DIY Chore Chart Ideas for Families, Kids and Apartment Living

With multiple people in a home, it’s understandable that it sometimes feels impossible to keep order. But perhaps you simply need an efficient way to communicate chores. Enzo offers an effective digital solution and with our DIY chore chart ideas you may find a dynamic AND fun way to assign tasks and monitor whether they’re getting done. 

Do you realize how much efficient home maintenance relies on good communication? If someone didn’t get your message about checking the gutters or cleaning the shower drain, it can quickly have expensive repercussions!

Can you avoid it?

Yes, with chore management systems that actually work, you can keep order even if you need to manage small kids’ daily chores. Our list of DIY chore charts showcase effective systems to assign tasks from now on. And to have kids’ buy-in we picked some interesting ones they’ll love to design with you and use every day. 

Whether you’re managing roommates or your family, let’s show you it’s easier than you think to keep order. 

 

How to Make a DIY Chore Chart for Kids 

The key to creating an effective DIY chore chart for kids is to focus on what they find important at their specific age. While small children often still enjoy keeping parents happy, kids that are slightly older want some stimulation or may enjoy fun elements like chore games.

Suggest these ideas to your children and see which DIY chore chart system gets you the most positive feedback. 

 

Use Printable Charts

We understand you may not have time or energy for a craft session, especially if you have multiple little ones at home. In that case, take advantage of the many printable charts you’ll find online these days. Simply pick an age-appropriate one that you can edit for your use. 

Here are some creative ideas to keep chores interesting. 

 

Chore Sticks

Make your DIY chore chart more tangible by using sticks instead of paper. You can use small planks of similar size, or take wooden ice cream sticks—you can either buy new, or clean the ones left over after eating ice creams (which the kids won’t mind you buying). 

 

What You Need

• Ice cream sticks
• Small containers—one for each person
• Pens or printed pictures that represent different chores
• Scissors
• Craft items to decorate sticks and containers
• Glue

 

How to Use Chore Sticks 

Make sure there are as many sticks as you have chores to allocate. Everyone can get together and decorate the sticks with paint, glitter and pens. Then, write a chore on each stick or glue a picture onto each one that shows what the chore is. For example, a toothbrush for their routines before bed, a duster to represent cleaning furniture or a picture of a dog if they need to feed the pets. 

At the start of each day or week (depending on how you want to manage chores), let everyone close their eyes and draw a few sticks. Alternatively, take turns to pick chores, so each person has a few they prefer. If you use a different strategy each time, it will keep this DIY chore chart method interesting and fun.

Now, each person can place their chore sticks in their containers and return them to the main container as they complete each one. This makes it easy for parents to monitor kids’ progress, while kids will enjoy working hard to empty their individual containers—and maybe get a small prize if they’re the first to do it all.  

 

Zone Charts

Whether you use editable printable chore charts or make your own, using zones to organize work and manage your DIY chore charts work well. You can have one for each room type:

• Kitchen
• Lounge
• Outside
• Bedrooms
• Bathrooms

 

List the duties for each zone that kids must help with, whether it’s just picking up toys or helping you wipe down surfaces. You can put each child in charge of a zone and have a race to see which zone wins. 

 

Routine Charts

DIY chore charts also work well for small kids’ daily routines, so your days are less chaotic. 

 

What You Need

• Paper
• Pens 
• Glue
• Adhesive putty

 

How to Use Routine Charts

How elaborate you want to make your routine charts is up to you, but the basic premise is to remind children what they need to do each morning and evening. Ask them if they did everything on their charts instead of listing everything yourself while you’re tired or hurrying to get ready yourself.

Some tips:

• For small children it may be best to use pictures instead of words. These you can print out or draw on a sheet of paper. The more colorful it is, the more the kids will love it. 
• Make it interactive by giving them laminated pictures representing their tasks, with a bit of adhesive putty on the back. As soon as they’ve brushed their teeth or made their beds, they can stick the completed task’s picture onto their morning or evening sheet. 

 

Chore Pictures with Chart Sheet

Using pictures (as mentioned above) is very effective when making DIY chore charts for kids, because it can make the chore process seem more fun. It’s amazing what some color and interactivity will do for kids!

 

What You Need

• Paper and board
• Images with descriptions of all chores
• Laminating sheets or transparent packaging tape 
• Pens
• Velcro dots

 

How to Use this Chart Sheet

Once again, it’s up to your creativity how decorative you want to make your chart, but the basic premise is:

• Create a sheet for each person with two columns, using pens or by printing a design.
• One column is labeled ‘To do’ and the other is ‘Done’.
• Cut out all chore images.
• Laminate them or secure them inside two pieces of tape
• Stick a few Velcro dots on each sheet—a few in each column
• Glue the other part of the Velcro dots to the laminated chores

 

You can allocate chores to each person, which will be placed in their ‘To do’ column. They can move it to the ‘Done’ column when they’re finished with it. These sheets can be placed in the kitchen or the bedrooms as reminders and parents can monitor whether kids are tending to their weekly tasks. 

 

Cookie Sheet Chore Chart Variation

An ultra-fun version of this DIY chore chart is cookie sheets. Instead of sticking chores with Velcro, glue the chores onto small magnets so family members can move them between the two columns. These make excellent décor pieces in the kitchen, while having a functional element. 

 

DIY Chore Chart Ideas for Families

Any of the above can work for families, but when it comes to tasks for older kids you need other methods of keeping them engaged. A chore wheel is always functional, but here are some more innovative ideas. 

 

Chalkboard Charts

For chore lists that change often, depending on the day or week of the month, chalkboards work well. You can quickly add an item to someone’s list of responsibilities or wipe it out in yours if you ask someone else to please assist when you run out of time. 

Use a method that’s relevant for your family, such as:

• Individual boards with ‘To do’ and ‘Done’ columns
• Individual boards with a list of chores and check boxes for each day of the week
• One large board containing a list of all chores, with space to write the responsible party’s name

 

‘Earn Cash’ Chore Chart

Older children may require more motivation than the satisfaction of getting work done. Experts advise not to pay kids for basic chores, but to get them to do a little more than usual, here’s a trick:

• Write chores on the backs of envelopes
• Place cash inside each envelope
• Put envelopes on the fridge with magnets

 

If someone takes an envelope AND completes a task, he or she can keep the money.

 

DIY Chore Charts for Roommates

How to Make a Chore Chart that Really Works for Roommates

For you and your roommates you can use chore wheels, chalk boards or printed task lists. But remember these tips:

• Make it visual and easily accessible so no one can plead ignorance
• Discuss cleaning guidelines with all new roommates so everyone understands what is expected of them
• Ask for suggestions about managing tasks or other chores they think are necessary, to get all roommates’ buy-in

 

Digital Chore Chart Ideas

While a DIY chore chart can be fun to create and practical to use, don’t forget about technology. One option is to create a spreadsheet using software and send it to family members or roommates. We strongly suggest you try out chore tracker apps like Enzo. They have all the benefits of chore charts above, such as interactivity and providing details about what you expect of your roommate or child when cleaning the bathroom or kitchen. In addition, they can perform other functions that are helpful for general home maintenance, from bill payments to calendars. 

If you have questions about Enzo, we’re happy to assist.