but having four kids doesn't afford me much time to be or stay overly organized. what i have learned with our growing family though is that everyone can help. and should! little ones can fold kitchen towel, put up silverware and set the table. as they get bigger, they can fold and put away clothes, help load the dishwasher, and pour milk for dinner. their little worlds might revolve around playing and toys, but their days require so much more than that!
we've stepped up our consistency in making them take responsibility for their stuff as well as helping our family run more smoothly. we have a long way to go, but i've seen so much improvement in other areas once we implemented their chore charts.
i tried a weekly chore chart a year or so ago. it was just too much information. they couldn't track the days and chores on the chart. they couldn't remember to put their stars on and i couldn't remember to remind them!
so this summer with a 6 year old and two 4 year olds, we've started a daily chore chart.
some of the items (get dressed, brush teeth) aren't so much chores but taking responsibility. then there are things like folding and putting away clothes and feeding the animals that are chores. and it's working. they like it. and so do i! i could simplify some things and just do chores; but i found myself reminding them over and over again to do the same things, and i was getting frustrated! so now i remind them once to do a set of instructions and then refer them to their chart! 
teeth are getting brushed and toys are getting picked up with little or no push back from them. i've given each child a time to feed the dog (3x a day) and i've divided up things like the dishwasher and wiping the table and feeding the cat among them. their charts don't look the same, but they have the same opportunity to earn points (pennies)! not every item gets moved every day, but it's there!i've also started a weekly calendar.
our oldest loves to know the plan. she comes by it honestly. our calendar looks packed, but it includes things like school time and quiet time and breakfast and lunch. yet it shows them that we have camp before lunch and gymnastics after quiet time and which days we'll go to the pool. it's more about the order of things than the time. (the numbers at the bottom are their chore chart tally. they earn a penny a item for now). we're doing a theme a week (or so) with activities and crafts and learning a verse each week. in the whole grand scheme of the day, that organized aspect takes up very little of the day. there's lots of playing and downtime. but they love their charts!
i've had several people ask me about our chore charts after i posted one in our daily pictures posts.
so here are the logistics: i started out looking at sheet metal and frames, but who knew sheet metal was so ridiculously expensive! i found four 12x12 magnetic chalk boards at Mich@el's and used 40% off coupons to get them.
it makes them look less overwhelming and the items are easier to find.
these are our chore chart pictures and the to do/done labels. again, they are catered to our family, and can be changed and tweaked to fit yours. (side note: double sided tape works great to stick labels and ribbon to the boards.)here is our our weekly calendar template and the pictures we used on the calendar are here and here
they are catered to our summer and our schedule, but there are tons of options online to use for this.
obviously, there's no right or wrong way to do this. our goal is to teach our kids about taking responsibility and working together to complete a task. it's all about planting seeds.
...and watching them grow.
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