I hate cleaning with a vengeance. I also hate feeling like I can’t sit down and relax because a messy house is staring me in the face. I’m not productive if there are toys everywhere, dishes in the sink and papers strewn about.
However, I have kids, so my house is generally in a state of some sort of disarray. There’s always something to clean, laundry to wash and toys to pick up. I decided that since 95 percent of the time it’s not me who is making the mess (unless it’s in the kitchen) that I shouldn’t have to be bear the brunt of the cleaning responsibilities.
My husband helps a ton. In fact, he is the one that usually does the dishes.
But, I decided the kids needed a piece of the action too. Sometimes they love to help, and it feels like a bonding experience. Other times it feels like, well…a chore.
They love to do things like dust or attempt to use the broom, but many times I need simple things done. (Please pick up all the Legos! Thank you very much!)
Instead of asking them to do certain things, I decided to make them a chore chart of sorts. But I’m not a big fan of having charts hanging around my house so it’s really not a chart at all. Instead I made them little jars of chores they can pick from – each jar containing chores that range in difficulty or time involved.
I also tied the chores to money. My children are already motivated by money, especially when I tell them they can’t have something because funds are low.
I’m a fan of giving allowances. I believe they are important because kids need to understand that they can earn something valuable for working hard.
I realize there is a debate around giving your child an allowance. Honestly though, unless I live on a farm and we have daily chores that HAVE to be done to move life along, I don’t expect my kids to go out of their way to do some of these things.
Some of the chores, I do expect them to do. But they don’t right now. They’re going to be 6 and 3-years-old. The chore jars are about teaching them to do these things on a regular basis too and sometimes the chore jars are just a reminder for them.
Job Jars & Chores For Kids
Supplies
- A jar for each child with their name on it.
- 3 jars for multiple levels of chores
- About 20 popsicle sticks
- Three different rolls of Washi tape
- A pen
I think that the steps in creating these are fairly simplistic, so I won’t write them out for you but if you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments.
What I like best about these jars are:
- They can grow with your kids. As they get older think about adding bigger chores like doing the dishes, mowing the lawn, etc.
- You can hide them. As you cute as they are, I honestly don’t want these as part of my home décor. But they fit perfectly in a cabinet!
Do you have a chore system in your house? I’d love to hear about it. What’s your take on allowance?
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Oh this is such a cute Idea! I love it and think in the future I will so do it!
That is such a cute idea! Making a jar like this for chores makes getting the chores done a sort of game.
This is such a great idea. I don’t have any little ones, but it will be perfect for my niece and nephew.
This is my favorite idea yet for a ‘chore chart.’ I can’t wait to get to the store so I can buy what I need to set this up. I am a believer in allowances too, but haven’t tied it into chores. I wanted my kids to help around the house because… well they live here, and no one pays me to do my chores hahah. But I like the idea of at least having some extra chores they could earn money doing. Thank you for sharing this!
This is a great solution for my kids this summer. We need to get more organized with our family chores.
This is a neat idea for children who are just starting to learn about the value of money. It teaches them that we work hard to earn money and I think that is great!
This is such a GOOD idea! I love this and I think my kids will too. Thanks for the idea!
My mom used to do something similar with me and I loved it. It just made chores a little bit more fun. I kind of wish someone would make me a chore jar now. LOL
This is a great idea – I wish I knew this idea when my kids were young. They are teens now and still not great at keeping to their chores. Maybe I will use this for them now!
This is such a great idea! So important to guide kids early on to have responsibility!
Great way to make them more responsible. Growing up, my mother made sure we did chores not just to help around the house but so we could develop skills that we needed when we lived on our own.
I agree with the way you look at chores fully! I do think once kids hit age 10 they need to do some things because they should but I think you have a great way of training them for that. I also love your jars!!! That is a smart idea!
This is such a fun idea! Hopefully this will make cleaning with kids a whole lot easier.
That’s a super cute idea for chores! We have a chore chart with the kids names on them and a “To Do” and “Done” section on them. Then there are hangers with tasks for them to do. Love this idea too!
This is such an awesome idea! I am so doing this for my kids and especially this summer!
This is such a neat idea! I love how the kids will always know their chores
What an interesting idea. I didn’t grow up with allowance and I think it’s definitely something kids should have. Teachers proper finances and wants vs needs vs saving!
This is an awesome idea!!! A great way to develop good habits and also learn about money!!
Super good idea! During the summer I try to give my kids chores and an allowance to ensure they have a little summer spending money.
This is such a good idea, especially with the summer months. I’m going to try this with my boys.
What a great idea. We haven’t started paying our kids for their chores yet…but I’ll consider this when we do.
Cute idea! Definitely a better than chore charts (in my opinion). ANd I like that it teaches them about money too!
I love this idea! I have been trying to figure out a way to make chores easier, I’m going to give this a shot.
I love this idea!! And those little jars with the chalk are too cute
love this idea!! those little jars are so cute, i would even use them as decor! =)
I want to do this! but question, should I start this now? My kid doesn’t know how to read yet, and it would not be fun if I’m the one reading it…what do you think?
What a cute idea! My kids could earn some summer spending money this way!
Oh wow this is SUCH a good idea!! I have four children and all of them could help out more with chores, I will definitely try this!
This is such a great idea!
I tried to have a chore system set up. But it was difficult maintaining it with my daughter given the divorce between her mother and myself. It’s difficult.
These job jars are such a great idea! I totally need to make these for my kids.
What a neat idea! My kids are not good at keeping up with their chores, and I spend so much time trying to keep up with everyone’s tasks and responsibilities. It would be nice to have something like this so I can streamline the process.