Chore Magnet Board

A couple months ago I was looking for some chore chart ideas for my 4-year-old and 3-year-old. I found lots of ideas on Pinterest. I am all about simple and getting it done, so when I saw this idea from Simply Complicated, I loved it. But I also knew that I would never do this EVERY DAY. Start with all the magnets on one side then move them to the next, then to just move them back the next morning. Sounds silly, but I knew that I wouldn't stay on top of it. 

Then I saw this next one from Motherhood On A Dime, and knew I could definitely do something like that, where it was a weekly chart, instead of daily. 

Using the above chart as a guide, I created these in Photoshop Elements for my children. I added picture icons for the chores and modified it to what I wanted.  We have a 'daily chores', 'special chores', and 'earned rewards' page for each child. On the daily chores we have: making bed, brushing teeth, getting dressed, put clothes away, and reading/lesson time. I just bought a large precut magnet board from Home Depot for just under $20. 

The special chores are any extra chore that Mark or I would like them to do, such as: putting away the silverware, washing windows, or setting the table, etc. We can choose up to three special chores a day. Then we have the "earned magnets" (flower for Michele, star for Grant). They earn magnets to place on these if they are quick to obey Mommy and Daddy, if they are nice to each other and do a good job sharing, or just doing good things. 

I wanted the kids really get excited about 'doing chores' so we made our own magnets for the magnet board. I had some of that Sculpey clay that you bake, it was a perfect activity for the kids. They had alot of fun making them. We made a bunch of circles then used regular rubber stamps to make imprints on them. 

 I also bought some super awesome small magnets at Amazon to hot glue to the back of the tokens.

We now call them our "Reward Magnets".

 We have our chore magnet board. We have been using it for almost a couple months now and I have loved it. Not only for the kids, but for myself. I love charts and lists so it helps me to know what has and hasn't been done or what we can be working better on (such as making beds...).

 Then, every week to two weeks, we pull out our "rewards bin" and they can buy something with the magnets they earn (from the earned magnets page-daily chores and special chores don't count). The prizes inside vary from 5, 10, 20, and 50 magnets all labeled with a little sticker. Grant doesn't fully understand the counting and buying concept yet so I just count his up and let him know what colors he can choose.

So 50 magnets does seem like a lot, and it is. But I only have one, maybe two, things worth 50 magnets. Michele LOVES My Little Pony (MLP), so I got her a Rainbow Dash MLP and made it worth 50 magnets. And it has been such a great learning tool to teach her to save up her magnets and not spend them when Grant gets to spend his each week so she can earn that Rainbow Dash. I made this chart for her because she didn't really understand just how much 50 was. Now she can look and see just how close she is and how much more she needs.

 She has been saving her magnets for at least three weeks now. The kids usually get somewhere between 2-4 magnets/day. It just depends on how motivated they are that day and how well I remember to reward them. But they have quickly picked up the idea and are asking "Can I get a special magnet for that?" whenever they do something nice or share things, even when they share their dinner. haha. They even have their favorite magnets to use because they remember some of the ones they made, it has made it special to them.

Overall, we have really liked doing this. It is a great motivational tool for the kids, plus they love to put on their magnets whenever they brush their teeth or make their beds. It has also gotten them thinking about each other, and what they can do or share with each other to earn that magnet. Given, there is a reward if they do something nice, but at least they have started thinking about doing nice things and are thinking about each other and not focusing on themselves.
It was quite a bit of work to figure out how we wanted our chore system and putting it all together, but it has all been worth it.