Getting your teenage kids to do chores can often be difficult, whether it’s unloading the dishwasher or cleaning up their bedroom. You don’t want to have to baby your teenagers, as this may backfire, and they might slowly become less responsible. By creating a teenage-appropriate schedule or chore chart, you’ll be setting them up with more responsibility and you’ll spend less time trying to convince them to take part in simple household chores. Make parenting that much easier by using this useful info on chore charts that can be effective for your teens to stay up to date with their responsibilities, helping you stay on top of household chores.
Daily Chore Chart
Create a list of chores you would like them to do around the house every day. Picking up their clothes from the floor in their room, cleaning the bathroom, and clearing clutter from the living room, may be some of the things on your list.
At the top of the page, create columns for every day of the week. Add another column that can be ticked off for every chore that is completed. Of course, when chores have been completed, you can allow privileges, like time on their computer or smartphone. It’s not always necessary to pay your teens an allowance for chores that have been done. Chores are simply part of being a responsible family member.
Token Economy System
This system works specifically on points or tokens that are earned and can be exchanged for privileges. You can make a list of chores to complete daily, like cleaning up the living room, or weekly chores, such as raking leaves in the garden. For each chore you assign a point value.
A simple chore like clearing the dining table after dinner, may only be worth 1 point, but a bigger chore like cleaning out the garage, may be worth 10 or 15 points. Hang the list of chores with the assigned points values in an easily accessible location, like the kitchen fridge. Rewards can be as simple as a few hours to play computer games, or as big as an exciting outing to a theme park. Each reward should also have a point value.
This way you can let your kids decide if they would prefer to exchange points for a small reward every day or save up their points for a bigger reward a month or two down the line. Rewards don’t have to be expensive or extravagant. Instead, you can simply make rewards everyday privileges that they would have anyway.
Chore Schedules For Multiple Kids
Chore charts for multiple kids can become slightly more complicated. You may find it best to create charts for each one of them with separate rewards, instead of putting all your children’s names into one chart.
Especially if there is a significant age difference between your kids. For instance, a 10-year-old’s chores and 16-year-old’s chores shouldn’t be the same, and neither should the expectation.
But, if you only have teenagers who can handle the chores, a combined chart can work well. For example, you can make a monthly cleaning chart where one child is assigned to clean the kitchen and the other has to clean the bathroom. Next month, you can swap the responsibilities around.
Some chores you may want to add to the chart:
- Vacuuming
- Mopping
- Dusting
- Taking out the rubbish
- Cleaning up their rooms
- Laundry
- Kitchen cleaning, including loading and unloading the dishwasher, or washing the dishes after dinner.
- Outdoor and garden maintenance
- Taking care of the pets
- Cooking once a week
Conclusion
The whole aim of a chore chart is to lessen the amount of arguing between you and your teens over chores. It is supposed to give them more freedom to choose when to do their chores. Try not to tire yourself out by nagging. Better yet, make their privileges part of why their chores must be done. If they don’t want to take part in their responsibilities, then don’t give up their privileges. Hopefully they will eventually learn to become more responsible, and you won’t have to arrive home to a mess every day and pick up after your teens.
When there are days that you and your teens can’t get around to cleaning the house, SweepSouth has got you covered with unmatched cleaning services and thorough gardening services too.
