Running a blended family household is hard work. Using chore cards to assign and manage tasks can help a large family keep things running smoothly at home.
Chore cards are a fabulous method for organizing and assigning chores. Use age appropriate cards so that tasks are understood. Chore cards also serve as a parental checklist when inspecting completed tasks.
The chore cards offered are an example of weekly chores. They are a guide for individual families to alter to suit their own needs. When chore cards are first distributed the parent who will be checking the completed chores should demonstrate each task. Encourage children to ask questions if they are unsure about a task. Remember that it may take practice before a child can complete a task to parental standards, be patient and encourage children to ask for help if they need it.
Chore Cards for Children Age 10 and Up
Kitchen:
- Wipe and disinfect counters and eating surfaces.
- Clean stovetop
- Clean glass surfaces
- Scrub sink
- Polish fixtures
- Wipe/polish cabinet doors
- Wipe refrigerator doors
- Wipe refrigerator shelves
- Sweep and mop floor
Living/Family Room:
- Dust all wooden furniture
- Dust ceiling fans
- Dust light fixtures
- Clean glass surfaces
- Dust electronics
- Vacuum carpeting
- Sweep wood floors
Bathrooms:
- Scrub inside of toilet
- Wipe external surfaces of toilet
- Wipe sink
- Polish fixtures
- Dust light fixtures
- Clean glass surfaces
- Scrub tub interior
- Wipe tub exterior
- Scrub shower interior
- Wipe shower exterior
- Clean shower door/Wash shower curtain
- Sweep/mop or vacuum flooring
Bedrooms:
- Strip bed, wash linens, and make bed
- Dust wood furniture
- Clean glass surfaces
- Clean electronic surfaces
- Vacuum/sweep flooring
Outdoors:
- Edge lawn
- Trim bushes
- Mow lawn
- Weed flowerbed
- Weed vegetable garden
- Sweep front porch
- Dust front door
- Dust mailbox
- Wipe off doorbell and surrounding area
- Shake out welcome mat
Vehicles:
- Wash car exterior
- Dry exterior
- Clean glass surfaces
- Wash tires
- Vacuum interior
- Dust dashboard
- Wipe steering wheel
For best results, rotate chore cards every month. Doing so gives each child approximately four opportunities each month to learn and perfect a task. Rotating the cards ensures each child gets a chance to experience different tasks and keeps chores from becoming tedious. Also, keep in mind that a child may need a task demonstrated more than once to encourage accuracy, as with any learned skill time, practice and patience often pays off in the end!
Whenever a child (or anyone for that matter) is doing housework, they should wear proper personal protective equipment, which may include, but is not limited to gloves and protective eyewear. Keep the use of chemicals to an absolute minimum. Often time’s plain soap and water works well for most household jobs and the use of caustic material is unnecessary. Parents should always supervise when a minor is operating power equipment such as vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers and edging/cutting tools.
For more information on blended families and chores read: Chores in a Blended Family
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