Fabric Chore Chart

At the beginning of this week Dan and I decided that it was time to start a chore chart with Logan. He is old enough to help out in a few little ways. I noticed that he was taking toys out and spreading them all over the place and then just abandoning them for a new activity. There are some things that he takes out consistently, but never actually plays with.

That is when I started thinking about what kind of a chart I wanted to do. At first I thought about a simple poster chart, but I wanted something that would last longer than that. I wanted it to be adaptable as his age and responsibilities change. I got thinking about this indoor hop scotch mat that Auntie Christina made for him at Christmas time....

It has been so much fun and you can tell by the dots
 on it that we have also used it for a counting mat.

That had me set on making a fabric chart. I happened to have bought some cute fabric on sale about a year ago that I never had a plan for. It was too cute and too cheap to pass up, but then it just sat in my closet waiting to be used. I decided it was perfect for the project and broke out the sewing machine during one of Logan's naps this week.

 I sewed some hair elastics into the corners of the chart so I could easily hang it on the 

wall with a couple of tacks.

I used velcro squares to attach the chores to the chart.

The main point right now is to teach him that it is important to clean up after himself. We also want him to know that being a part of the family means helping each other out too. At first glance it looks like we are loading him with chores at the age of two. Really it is just three simple chores that I will be helping him with, we just want to start the helping out habit young.

There are some chores that may not have to be done every day. For example, he takes a bath about 4-6 days out of the week so we may not end up having him pick up bath toys every day. The cats dish is small but that may end up being an every other day chore as well. I love that this chart is so easy to switch up according to what works best for us. I left room at the bottom to add an extra chore as he gets older. 

As far as rewards go? We already have a piggy bank for him that we put our spare change in. He is still young enough that he doesn't care much about money, so we are going to try a different type of reward. I grabbed some prizes at the dollar store and put them in a bin. For every day that he does all three chores he will get a sticker and one piece of candy. I decided it would work better to do a daily prize instead of a bigger weekly prize because I think the quick reward will work better with his age. We are just trying it out for now and I will let you all know how it goes. 

Right now, it is hanging out in our downstairs hallway area under my chalk board. It is a place we walk by constantly so it will be easy to remember to get it done every day. That valentine's heart banner can be up for at least a few more weeks right? ;)