Vanessa and I were watching an episode of “Sid: The Science Kid” and he was talking about how he hated charts - especially chore charts.  The entire episode explored the concept of charts and I casually mentioned to Vanessa that maybe we could start a chore chart to get her motivated in doing chores.

After some research on the web and some filtering through my JA (Junior Achievement) material - because they are afterall, a great resource for financial literacy, I decided that moving forward with an age appropriate chore chart and the correct incentives would be beneficial for my developing child.

So basically what I’ve done is created chore icons (that are age appropriate, but not always necessarily chores - like brushing teeth) which can be inserted into a microsoft word template and then printed out.  Keep in mind that some are not really chores, they are merely things to do to begin developing healthy habits (like brushing teeth).

The concept works like this:

• There are only 5-6 chores available on a chart (at the current time)
• Each week the chore chart starts anew (laminate the chart to reuse)
• As Vanessa completes a chore each day, she gets either a smiley face or a sticker for that corresponding chore + day
• At the end of the week, we count up all the faces or stickers and I give her $0.50 Hong Kong Dollars (HKD) for each count
• We then divy up the money into 3 jars with the following percentages: SPENDING (70%), SAVING (20%), and CHARITY (10%)
• She can then use her SPENDING money on whenever she wants, but we progress to introduce the idea that if she wants something big, she will have to save up for it
• Thus her introduction to financial literacy and doing her fair share of work
• Mind you, if we’ve got 5 chores a day, within one year she can save $638.75 HKD!!  That’s a mighty amount for a 3-year old!

Below is a list of chore icons that I’ve drawn for Vanessa’s chore charts.  Some she won’t be able to do until she’s a bit older, but there are a few items that she’s completely capable of managing.  I’ve made it in black & white so that she can colour the chore chart herself to give it some personal touch.  

Feel free to use the chore chart icons if you think it will help your kid learn about life, work and financial literacy.  You can also download the template and use as you see fit. 

Chore Chart + Icons  

Download the zipped icons here and download the WORD chore chart here.

You can give different names for the icons as you wish, but I’ve trid to be generic about some of the chores and make it look like that chore, but of course, everything is open to interpretation with children.

Brush Teeth	Clean Up Toys	Finish Homework	Fold Laundry
Hang Laundry	Make Bed	Put Away Books	Set Table
Put Away Shoes	Sort Dirty Laundry	Sweep/Mop Floor	Wash Dishes
Water Plants	Get Mail/Newspaper	Put On/Take Off Jacket	Feed Pet(s)
Wash Hands	Go Potty

I will continue to update this with chore icons as I think of them, but this is all I’ve got right now - so check back a bit later and maybe I will have more creative juices flowing.  If you’ve managed to implement a successful chore chart system, I’d like to hear about it.  How long did your system last?  I’m praying for 6 months once I get back to Hong Kong in a few days.