A What’s In Your Hand Chore Chart
My just turned two year old grandson is enamored of all things Noah's Ark. Also of all things Old McDonald, and animals in general.
So when I was making the yard sale rounds recently and saw this Noah's Ark wall hanging for two dollars, I knew I had to have it for him.
Kindly pretend you do not see the tape there. It was part of a project I was working on and I forgot to remove it for the picture.
What I initially planned was just to remove the strings, and give him the wooden animals as toys.
But his mother had recently expressed an interest in a chore chart that he would enjoy and understand. The chore charts we looked at were either too pricey (his parents are on an incredibly tight budget), or they required too much work to put together and were of limted use with a non-reading 2 year old. So, together we worked out a plan to make this 2.00 toy I had in my hand his new chore chart.
The Dread Pirate Grasshopper's mummy took pictures of him doing his chores, or otherwise performing his routine tasks. These include such things as brushing his teeth, feeding the dog, putting away the silverware, tidying away his toys, and setting the table. She had them printed in wallet sized copies.
I laminated them. My husband hole punched them because I couldn't. My contact paper, btw, came from the thrift shop. Whenever I am at the thrift shop, I check for clear contact paper in the craft section because you never know.
As you can see in the picture, each pair of animals is attached by a long bit of twine which is knotted in the middle so as to make a loop for hanging the pair of animals on a peg. I untied the knot, then slipped the middle of the twine through the hole in the laminated picture and knotted it again, so there is still a loop which the DPG can use to hang up the pair of animals when he has completed the task pictured on the card with them.
Now, if we were more artistic, we could have drawn a picture of the chore on the back of the animal, but we aren't artistic at all. What we are is creative in the way that non-artistic people full of ideas they cannot implement need to be. Necessity is the M. of I. and all that, as Bertie Wooster would have said if he'd thought of it.
So, to recap, a picture of the toddler performing part of his daily routine is attached to a pair of animals. There is a small basket where the animals are stored, it also hangs on the Noah's Ark pegboard. He can either pull an animal pair out of the basket and then hang them up when he completes a task, or his mother could hang up all the animals each night and he can gradually take them down during the day. Or they can simply alternate- on Mondays the DPG takes animals off the chart as he does his tasks, puts them in the basket. On Tuesdays, he takes them out of the basket and hangs them up.
We did not have a picture for every animal, because he doesn't have that many 'chores' yet, so there is room for the 'chart' to expand.
Incidentally, he loves it. He was sitting in my lap as I wrote part of this post (trying to wait patiently for me to finish so he could watch another Old McDonald youtube video), and when he saw the picture he got excited and bounced up and down, telling me, "CHORE CHART!"
Now, the way to apply this frugal hack is not to go out and look for an identical wooden ornament. The heart of frugality is flexibility. Other possibilities:
Magnets on the back of laminated pictures, and the fridge.
Laminated pictures and an ornament tree
Use your computer - put pictures on your desk top or remove them from the desk top as tasks are completed
Laminated or drawn pictures, a flannel board and an envelope.
Attach pictures to the outside of a decorated box or oatmeal carton, using clothespins. Pull them off and drop them in the box when completed (along with the clothesepins).
You may also want to read more on kids and chores:
Don't be a Martyr Mother- if you love your kids selflessly, you will help them develop initiative and a good work ethic.
The Common Room: Chores and Children- Why? We believe in children doing chores. In fact, we believe in children working hard and contributing to the family's wellbeing. ...
The Common Room: Chores for Children : When?
First Chores: Probably about the time our children are two they are already helping to do a few easy chores with Mama (or Daddy). ...
Children learn from being servants, not from being waited on.
related posts:
- Basket Hanger I use baskets for many things- storage, planters, as gift...
- Frugal Kind Of Funny Generally our holiday and birthday celebrations are small. We do...
- So… What’s In Your Hand? I started blogging here once a week back in 2007....
- In My Hands… Picture Frames I have several framed pictures with glass from thrift shops-...
- What’s In My Hand Can be Child’s Play Before I get to the kernel of this week's post,...
2 Responses to “A What’s In Your Hand Chore Chart”
September 30th, 2011 at 9:12 am
“not to go out and look for an identical wooden ornament”
Ah…. But I LIKE your ark!
September 30th, 2011 at 6:07 pm
I think our good Lord is triing to speak to me. I have been intending to make a chore chart since Feb. I am the mother of procrastination. And it is starting to show in my kids.
I guess I’m making a chore chart this weekend:D
Thanks for sharing your idea.
Leave a Comment