Family & Parenting, How to Keep Kids Excited About Their Chore Chart In Three Easy Steps


by MARY KOLESNIKOVA - Date: 2009-04-24 - Word Count: 438 Share This!

Every parent knows the feeling of possibility when they set up a new chore program and the kids get to work. The first days and weeks of a new routine are wonderful: chores get done, kids don't grumble, the household comes together smoothly. More often than not, though, even the best chore programs lose their punch and kids get tired of them. Here are three surefire ways to keep your chore chart exciting and motivational, so that reminding your kids to do their chores doesn't become one of yours.

1) Make the Chart Together

If your kids are involved in the chore program process from the very beginning, they'll be more excited. They will know everything involved right from the get-go, and they'll also feel more powerful and responsible over their own duties and schedule. Consult on chores together, pick rewards and outline consequences with your kids. They'll feel more ownership over their new routine as a result.

2) Create Consequences

To lend your new chore chart maximum impact, make sure there are consequences. There should be a built-in consequence for not doing chores - like the loss of a favorite privilege - but there should also be a reward for staying on top of tasks. Don't forget, reward can be a great motivator. Just make sure you pick a reward that you feel comfortable giving time after time. Rewarding kids at the beginning of a chore program but stopping the practice later won't keep them excited. Great reward ideas: movie outings, allowance, picking one chore a week to skip.

3) Mix It Up

Routine breeds complacency, especially the kind of household routine that kids would rather skip. Instead of dropping a perfectly good and reasonable chore program once interest in it wanes, don't give up quite so easily. Change up your chore chart by shuffling tasks around from child to child, switching the days you expect the tasks to get done and introducing new tasks as your child's level of responsibility grows. Make sure you don't overwhelm your kids: don't introduce five new tasks without taking any away. And, just as you did when you first created your chore charts, include your brood in the process... they'll get that excited feeling all over again.

The easy, fun and customizable chore chart tools at Handipoints.com chore charts help parents and kids "Make Fun of Work!" With Handipoints and HandiLand, the virtual world, just for kids, parents can sit down with their kids to create a fun chore chart, set up rewards and demerits for motivation and easily edit their printable chore charts to keep chores fresh as a breeze!


Related Tags: kids, parenting, behavior, responsibility, chores, allowance, chore charts, motivating kids

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