How to Make a Simple Chore Chart for Kids

 Some parents teach their children to do chores so the kids can earn an allowance.  Some teach for the responsibility aspect.  Some are at their wit’s end and need some serious help around the house. After all, there are things you can only do yourself and things you should delegate (like oven repair!). No matter what your reasons, setting up a simple chore chart need not be a chore for you.

There are several ways you can do this on the cheap since you might need a chore chart for just one kid or maybe for multiple family members. You can write it out on paper, type it up on a computer, or use a dry erase, paper, or board chore chart you can purchase. Check out how below!

Create Your Own

To begin your rough draft chore chart, open Microsoft Word or other word processing program on your computer and set up your page to be printed in Landscape view. (you can also head over to this family chore chart I have in Google Docs, make a copy for yourself, then customize it)

Use the Table option to set up 8 columns across and several rows down (the number of rows will depend upon how many children you have, if you want to include yourself, etc.).  Make sure you put a border around the table, or it will print without lines around the chores.

Starting one column in, list the days of the week across the top of the chart.  Down the far left column, list the members who will be doing the chores.  Give the chart a title, like “The Smith Family Chore Chart.”

Print the Chore Chart.

Sit down as a family and determine what chores need to be done, and which chores are appropriate to the ages of your children.  Now might be the time to decide if you want to pay a small allowance, or if you would like for your kids to do chores simply because they are a part of the family.

Write the chores in pencil in the appropriate days of the week beside the children's names who will be doing the chores.

Post the chore chart where everyone can see it (on the refrigerator, on the kitchen wall, on the door your kids go in and out of the most).

Grab One That's Already Been Designed

Or to make it super easy on yourself, you can skip all of the above and just head over here for 101 Chore Chart Templates, which include daily, weekly, monthly, and more, and they are all beautifully designed!

Buy a Chore Chart

You can also head to Amazon and grab something like this Melissa & Doug Magnetic Responsibility Chart, which is colorful and fun for the kids to move the magnets around on daily as things are completed. 

Don’t forget about the chore chart once it’s written and posted. For a few weeks, you may need to remind your kids daily about their chores until it becomes second nature for them.