A few years ago I wanted to make chore boards for my kids to help them learn responsibility. So, I did what any “good” crafting mom is supposed to do. I got the metal trays and the magnets, the fancy tape and colored notecards. We made a mini chart with items that you moved from the not done side to the done side, and in theory this was supposed to happen every day. Then at the end of the week, if all was fulfilled, they would get their allowance of $1 per age (then $6 and $8).

If you are a real mom or dad, then you are already laughing at me knowing full well that within a few weeks these chore boards were missing half of their magnets and were crammed inside of their cubbies surrounded by dirty socks, candy wrappers and who knows what else. There was zero chance I would remember how many days those chores moved from one side to the other and, well, A for effort right?

Once a year had passed since I admitted defeat, I decided to try again, with what I call the real family chore chart. No crafting is required and it should take a few minutes – tops. On top of that, the money in literally staring them in the face and makes for a great motivational tool at their age.

I went and bought Magnetic Clothes Pins that come in a variety of cute colors and patterns ( so they still seem fun and festive). I then bought cute card stock and used my fancy colored pens to write down chores I wanted them to do. There are some mainstays like: Sweep downstairs, Clean up toy room, Put away dishes. There are also some ones for once in a while like: dust baseboards, put away clothes etc.

I then take each of these cards and place them in a magnetic pin along with the money that they can earn by doing this. For example, Sweeping downstairs has $1 with it while cleaning up the toy room is $2. I then place the pins on our fridge, smack dab in the middle of the kitchen when the beautiful green money will call out to the kids every time they go to get cheese, cheese and more cheese out of it. The kids then do their activity and only once it is completed, they bring me the whole clothes pin with both the money and the card so I can verify it has been done. After that, they can have the money and I can put a new card and money up.

It is seriously the quickest and easier “chore chart” ever. Plus, I have found that by having the money up there already that I no longer have to be the IOU mom who forgot I have no ones to pay up at the end of the week. A disgruntled 7 year old who is expecting $3 bucks and is told to wait is re-lent-lessssssss.

Need help coming up with a list of things your kids can do? Easy, anything you don’t want to. It may not be perfect, but they will only learn by trying and you will still get somewhat of a break in doing so.

If you try this out, send me a pic show it being put to good use – i’d love to see it!