My take on the pocket chore chart

Ahhh, chores, the source of much frustration in my home. I have gotten tired of needing to check and recheck to make sure my boys are doing them properly. There is always something they forget, even though the requirements haven't changed in a very long time.

I started looking online for ways to keep track of chores that my kids would like and found a lot of pocket charts. I loved the idea but none of them were quite right for our family, so I came up with my own.

Materials needed:
1 30 pocket chart (I got mine at a teacher store)
1 package multicolored cardstock
A ton of laminating pouches (I used about 60 of the 4x6 ones)
1 package star stickers

I let each child pick their own color for their regular chores that don't change from day to day (my husband and I share a color). I used another color for things that need to be done on Saturday and another color for the chores that rotate weekly. One more color for the rewards cards and finally, one color for chores that can be done to earn bonus stars. Laminate the cards if desired so they will last longer.

Different colors for each family member

I made the cards in Excel. Chore cards are 3.50" tall and 3.00" wide. The label cards are 2.75" tall and 3.00" wide. Select double sided printing and make sure the spreadsheet is centered on the page vertically. When using double sided printing, you will need to reverse the descriptions so they end up on the correct card. For example, the card on the upper left will need to have the description on the upper right to match up correctly.

When the cards behind each label are done, turn the label card over so the star is showing (I used a star that was in the clipart folder of my Word program).

Labels for the chore cards

Stars on reverse side of all label cards except Rewards

For the rewards cards, we are using star stickers to track progress. Each star sticker is worth five stars. The boys each picked something to work toward. I printed out a picture of the item chosen, glued it on one side of a rewards card and on the reverse side printed how many stars are needed to earn it.

My four year old wants a Megatron Transformer.

It costs $6 on Amazon so he needs to earn 30 stars to get it.

Doing the chores this way has meant the kids are doing quick clean ups three times a day (usually about 5 minutes each time) and the house is staying clean. There is less fighting, less complaining and now a couple of the kids beg for extra work so they can earn their rewards faster.

Final product