Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Kids & Chores

Currently, my kids are saving money for an upcoming Disney trip, so it’s easy to get them to do their chores.  (I posted about our Disney chore charts earlier this year.) However, I must say that I have been putting a lot of thought into how I am going to keep them doing their chores when we return from our vacation.  Ideally, it would be nice to always have some big upcoming event to “bribe” them with; but that’s not always possible.

I’ve been looking for an alternative method of encouraging my kids to do chores; so when I came across an online Chore Chart, I got nothing short of excited.  My kids absolutely love being online!  And while, as a parent, I try to limit the time they spend on the computer, I knew having a chore chart like that would totally appeal to them. 

I immediately set out to create a chore chart for Ian (5).  You are  given the opportunity name your chart, and set it up for e-mail reminders (if desired). There is a nice selection of background images to choose from, so you can really customize the charts to suit your child’s personality.  Once you’ve decided on the theme, you are then further able to customize the chart by adding in the responsibilities.  These fall into categories – Chores & Responsibilities, Behavior Goals, Healthy Habits, and even an area where you can create a custom addition.

After you’ve done that, you have an online chore chart that your kids can see, access, and add “stickers” to as they complete their required tasks.  These, too, have lots of options – so there’s definitely something your child will love!

So, what do I love about this?  Well, first of all, it’s FREE.  Secondly, it’s online and interactive, which means I don’t have to print out a chore chart each week (wasting paper and computer ink) and make sure I always have stickers on hand. Also, the homeschool mom in me likes the fact that a system like this could help teach kids, tweens & teens many important lessons, including:

  • Responsibility; A Chore Chart is an ideal way to help your kids feel like they are making a contribution to their family by doing their part around the house.
  • Understanding right from wrong; Setting behavior goals is an important way to help children strengthen their character and judgment.
  • Healthy Habits; Teaching good habits involving nutrition and physical activity are the cornerstone of prevent obesity in children and adolescents.
  • Money Matters; The optional point system teaches children three important lessons for managing money; earning, spending and saving.

What do you do to keep your kids active with their chores?  Would you consider an online program like  this?  If so, what appeals to you about it?

1 comment:

Beth D. said...

I love this!!!  I am going to definitely be checking into this!  Thank you for sharing! I had never seen this before.

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