Chore ideas for city kids --Part 1

After talking and lamenting to so many of my friends about how hard it is to figure out good chores for city kids, I've decided to start a little chore list on my blog.

  I want my boys to have just as many opportunities for hard physical labor and the responsibility of chores as those out in the country, but we live in a suburb of a major metropolitan area on a small neighborhood plot and the only animal we care for is a Calico Ninja Kitty.

So I've had to be creative.

And consistent (which is SO HARD!)

And we've come up with a pretty good list of chores for the boys since they were about 3 yrs old.  I hope to compile a whole list of chores and make an e-book some day, but until then I'll put some thoughts here for those of you who are also struggling with making a good list of chores.

I'll start with my youngest, my 8 yr old.  He does all these chores (and more) either weekly or daily, and does a good job of them (when he's in the mood.  When he isn't, it's all very sad for him--more on that later).  

-Make bed

-brush teeth

-pick up bathroom items and put away (his toothbrush, toothpaste tube, any dirty clothes)

-do his own laundry once a week.  Wash, dry, fold, and put away. Amen.

-change hand towels in both bathrooms

-feed the cat

-scoop out the cat box and sweep up

-vacuum

-sweep (we're still working on perfecting this one)

-scoop out ashes from fireplace

-bring in wood

-pack his own lunch

-sweep front porch

-rake up leaves/pine needles

-pull weeds

-dust

-load and unload dishwasher and put away dishes

-wipe off table

-push in chairs

-set and clear table

These are most of them. There are more that he CAN do, but we like to share the load around here.  Later this week I'll give you a list of chores for older and younger kids too.

I think chores are so important to growing up healthy, strong, diligent, capable, and are vital to know really HOW to function as an adult.

Chores require attention to detail, effort, following directions, and focus.

In fact, I would even be willing to bet that a child who has been taught to do chores diligently and correctly (and regularly checked up on to be sure they ARE done right) learns just as much or more as a child who spends hours and hours a week at team sports practice! *gasp!*

I know, I'll probably get shot down in a blaze for that comment!

LOL

Saturday Morning Chores, Week 2

So this weekend was our second weekend of Saturday morning chores based on "Managers of their Chores"  and I love it!

The boys have quite a list for Saturdays... not overwhelming but enough to keep them busy for a couple hours (if they worked diligently)--and many more hours for when they get distracted.

The plus sides to this new system are so cool:

-They are busy working in the mornings on things I would usually do, so it frees me up to do things that I've been procrastinating on.

-Because they are busy in the mornings, the afternoons are full of playing (less fighting, bickering, and arguing).  Before we started this system, they had lazy Saturday mornings and fought most of the afternoon/evening and complained of there being NOTHING to do.  Now they are starting to really appreciate their time after working in the morning.

-I don't know what it is, but if they don't spend time in the morning watching TV or video games, I very rarely hear "I'm BORED" or "There's NOTHING to do".  I think the TV must detach the thinking part of their brains, and it reattaches only after a night of sleep. 

All in all, I have to say it's a breath of fresh air to have Saturday mornings dedicated to chores.  Of course there will still be the random Saturdays when we have things to do and we'll have to skip some of the chores on those days, but for the most part, it makes for a great structure to our days and I'm so thankful for it!

As an example, here's a list of Saturday Chores for my oldest (13yrs old):

-do daily chorepack

-check drawers

-dust shelves and dresser and organize

-clean room and vacuum

-dump recycling into outdoor bin

-ALT CARD:

       -1st Sat: sweep back patio, 2nd Sat: change sheets,

         3rd Sat: sweep driveway, 4th Sat: help dad

-put jammies into laundry to wash

-wash cat's food and water dishes, wipe up eating area, refill dishes

-Bible Study with dad

-JURISDICTION CARD (this is an area of the house that they are responsible for):

   -FRONT BATHROOM

    -scrub bathtub, clean mirrors, mop floor, clear counters

-JURISDICTION CARD

  -MOW front and back lawns

Linking up to Delightful Order