Toddler Chore Cards

       Here's a quick idea for you!  Last spring I made photo chore cards for my daughter, who was not even two at the time.  Chore cards.  HA!  Yeah, right.  Toddlers and chores are not two things that always mesh easily.  Still, children at this age love pictures of other kids and I thought, why not?  Here's what I came up with...

 

       I made a list of several "chores" that Claire takes care of each day:

1. brush teeth
2. wash hands & face
3. feed Cal (our dog... I know, I know, it's a cat in the photo - it was the best photo, though!)
4. pick up toys
5. help Mama clean
6. take a bath
7. brush hair
8. get pajamas
9. go to bed

       You get the idea.

 

       After I made my list, I just googled images to find different kids performing these tasks.  Then I printed, laminated, and voila!  We didn't (and still don't) do anything very structured with these cards, but the point of making them was just for Claire to start understanding some of the things she does throughout the day.  And she loves them!  Some days we lay out cards of things we are going to do next, but other times she just flips through them when she's playing.

 

       At some point I plan on making an updated set with some real chores.  There are countless clever ideas to get children involved in the care of their environment and themselves!  Though I still need to decide the exact direction I want to go next, I know that I definitely want to teach Claire that chores are really family contributions.  They're her way of helping out her family and taking care of her home, not just tasks we're throwing at her to annoy her.  Sooo... that should realistically eliminate any future arguments and whining over cleaning her room... forever... right?