I’ll admit it, I’m a mean mom.
My child has to do chores.
*gasp!*
The worst, I know.
But I really am a stickler about chores! I need my daughter to know that my God given task on this Earth was not to pick up her toys that she trails around the house or make her bed each morning or pick up the dirty clothes from her floor to put them in the laundry basket thats sitting 6 inches away. She is a capable kid so she can learn how to take care of those responsibilities on her own.
She has the same tasks first thing every morning: eat breakfast, get dressed, clean up her room, make her bed, brush her hair and teeth, and feed our cat. She knows the expectations my husband and I have for her but sometimes she can get a bit…sidetracked. I can’t blame her, she’s only four. But I did get sick of asking her what chores she had done and what chores were still left to be done.
So, I decided I would make a chore chart.
Since my preschooler isn’t reading yet, I needed a picture based chart. I looked on Pinterest for ideas, printables and things I could use and I started trying to create our chore chart. However, I was struggling to find something I really loved and would work for her specific chores. It just wasn’t clicking for me.
I had seen a blogger I follow on social media use action photos of her children doing chores and thought that was a great idea! Then there is no question about what that picture means. They can see themselves actually doing it! But the idea of ordering prints, picking them up, cutting them out, and putting my own chart together seemed a bit tedious. I’m a busy lady and that’s a lot of steps!
I had an idea: picture collage!
Easy. I would make a picture collage! I use Walgreens photo center for a lot of my photo orders and creations and remembered that they have collage options.
All you need is your phone and the Walgreens app and pictures of your children doing their chores
No smart phone? No problem! This project can also be done at www.walgreens.com
This app is pretty awesome, to say the least. Here is the home screen. For this project we will be using the photo section of the app so start there!
Here is a step-by-step view of me making a chore chart…
These are all of the different photo projects you can access (FROM YOUR PHONE!) on the Walgreens app. For this project, I chose the “Collage Photos” section.
There are so many layout options and sizes. My chart is 8×10 but I will explain why I chose that size later…
This is the layout I chose after looking at how many pictures I had to include.
Next, insert your photos. You can see here all the places you can choose to import from. And yes, you can store all of your beautiful photos through the Walgreens app as well.
Here is what my finished chart looked like!
Next, I checked online for any Walgreens promo codes or coupons. And wouldn’t ya know! I found a 40% off for prints. Yes, please!
And just like that, my print is ordered!
You can even check the times on my phone screen shots for proof; this project took only 5 minutes!
After I picked up the order from my local Walgreens, I slipped the collage into a plastic sleeve paper protector thingy (I believe that’s the technical term..), stuck it to her door, attached a dry erase marker and I was done!
Now every morning she can monitor her own progress by crossing off, scribbling on, or checking off the chores she completes. It is completely in her hands and her responsibility! I boosts her independence and cuts down on my constant nagging of “Is this done? Is that done?” A win-win all around!
How do you handle chores at your house? What are some tips and tricks you use to get your children helping around the house?
