Chore Jar

 

The Chore Jar

 

My kids have the hardest time cleaning up their room. They are 7,5 and 3. Every Saturday is chore day. They know they have to clean their room. I was getting really tired of telling them over and over until I was frustrated and yelling. Then we end up wasting most of our day until I'm in there cleaning because I just want to get on with my day.

So, with a little help from Pinterest, the Popsicle sticks, I came up with a way that gets them moving!

 

Items needed:

~ A jar or container of any kind- Free

~ Sand or magic sand (what I used) or tiny rocks (something small enough to allow the sticks to slide in. The "jewel" rocks are too big)- Walmart about $4

~ Popsicle sticks- Walmart $2

~ Markers- Walmart $2

~ Stickers and stuff to decorate the jar with

 

So this could be anywhere from Free to about $8 for everything.

 

The Idea:

Basically, I labeled the Popsicle sticks with things that are most likely on their floor like, Cars, Books, Clothes etc. I also labeled a couple with the shelves that are in their room like, bookcase, toy shelf ect. I then had the oldest (you can alternate) randomly pick a stick from the jar. He then has to go and clean up all of that item. The catch?? The other kids are sitting on the couch playing a game or watching a movie while he cleans! Heaven forbid he let them just sit and hang out! He goes in and cleans as fast as he can because then it's the next kids turn to pick a stick and go in and clean! I throw the bookshelf's into the mix so that they don't just throw things on to the bookshelf's but put them away properly. They know that they might pick a bookshelf stick and have to clean the whole thing! Of course, towards the end there are random things on the floor that aren't labeled on the sticks so I label a couple of sticks with "5 items", "10 items". That means to pick up any 5 or 10 items. Those sticks I put back into the jar after they have been drawn so they can use those again.

* I used a jar that was tall enough for the sticks to fit all the way in and have a  lid for easy and clean storage. *

 

Of course there are ways you can customize this idea to fit your family. I'm sure there are MANY different ways to do this. Let me know if this worked for you! Let me know how you customized it!

 

Enjoy!

 

Happy Cleaning!