the best solution, but I just didn’t have time to make them for this blog – sorry.

Now that the paint is dry, use the permanent marker to write “To-Do’ on one clip and “Done” on the other.
Then decorate the clips and attach the magnets to the backs and place them on the refridgerator.
Each day move the appropriate cards to the "To-Do Clip" – your Kids will move the cards over to the "Done" clip, as they complete their tasks. In our case the To-Do clip had to be empty before TV, Video Games, Friends, playtime etc. could occur.

The Reverse Chore Bank and How to Use It (this is my favorite)
First help your children make a bank using an oatmeal, breadcrumb or frosting container.
Cover the outside with fabric or paper. Then your kids can decorate their new bank anyway
they see fit; stickers, gel pens, craft foam shapes or buttons.
This bank will NOT have a coin slot however…keep the top solid.
Now that the bank is done you’ll need a roll of coins, one for each child. Depending on the ages of the children, you can use nickels, dimes or quarters.

So, how does this work?
First you should know that I don’t pay my kids to do their chores, “chores are just part of being member of the family” .
They do however receive an allowance every week. So this worked to my advantage.
Instead of giving the allowance at the end of the week I filled the container with the roll of coins at the beginning of the week. Your kids should put the coins in and count the money, to get a visual.
We began with $10.00 quarter rolls (my kids were older) and it looked pretty cool pouring the shiny new silver coins in.
I then explained that my time is valuable. When I have to do one of their responsibilities,
I’m using my valuable time and should be paid for it; one coin for each task….

For Example:
Picking up a back pack form the entryway – 25 cents
Putting laundry in the basket – 25 cents
Taking out the dog – 25 cents

At the end of the week the pitiful few coins that remained made quite an impression. Each week fewer coins had to be removed and we got to a point where coins were exchanged for paper bills; keeping the effectiveness of the coin visual.
Side Note: This worked better with my son than it did my daughter (12 at the time) who on the first week , seeing her stock of coins was substantially diminished – responded with, ”Gee $5.00 a week for a live-in housekeeper, that’s pretty cheap!” -- Let me tell you I was not such an AmazingMoms then. That girl is spunky like her mom!

Oh and by the way – I find that money incentives only work if your kids are saving for something particular, or if you make sure they pay for extras like treats, comic books, movies, video games etc.
If mom and dad are going to pay for everything – who cares if you have money, right?
I also think it helps if you discuss how many weeks of allowance it will take to grow their money and reach the goal; you need 3 rolls of quarters to get a used video game, one roll for a comic book etc.