Growing up, my siblings and I had a long list of chores we needed to do each week. I hated it. Don’t all kids? For that matter, don’t most adults hate having to do chores too?
But, the thing is, we have to do chores and it’s my belief that having your children help with chores is good for them (and you) as well.
Parents shouldn’t have to do all of the work to keep a house clean and running smoothly. My kids each have chores they are responsible for and today I’m going to share our chore system with you because IT WORKS!
If your house is exceptionally dirty and/or unorganized right now, start with THIS POST to whip your house into shape first, then use this chore system to keep it clean!
I first heard about this system in a Facebook group and they said it comes from a book called Sidetracked Home Executives. I took the part of it that worked for our family and this is what I ended up with.
If your children have chores you’ve told them to do but yet they aren’t getting done, this system will help!
Supplies You Need
- Index Card Box
- Index Cards (Preferably in a few colors)
- Index Card Dividers
- Pen or Pencil
The Chore System That Works!
This system is actually quite simple. As you have probably guessed from the supply list, you’ll be using index cards.
Set Up The Index Cards
You will list every single chore that needs completed on an index card. You will only list one chore on each index card.
By this I mean, don’t write “clean the bathroom”. Instead, write a card for each chore like one for cleaning the sink, one for the toilet, one for wiping the walls and door, etc.
I actually even have one chore card for wiping the toilet and one for cleaning the inside of it. That’s because, with 7 children, it typically needs wiped down daily, but only scrubbed on the inside once a week.
Each card should also fully describe each chore, including the specific location and other directions. For example, if the chore it to empty the trashcan in the bathroom, you should write it as, empty the trashcan in the downstairs bathroom, take the trash bag outside to the trashcan, and put a new bag in the trashcan. If any trash has fallen out of the trashcan, put it in the bag before you take it out.
I decided to write an estimated time for chore completion on the upper right side of my cards. This is helpful for me to keep track of the amount of time I’m asking my children to complete chores each day.
Additionally, it helps them to know how long they should expect a chore to take.
I also color code my cards. White cards are daily chores, pink cards are personal hygiene “chores”, orange cards are once-a-week and bi-weekly cards, yellow cards are monthly or seasonal cards, and green cards are homeschooling tasks.
Coloring coding your cards is very helpful so don’t skip this step.
I’ll warn you that you will need 1-5 hours when you initially set this system up, but you can work on it a little bit each night for a week if needed. You can also add new chore cards as they need to be completed.
I still find myself adding new cards as I discover more chores that need to be done so always keep some extra cards on hand.
Set Up The Index Card Box (or Boxes)
Next, get out your index card dividers. For each child make a divider with their name on it. Then make a second one right behind that one that says their name and then, “complete”.
Behind those you will also make a divider for each day of the week, followed by dividers for each month.
Consider Two Boxes
I started with one box but ended up ordering me a second box. Now in one box I have all of the tasks for my children. In the second box I have my own tasks/chores and also store all of my extra chore cards in there (the bi-weekly and monthly cards). That’s why you don’t see the other dividers in the example above.
Why Extra Dividers for Days and Months?
There are so many chores that need completed but they don’t need completed every day. Sometimes once a week is often enough, sometimes once a month is often enough. Sometimes you might even be able to space something out more than a month.
For example, you might place an index card in the month of September that says, “change wardrobes to next season’s clothes”. You certainly wouldn’t do that every month!
This also helps you to not forget about the chores that you don’t do very often, like dusting ceiling fans, wiping walls, or wiping down your stair railing.
Now Put The Index Box Into Practice
Once you have it set up, you are ready to go! You can actually start before all of your chore cards are completed too. Write the daily chore cards first for this reason.
Before you go to bed at night or first thing in the morning you will need to reset your index card box for the day. Because everything is color coded it’s easy to move the white cards back to the “do” section, and remove the other color cards to replace with new ones.
This is where I utilize the days of the week tabs. Every Thursday one of my son’s chores is to take the trash to the end of our driveway. On Friday morning, I file it back in the “Thursday” spot so I don’t forget it the next week (and he doesn’t either). I also have another chore card so he remembers to bring the empty cans back up on Friday.
For the chores that only need to be completed monthly, just work those in on days you aren’t as busy.
Teach your children to tackle one card at a time (I tell my children to do them in order of the card placement) and then file them away in the completed section when they are done.
If you are consistent with this system, your children will know what’s expected of them each day without you having to nag and remind them. My kids know in the morning after breakfast to hit the index card box and get their chores knocked out for the day.
Some chores can’t be completed until later in the day (like clearing the table after a meal) so my children know to check back to throughout the day to make sure their chores are all caught up for the day.
Homeschooling
Just a quick note for homeschool families that this also works great for that as well! My kids have cards like 30 minutes of reading, practice spelling words for 15 minutes, and it helps us to make sure they are getting all of those important homeschool tasks completed.
Make the System Personalized To Your Needs
There are so many things you can add to the box to make it work for you. For example, I’m planning to add another color index card for bills. Some bills we only pay annually so I am going to add those to the correct month slot so I don’t forget them.
You could also add another color index card to list birthdays for each month to remind yourself to mail out birthday cards.
I’ve been using this system for nearly a year now and it’s helped our family so much. I hope it helps yours too!