Chore Sticks

I am a simple person requiring simple procedures to run my life.  Anything requiring too much of a time investment will flop at my house.  So after searching and searching for the perfect chore record, I found the perfect thing… Chore Sticks!

These sticks are awesome.  They are simple, fast and I can see from my kitchen which of my children still have chores to complete for the day.  With 5 kids to monitor, simplicity is the key.

The basic explanation is this…  Each stick has a chore that needs to be completed each day.   When the chore has been completed, the stick is flipped showing a different colored tip representing a finished job. The singular stick with the big flag on the top is attached with velcro and represents a weekly chore.  We call it "The Big Chore".  I exchange "the big chore" each week so nobody gets stuck taking out the trash or cleaning out the car for more than a week.

I wanted something cute and trendy since this would be in a public area in our home.  I first dyed the tongue depressor sticks with the colors from a discounted easter egg dying kit (it was cheap AND had all of the colors I needed), and then decoupaged matching scrapbook paper on both sides of the sticks leaving about an inch at each end for the telling "all done" color change.

Next, after observing my kids and walking through the disaster areas in my home, I printed out the most critical chores on a label with my label maker and applied them to the sticks.  These chores can include anything you want or need your "littles" to do.   Mine are pretty simple.  "Pick up room."  " Make Bed."  "Hang up coat and backpack."  "Brush Teeth."  See, super basic.  Then I created the weekly chores for each child.  They only have one weekly chore at a time.  My kids are pretty little so our chores needed to be manageable for one person or they were given a partner for harder tasks like "take out trash".  (One to hold the bag and one to dump the trash.)  Apply velcro and Wah Lah!  Chore sticks.

Motivation… A chore plan without a motivation is like a cookie without milk.  (Or dinner without dessert!)  So after much pondering, I came up with "moolah".  "What?"  You ask?  Money as a reward?!  What a novel concept.  Okay, I didn't get too creative.  Money just motivates, especially my kids.  So money it is.  The kids earn 2 moolah a day.   They earn one moolah for partial completion and they earn two for full completion.    If one or more of my children don't do ANY chores, that child/children won't get a dime (or a moolah)!   They start off the pay period (their pay period mirrors my husbands) with all their moolah for the two weeks. They can see it and count it since it stays in the accompanying "money" jar.  I take a moolah out when chores don't get done.  That way, they feel very motivated to keep ALL the moolah they have.  They hate seeing me take a moolah out.

I'm afraid we have some seriously basic moolah.  Construction paper and contact paper.  But hey, it works.  My 5 year old earns .50 cents a day (so .25 cents a moolah).  My 7 year old triplets earn .70 cents a day (.35 cents a moolah) and my 11 year old earns $1.00 a day (.50 cents a moola).

My favorite part of the chore sticks is "MOM'S CHOICE."  I use that one to my complete advantage and  it's use depends on what's going on at that exact moment.  Sometimes it's "clean a toilet" and sometimes it's "help a sibling with homework".  And sometimes it's even "give mom a kiss and hug!"  That one is everybody's favorite!  (Well, for me, it rivals toilet cleaning.)  8-)

Linking up to Tatertots & Jello