Inside: Free chore chart printable for kids perfect for a summer chore chart or year round.
One of the questions I get asked a lot as a homeschool mom is how I “do it all”. The answer…I don’t!
Like lots of moms I give my kids daily responsibilities to help with things around the house and doing daily chores.
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For years I struggled to figure out how to have my kids consistently do jobs.
After a lot of trial and error I finally found a system that works so well. We have been using these chore charts for over two years and they are still working great.
We use these job charts year round but they are great free printable summer chore charts for summer time too.
Related Post: Summer Bucket List (Free Printable)
Chore Charts for Kids
Doing chores is a great way for kids to learn life skills and the skill of hard work.
At our house the kids have the same chore chart during the school year and summer break.
The chores on the chart change a couple times a year from winter chores to summer chores but the format stays the same. (I also change them when they just don’t seem to be working anymore or there is a different chore I want ne of my kids to learn).
Daily Chore Checklist
The format that has worked so well for our family is a daily chore checklist format.
At the bottom of this post you’ll find an editable template you can use to personalize chore charts for your kids.
There are two different templates you can choose from one includes a morning routine check list the other is simply a chart with jobs.
Kids Chore Chart with 10 Daily Jobs
Each day Monday through Saturday the kids have 10 jobs to do.
For my older kids their first job is actually doing a morning routine of five things that we call Fabulous 5.
The nine other chores change depending on my kids ages, the season and what I want them to be doing. I’ll share some of the chores my kids do/ have done below.
My older children have two job charts they alternate between (I make their charts double sided and they do opposite sides each week). For example my son may be in charge of vacuuming the basement one week and then my daughter has it as one of her weekly chores the next week.
These chore charts are the perfect way to have kids help during summer vacation and to keep them helping throughout the school year.
Rewards for Completing Daily To-Do List
Along with a sense of accomplishment we love using kids chore charts as a way to rewarded our kids for completing their responsibility and contributing to our family.
There are a lot of different rewards kids can get when they complete their daily checklist. Screen time, video games, playing with friends and money are all popular choices.
For our family the reward is money this allows us to teach our kids the value of money (and talk about exchanging work/service for money).
With the ages of my kids right now we have found that having each job worth 10 cents and kids able to earn $1 a day has worked well. Each week they are able to earn $6. Sometimes we offer other jobs for bonus money and once in a while the kids will ask for a way to earn a little bit more money.
Using the Kids Chore Chart Printable
My best advice for starting to use these chore chart pintables is have patience. It takes some trial and error to get it right.
Start Out With Disposable Charts
For the first couple of weeks I would print the charts on a piece of paper and make changes as needed (is the chore to hard, to easy, etc).
Laminate Charts
Once you have the kids responsibility assignments figured out I like to laminate my kids charts (this is the laminator I have and love!). Then they can mark their jobs with dry erase markers again and again. (A sheet protector could also work for this)
Depending on the age of your kids you may want to have kids change jobs every other week or have kids keep the same job each week.
At our house on the last day of the week my older two kids flip their chore charts over and they have different jobs for the next week (I have them alternate weeks doing each job).
Household Chores By Age
All of my kids have a chore chart yes including the 3 year old. The younger kids want to be like the big kids so they have a chart but I do it a little bit differently. They don’t do fabulous 5, their morning routine is kind of mixed in with chores.
I’ll share some of the chores we do by age so you get an idea what I’m talking about.
But keep in mind you know your kids best and the most effective way to have them help your family. Just because I have a job in one age group doesn’t mean it won’t work for other ages depending on your child.
Fabulous 5
For my older kids fabulous 5 morning routine they do 5 simple tasks they mark of then once they are all marked they mark the first job on their chart.
The five tasks I have my kids do each morning are:
- Get Dressed
- Eat Breakfast
- Brush Teeth
- Do Hair
- Pick Up Bedroom and Make Bed
Chores for Toddlers (2-3 Years)
For little kids you can expect them to need mom help to get their jobs done. The nice thing is you can put pictures on their charts and they will quickly learn what each picture means.
