Chores List for the Kids – Free Printable Included

If your kids are anything like mine, they absolutely do not like to do chores. But then again, I can’t blame them because even as an adult I don’t like to do them. I created a cleaning checklist for myself and afterwards, my daughter asked if I could make her one and a lightbulb went off. Why not create her own checklist that listed all of her chores but also on the bottom, I could write in what she could earn by doing all of these. MOM WIN!

Now, we’re the type of parents who give incentives for completing a task. Whether it’s $5, a day out with just mommy or daddy, chick fil a for dinner, or getting to chose our activity for the weekend. They are simple things but mean a lot to our kiddos and are tailored for their ages as well. Adylee is older so of course hers looks more like money or taking her to get nails done, etc. Giovanni is just now getting into doing small chores around the house so his is more like choose dinner for Friday night or get a Monster Jam truck from the store. Gracelyn is only 2 and I’m just thankful if she picks up her toys and doesn’t rip her diaper off for the day. She’s a spitfire that one!

That brings me to our chore list! I made a super simple design that has each task listed for them and then if they did it for that day they get to put a check mark in the box. They have their everyday tasks like clean your room, do your homework, pick up your toys, brush your teeth (yes that’s listed cause lord knows these kids fight me), and to help set the table for dinner. Then there’s your weekend tasks like vacuum your room, put your shoes away that have been out all week, put away laundry, etc. I write their names at the top and then put it on the fridge so that they see it and can easily have access to it. Also, keeps me from having to re-print a million cause they’ve lost it. Learned that lesson real quick!!

Then in the notes section, I write what their incentive for that week is. I always ask Adylee what she wants that to be and remind her that every week can’t be money. Sometimes for her it looks like get me a Starbucks or going bowling on Saturday, all things that we love to do as a family. Other times, it’s buy nails or get hair chalk which are things she personally enjoys and that’s okay. For Giovanni, we don’t ask him because he is only 3 and most of the time he looks at me like I have ten heads so my husband and I usually just write down something he may have asked for last week that we didn’t get him or do and other times we have a special event coming up so we say we’ll get him something there. Like next week, we are going to Monster Jam so we’ll buy him a souvenir from there if he completes his tasks.

It helps them learn responsibility and while I probably end up cleaning up their toys and rooms most of the time anyways, they at least START it and that earns them whatever it is they want. I know that they are young and that one day, I’ll look back and wish I was tripping over their toys and shoes. Which is why I still soak it all in even though it drives me insane. That’s why we have this chore list because even though I may end up doing 99% of the work, we get to do it together. They can look back on memories of cleaning the house with me and dancing around to music while doing it and smile. They may come across a song when they’re older and say “hey mom remember when I was 8 and we used to listen to this while cleaning the house” and I can remember their giggles and fighting. Because, that’s what happens with my parents and it makes me fondly remember those much, much simpler times.

Want to download this chart for your littles? Head to my free resource library and download it! Don’t have the password? That’s okay! Just enter in your email to the right and you’ll be sent the password to access this chore list, coloring pages, cleaning checklists, SVGs, and so much more! Click the button below to access it.