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Looking for some quick, simple ways to jump start chores and clean up with your kids? I’ve got you covered with printable prefilled picture chore charts and games, that are ready to go while also including blank, fully customizable versions.
I have four young kids (ages 9, 7, 3 and less than a year) and like many kids, cleaning up is not their favorite task… in fact cleaning up after themselves and each other is probably their least favorite task of any tasks to task, but being able to clean up is a life skill they need to learn, in addition to me just not being able to do it all and needing some help. So I created some Printable Picture Chore Charts and Clean Up Games to jump start us.
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Historically, my kids have been so/so about cleaning up during the week, with lots of need for reminders and micromanaging to get things done. (Especially with my 3 and 7 year olds.) I’d done better with setting Saturday expectations, with my kids needing to have their rooms clean, laundry sorted and the family room tidied up before activities or electronics time. They could do it, (I’d say it was about a 45 minute task for me to do) and the three older ones working together would draw it out into a 4-5 hour ordeal, leaving us all feeling frustrated.
I started making up cleaning games to keep them motivated and on task, and to alleviate some of the stress. They worked wonders! My kids still didn’t like cleaning, but knowing there was slight rewards and breaks built into our cleaning routine made a world of difference, especially for my 3 and 7 year olds.
At first we had the “Clean Up Cube” which was a dry erase dice (die?) that we would use to roll a chore. I’d write the things that needed to be done in the different square on it, my kids would roll it, work on that task, the come back and roll again. Sometimes I’d fill the dry erase squares with numbers or color, and when they picked up that number or things, or all the items in the room of that color, they could roll again until the task was finished. Here’s a link to a dry erase cube on Amazon.
This worked and still honestly works well for us. It’s easy to use and make, flexible, and fun, but I wanted to expand it and I also wanted a little more consistency, especially for my 3 year old.
I started by making chore charts that broke the room down by the tasks I wanted accomplished… and drew icons for each of the chores, so my 3 year old could also look at the list and have a sense of what needed to be done.
But once I’d drawn out my 80+ icons my brain kicked into high gear, thinking of all the things I could do with these icons to keep my kids involved.
I started with some basic printable chore charts, with the chore and a small picture icon where my kids could check the boxes each day as the completed the tasks. It was a good start to them understanding what needed to be done each day … but it was boring and we were back to the teeth pulling to actually get it done.
So I used my chore pictures to add a tiny spark of fun to the madness, and created a bunch of different picture chore chart games that I could use as needed to keep the ball rolling.
They were as follows:
Roll a Chore – Picture Clean Up Game – Buy/Download Here
Which includes a bunch of picture dice, broken down by room, that my kids can roll, do the task it lands on, then come back a roll again until the room is clean. (I also created a blank one so other caregivers can create their own custom versions)
Spin a Chore – Picture Cleaning Game – Buy/Download Here
Similar idea but this gave me the option of adding more than six chores per room. I made a simple picture spinner chore chart for bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, and the living room. Using a brass brad I attached a paper clip to them and now they can flick the paperclip and do whatever chore it lands on, spin and repeat until the chores are finished. (I also created a blank one so other caregivers can create their own custom versions)
Chores Bingo – Kids Cleaning Game – Buy/Download Here
As straightforward as it sounds, 4×4 and 5×5 bingo cards for bedrooms, bathroom, living room and kitchen, but these have the added benefit of me being able to offer a small reward for each bingo achieved. For my three year old, that’s often letting him pick a book for each bingo, and us reading them together when his cleaning is done, for my older kids it can be letting them pick something to add to the afternoon snack, or getting 5 extra minutes of electronic time for each bingo, etc. I also tried to make them so the 4×4 are good for daily use, and the 5×5 are a little deeper for more intense Saturday chores.
Chore Cards – Picture Cleaning Card – Buy/Download Here
For my 80+ chore icons I made a printable 2×2 card deck, and these cards are so versatile! I can go through the deck and pull out each of the chores that need to be done for that day and then put them upside down, like a memory game, and let my kids flip a card, and do that chore before coming back for more. I can deal them out a few cards to work on, or put them all face up and let them flip them upside down the chore is complete. I can put them in bag and let the draw a chore, and you get the idea. They’ve been awesome.
Fold Up Cards – Picture Chore Charts and Daily Schedule with Pictures – Buy/Download Here
I did these mostly for my 3 year old, to give him a sense of all the things that need to be done and an order to do them in. I also started using these to show him our morning plans. He folds up the flaps as he completes the tasks until we’ve got the full chart finished. Then, since I was already halfway there I made fold up charts for the bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen as well.
Printable Weekly Cleaning Charts with Cards – Buy/Download Here
And last but not least, I made some standard cleaning charts where the kids could mark off the tasks as they completed them each day, again with pictures to keep a visual reminder.
Anyway, as I was in the process of making these I was as the park with some mom friends and one of them brought up her frustration with getting her kids to help around the house, and I knew this was my moment to shine, and maybe all this chore card madness could be helpful to more families than just my own.
I took some time to polish up my work and created a bunch of digital printables, and put them on Etsy, so other mama’s and care givers can also get a jump start on this chore madness. They all come with prefilled, ready to go versions, and blank version, ready to be customized with my icons or your own, as well as in color and black and white, and if you choose to use some of these I’d absolutely love to know your experience, and I’d also love to know if you use them and find that you wish something or other was added to the icon list 🙂
Last but not least, if you want them all, I’ve made a huge bundle with a great discount for all of the print and go and customizable games, charts, pictures and icons.
Big Printable Picture Chore Chart Bundle – Buy/Download here
