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Archived Articles
No one likes to do chores, especially children. Now
there's a way you can get your children to do chores daily,
without nagging them about it. I like to call this the
"Random Chore Game" that the entire family
plays.
Writing Down your Chore List: The first step is to sit
down with a piece of paper and pen and write down all the simple
chores that your children can do. Are there important chores
that you would like to see your family do nightly or chores that
you'd like to see get done once a week? If so, put these on
your list.
Bundling Chores into Groups: Count the number of people
in your family. If there are two adults and one child then
you have three people who will do chores nightly. Look at
your chore sheet and list the chores that are related to each
other into groups of three. If there's one chore you'd like
to have done every night then you can include that chore into
every bundle of three. (Bundles of chores equal the number of
people in your family)
Example: If you have the following chores on your list:
*Sweep kitchen floor *Mop Kitchen Floor *Clean off kitchen
counters * Pick up items on family room floor *Vacuum family room
* Dust Family Room then you would pick the chores that compliment
each other and put them into a list of three, such as:
List 1
1. Sweep Kitchen Floor
2. Mop Kitchen Floor
3. Clean off Kitchen Counters |
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List 2
1. Pick up Items on Family Room Floor
2. Vacuum Family Room
3. Dust Family Room |
Make Chore Slips: Cut a few pieces of 8x10 paper into long
strips. Long enough that you can write one chore on each
slip. Get three slips of paper. Focusing on your
first bundle of three chores, write chore number one on the first
slip of paper, chore number two on the second slip and chore
number three on the third slip. Paper clip the bundle of
three chores together. Repeat this process again until all
of your chores on your list have been bundled in a group and paper
clipped.
Organize your Chore Bundles: Get two
envelopes. Write the word CHORES on one envelope and the
word USED on the other envelope. Place your chore bundles
into the envelope labeled CHORES.
Playing the Random Chore Game: Pick a time every night
that you will play the game. At that time, gather your
family in one location. Get the CHORES envelope and pull out
one of the chore bundles. Fan out the chore slips with the
words facing away from the family members so they can't read
them. Have each family member pick a chore slip. Have
each family member read his/her chore slip out loud. Each
family member is to do the chore that is listed on the slip that
he/she chose. At that time, each family should do the
assigned chore. Place the chore slips back together in a
bundle and put them in the envelope labeled USED. When all
the bundles from the CHORES envelope have been used then you can
take them out of the USED envelope and put them back in the CHORES
envelope to use the next week.
Benefits: Children will respond well to this process
because they will feel that they are choosing their chore and not
being told they have to do it. Children see this as a family
activity and when their parents are also doing the chores they
will enjoy being part of a group effort. You can do this
process nightly, or a few nights per week depending on your family
schedule and night time routine. You can make a few bundles
that you do over and over again, or you can do 7 different bundles
so you have a different chore bundle each day of the week.
That's up to you. Happy Cleaning!
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