Letter Board Chore Chart For 5-Year-Old

I did it!! You probably thought that hipsters had exhausted all the ways you can use letter boards - but no! I found a new use for them! You're welcome!

We've been reaching some new "big kid" milestones with our oldest.  I feel like it can be easy to forget how much he's capable of with a new baby around, but he really is ready and able to do so much!  There are many studies that show that kids who grow up doing chores end up being more successful and responsible.

We've always had him do things around the house, so this isn't a brand new concept.  However, I realized recently that he might enjoy earning some money, and that of course there were many chores that he could do!

You can search "chores by age", and find lots of great ideas for what kinds of jobs kids can do at certain stages.  Aidan already does a lot of them just out of habit, but I wanted to make some chores more consistent.  Also, we have a unique situation, where Aidan "works" all day at school - he is busy learning a new language.  When he comes home, he's usually exhausted.  So, I didn't want it to be way too much.  Anyway, here's what you'll need:

12x16 inch letter board, like this one

Exacto knife

Piggy bank (we went with a 12x12 shadow box one, similar to this.  I like it, because you can see the money accumulating!)

Desired skills:

- fostering good work ethic

- learning to tithe

- valuing money

- learning to save

Directions:

1. Use the exacto knife to get a clean cut when you're cutting out the enclosed letters.

2. Title your board if you like (kids love seeing their names).

3. Write out the (abbreviated version of the) days of the week on the left, leaving two lines between each word.

4. At the top, list the chores.

5. I added the chores that are only weekly at the bottom.

Another layout option for more chores would be to have just the first letter of each day at the top, and then the chores down the side.  Your choice! :)

We're using all the little symbols that came in the pack to "check" off the days.

And there you go!

What we've achieved so far:

- all week, Aidan has come out of his room with his bed made! Now, I'm not delusional, I know the excitement of it will wear off, but for now I'm loving it!

- he loves "checking things off" his list, and is enjoying the sense of responsibility. Yay!

Hooray for big kids, and new milestones!