Creating Custom Responsibility Charts for Young Children

Creating Custom Responsibility Charts

Last week I shared our Age Specific Chore List for Ages 1-12. To go along with the topic of child training I wanted to share how we have used responsibility charts for our young children.

We call our charts “Responsibility Charts,” because we want to instill a mindset of having personal responsibilities within our children.   We use responsibility charts as a healthy mode of habit building during the younger years.

Our 5-1/2 year old daughter has a daily responsibility chart.   At times we’ll decide on special challenges, such as when she earns a certain amount of stars for a designated time period she can then have a special sleepover weekend with her grandmother, or whatever incentive we choose.

When Jadin and Zion were younger they would help think of incentives that they wanted.  We try to keep rewards simple and manageable for our family.  For now the older boys have developed healthy habits and no longer rely on a responsibility chart to accomplish their daily tasks.

Zion leading Gabriel in washing the dishes.

Our sons have a good morning list that hangs on their bedroom door (which you can read more about here in my post Our Homeschool Life Schedule).  We also have a family cleaning system which I’ll be sharing more on shortly.

Creating a custom responsibility chart that works for your child:

Give your children tasks that you know they can complete.  Simple activities like brushing their teeth, washing their face, or feeding the cat–whatever is simple for your child–can be balanced with the new responsibilities that you want them to develop.  Giving your child obtainable goals and mixing in a few new responsibilities will help build their self-esteem and mastery of new skills.

Update their chart as needed.  Look over the responsibilities that your child has undertaken.  Once they’re having a season of earning all of their stars regularly, you can update them with a new responsibility chart.

Give your child choices in which responsibilities they’d like to develop.  Help them pick goals that they can accomplish, along with adding in items that you feel they need to focus on.  One job that our daughter has asked to do is mopping.  This job will be on her updated responsibility chart.

Naomi’s current responsibility chart includes:

• Brush teeth
• Get Dressed
• Pick  up the toys on bedroom floor
• Empty  the small trash cans
• Place new toilet paper on the toilet paper roll as needed
• Feed  the cats
• Sweep Kitchen
• Read  with mommy
• Obey  with a pleasant attitude
• Set  the table
• Pick up the living room

I love creating free printables, but I found several sites that offer free chore charts that you can customize.  On these sites you can create your charts for free and print them out with your child’s specific information and responsibilities.

Free Customizable Charts

• Custom Chore Chart (With this chart you’re able to pick the background, theme, and fill in responsibility items as well as the child’s name).
• The Chore Chart that kids Love
• Christian Chore Chart (With Bible verses)
• Create A Free Printable Chore Chart
• My Job Chart (Store your chart online)
• Chore Charts Your Family Can Use Easily
• Reward Charts for Kids (Several blank charts to choose from)
• Chore Charts based on age (Confessions of a Homeschooler)

Additional resources for responsibility training:
(Email readers click-through to read)

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