Friday, March 20, 2009

Chore Binder (for kids)

I'm a list person. OK, I'm an obsessive list person. My life is hopeless without my lists. I accomplish nothing. Plus, it feels really good checking things off my to-do list! That's why I jumped on the home management binder bandwagon (there's a mouthful) when I first started seeing it talked about on several different blogs.

I had been needing a way to help T keep track of his daily chores, but nothing was appealing to me. Then it finally hit me. Why not use the system that I use for myself?

Thus, the five year old version of the home management binder was created.

The first couple pages of my binder have emergency contact information. I chose to do the same thing for T. For obvious reasons, I won't be posting pictures of these, but he now has a list of phone numbers for both sets of grandparents, us, and a reminder about 911. On the next page, I have printed our address to help him remember it.

The next page? His list of daily chores.



Weekly chores...



Chores to earn a little extra money:



How-to lists for certain chores, such as sorting our laundry properly, as shown. There are also a few others with instructions for things like where folded laundry goes, how to make the bed properly, and some other cleaning information.



And finally, a handful of safety pages, like this one:



All of the pages, like in my binder, are in plastic protective covers, meaning he can check things off with dry erase marker and erase them for the next day of chores. I let T decorate the cover of his binder. He actually gets excited in the mornings because he gets to check chores off as he goes. A little too much like his mama, perhaps?

All the same, it seems to be working out wonderfully!

6 comments:

Ute said...

Wow, I am impressed. I am terrible at keeping lists, although I often think they would help me get more organized. I'll start one and then quit after two days. I seem to be a hopeless case.
I love the binder you created for your son. And he seems to enjoy it. How cool.

Oh, found you through Shady Lady.

Beth said...

That binder is a great idea! I think my 5-year-old would really benefit from having one. Maybe that can be a summer project! Thanks for stopping by my blog, too!
Beth
applesandjammies.blogspot.com

Lisa said...

I just love oranized people like you! I know deep down I am a organized person, and start things in an organized manner, but always seem to lose it. This is such a good idea for T, my oldest is a very organized little girl and I'm going to do this for her. Thank you for the organizational inspiration.

Wendy said...

What a great idea! I never thought of making a little binder for Kaylynn...(I'm such a list person too and I love my binder).

Amberella said...

I nominated you for an award. :) Come on over to my blog and get it!

Shady Lady said...

Hmmm...I never thought of this! I too love lists, but I never created a binder like this. Pretty cool!