Here are some of the jobs my kids have done at this age:
- Put away shoes
- Help pick up toys
- Put cups away from the dishwasher
- Get dressed
- Put dirty clothes in basket
- Comb Hair (or let mom do it)
- Brush teeth
- Pick up socks and put them in the laundry (why are socks all over my house?)
- Wipe two barstools
Chores for Preschoolers (4-5 Years)
My preschooler loves doing his jobs everyday and has a great time each week telling us how much money he has earned.
If young kids haven’t done jobs before it might take a minute to get into the full swing of things, but they will probably enjoy it more than older kids.
Here are some of the jobs/ tasks my kids have done at this age:
- Put away shoes
- Help pick up toys
- Put cups away from the dishwasher
- Get dressed
- Put dirty clothes in basket
- Comb Hair (or let mom do it)
- Brush teeth
- Pick up socks and put them in the laundry (why are socks all over my house?)
- Wipe two barstools
- Give the dog food/water
- Vacuum stairs (with little handheld vacuum)
- Look at books
- Put dirty laundry in the laundry room
- Put away clean clothes
Chores for Young Children (6-7 Years)
Six and Seven year olds are able to be such good helpers and more independent in getting their jobs done. They definitely don’t need as much help as the toddlers and preschoolers.
Some of the jobs/ tasks my kids have done at this age (along with fabulous 5) are:
- Pick up specific room (living room, family room, etc.)
- Vacuum room (bedroom, living room, etc.)
- Vacuum stairs (with small vacuum)
- Wipe chairs and/or barstools
- Tidy bathroom (make sure no laundry is in there, it has a clean towel and toilet paper, etc)
- Put dirty laundry in the laundry room
- Put away clean clothes
- Unload dishwasher
- Fold load of laundry (I start with kitchen towels and bath towels)
- Weed in garden (perfect job for summer days)
- Clean window on door
Chores for Older Kids (8-10 Years)
Ages 8-10 I think of as the training years for kids to be able to do full tasks on their own as pre-teens and teens.
Some of the jobs my kids have at these ages are:
- Pick up specific room (living room, family room, etc.)
- Vacuum room (bedroom, living room, etc.)
- Vacuum stairs (with small vacuum)
- Wipe chairs and/or barstools
- Tidy bathroom (make sure no laundry is in there, it has a clean towel and toilet paper, etc)
- Put dirty laundry in the laundry room
- Put away clean clothes
- Unload dishwasher
- Load dishwasher
- Fold load of laundry (I start with kitchen towels and bath towels)
- Weed in garden (perfect job for summer days)
- Clean window on door
- Clean out fridge
- Pick up toys in backyard
There are plenty of other jobs you could include on your list of summer chore ideas (or year round chores), but this gets you started.
The BEST Job On Each of My Kids Chore Charts
It took me awhile to figure this out but…the one of my favorite things (the best job each of my kids have) is Ask Mom jobs.
Everyday my kids do 2 “ask mom” jobs. These jobs change everyday and are help with anything I need done that day.
“Ask Mom” jobs are a surprise chore usually where I have them fold a load of laundry, put away clothes or do other jobs that aren’t necessarily every day jobs, but happen a couple times a week.
But honestly so many different chores fit into this area. Sometimes it’s raking leaves in the fall, pulling weeds in the summer, unloading groceries from the car is one of my kids favorites because they can do it so fast.
It’s helped me so much to have the flexibility for the kids to help with a couple of different jobs each day.
Editable Chore Chart Free Printable
These charts are editable in Canva with a FREE account.
There are 2 pages of free printables each page is a different layout – If you want more than one page of a specific layout duplicate the page and you’re ready to go.
You can add graphics to the chart to make them cute or easier for pre readers…but be sure to select free graphics (or be ready to pay for them).
Please keep this template for personal use only.