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Monday, February 7, 2011

Looking for a fun, new chore system for your kids?

TUTORIAL
Job Pockets-
***For a fun April Fools idea, scroll to bottom of post***
This is for you moms! Okay, I have to say that my house is far from perfect, but I really do give it a good effort! Living with my awesome, yet cleanliness-challenged family of 7 in very cozy living quarters can quickly take it's toll on you. If I don't get a little help from everyone, it doesn't take long before my house completely over-runs me! This system may not be for everyone. I've found that I have to have 2 or 3 different job systems to rotate between... ya know, to keep it fresh & exciting.
This is one of them that my kids have loved:
THE JOB POCKETS
Here's how to make them:
You'll need a 12x12 piece of card stock, and a regular 8.5x11
sheet of paper to print the pocket on. So, print your page...
If you want a printable version of this, just email me @
fosteramy5@gmail.com

Trim it...

Write your kid's name... or however you want to do it. I'm
choosing, this time, to combine all 3 boys on to one pocket,
 and my 2 girls will share one, as well. I'm only giving them
one job a day--besides, the regular- make bed, clean room,
do homework... for those, they use a check list. I'm making
their one job a little more detailed, though. 

Laminate both sheets. Packing tape or transparent contact
paper works perfectly, too. After you've trimmed them,
tape the bottom of the pocket in place.

Use a small hole punch in each of the 5 corners.

Secure them in place with brads.

Cut & place sticky-back Velcro on the top of your pocket.

Print out your jobs. If you'd like to use mine, I'd be happy
to email that to you, as well. Otherwise, make your own
jobs that will work for your house. I'm only giving my kids
 one "big" job a day---besides, the regular- make bed, clean
room, do homework... for those, they use a check list. I'm
making their one job a little more detailed, though. I put
stars on the bottom so when they're done, they can put
their job inside the pocket--upside down so the star shows.

Trim to 3 3/8" x 8 1/2", laminate, and place the other side of
the sticky-back Velcro on the back. Don't mind the ugly
backs to these! I'm re-using old pages. Haha! Yeah, I guess
I'm pretty thrifty. Hey, but I'm also keepin' it green!

This is what it looks like when you're done! Once they've
completed their job, they stick it in the pocket & proudly
display their star!

This is what I like to see! You could also use a point-
system to go along with this and make each job worth a
certain amount of points. You could write the points
on the stars. Once a week, they can use those points
to exchange for a little allowance or prize or something.
 ***Wait, I have to show you what I did last year for April Fool's Day (seriously one of my FAVORITE holidays)! I gave them each silly jobs. I obviously did it as a joke, but they actually ended up doing some of them! It was hilarious!
Last year, I gave
each kid 3 EASY
jobs a day. I kept
all the pockets
together in one
column. I also
made an extra
pocket to store
the extra jobs in.
 I wrote jobs like:
Pay the bills, Drive the kids to the park, Mow the lawn using scissors, Wash your clothes by hand, Sweep the driveway with a toothbrush,  Jump on the trampoline without stopping for 20 minutes, Touch your nose with your tongue, Tickle Elmo, Count your toes, Sing an opera song--mom's choice, Bark like a dog 10 times, Smell your baby sister's diaper bum, and more. They got a kick out of them!
GOOD LUCK! I hope this works for you!
I'm linkin' up HERE.

6 comments:

  1. Im gonna try it, this looks great!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is WAY cute! Thanks for sharing!

    Cara

    http://miscellaneousme.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a great way of organizing your kids chores. Great idea. I found you over at Debbie's party. I am your latest follower. I would love for you to come and check out my blog and follow me back at www.diybydesign.blogspot.com. Thanks so much.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It sounds like you and my mom should swap April Fool jokes! One of my favorites that she did was to sew just the toe of a sock shut, that way you get your foot almost all the way in before you realize what's going on!

    ReplyDelete
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