Meals, groceries and choresAges 3 to 10
Chore chart for kids
A landscape chart where a child colors a star in the box for every chore done on every day of the week. It is made for roughly ages 3 to 10, with a line at the bottom to name a reward.
- Type your details or print blank
- Print or PDF, Letter or A4
- Free, no sign-up
On this page
What prints
The page is landscape. The heading is My Chore Chart, or, if you typed a child's name such as Ava, Ava's Chore Chart. A Week of line sits on the right. The grid has a wide Chore column and seven day columns headed with abbreviated day names. In each day cell is a large outlined star, meant to be colored in.
Below the grid is a sentence that reads "When I earn ___ stars, I get: ___", with two lines to fill in. Under that, a small note says to color in a star each time you finish a chore.
The rows are tall, so a child with a big crayon has no trouble staying inside the star.
The settings
- Heading. Typing a title here replaces the name-based one (40 characters maximum).
- Chart. This page opens on the kids' chart with stars.
- Child's name. Up to 24 characters, printed in the title.
- Chores (one per line). Type each chore on its own line.
- Chore rows. 4 to 14, and this page opens at 7.
- Week starts on. Sunday or Monday.
Unlike the adult chart, there is no Who column. Each sheet belongs to one child, so print one per child.
Setting it up with your child
Choose three to six chores, no more. A long list is discouraging at age four. Use words your child can read or pair them with a quick drawing. Typical jobs for young children are putting toys away, making the bed, feeding a pet, clearing a plate and setting out shoes. The American Academy of Pediatrics offers information on what children can usually manage at different ages, and on how routines support them.
Decide the reward line together. A number of stars for a trip to the park or a bedtime story is easier to understand than a vague promise. Pick something small enough that it arrives within a week or two. Write the number on the first blank and the reward on the second.
Post the sheet at the child's eye level, and keep crayons close. The coloring is part of the fun.
Worked example: Ava, age five
Type Ava as the name and these chores: Put toys in the bin, Make my bed, Feed Biscuit the dog, Put dirty clothes in the hamper, Brush teeth morning and night. Set rows to 5 and week start to Sunday.
Ava colors a star each time. By Wednesday she has 11 of 15 stars so far. On the bottom line the family wrote "When I earn 30 stars, I get: pick the Friday movie." At the end of the week she has 31 stars, which counts, and she picks the film.
Next week, swap in a new chore or two so it stays interesting.
Older kids
For children who can read and manage a longer list, the weekly chore chart uses checkboxes and lets a family share work. The cleaning schedule covers jobs for the whole house through the year.
Sources
- HealthyChildren.org (American Academy of Pediatrics) healthychildren.org