guides
How to Make a Chore Chart for Kids Aged 3 to 8
Make a chore chart with pictures, three manageable jobs and a weekly reset. Includes a copyable chart and a clear choice about pocket money.
What should your child's first chore chart look like?
Start your chore chart with the jobs you're already reminding your child about: shoes away, clothes in the basket, books back. Add a picture and a tick box for each, practise together, then review it on Sunday. Keep three jobs on the chart at most, and begin with just one if that's enough for now.
A tick means a job is done. Leave vague targets such as "be good" off the page.
For a child who isn't reading yet, draw the actual objects they use. Just One Norfolk's NHS guidance explains how photographs and symbols can show activities and their order. It also stresses teaching children how to use them.
When will you actually check the chart?
Check it when each job happens: shoes away when you get home, clothes into the basket when changing, books back after reading. Choose Sunday for a short review. There's no need to gather every chore into a single session at the busiest point of the evening.
Keep school preparation alongside your morning routine checklist, so the same job doesn't appear on competing lists. If stopping play is the sticking point, our guide to moving between activities covers that moment.
How do you set it up in 10 minutes?
Use this six-step plan as a suggested setup, with paper and a pencil ready at the kitchen table. The timings add up to 10 minutes. Allow longer if your child wants to draw; you can finish the decoration another day.
1. Pick the jobs together: 2 minutes
"Which shall we put on your chart: shoes, clothes or books?" Choose familiar tasks; Action for Children advises keeping chart tasks simple, specific and manageable.
If your child offers "clean the whole house", narrow it to putting their own shoes away. Keep the other jobs for later if this is already plenty to practise.
2. Give each job a picture: 2 minutes
"Let's draw your shoes where they belong." Put a simple picture beside the words, or use a photograph of the finished job.
If your child points to the shoe drawing and says "go outside", explain it beside the real shoe space. Ask them to show you what the picture means before adding more decoration.
3. Agree what counts as finished: 2 minutes
"Both shoes go together in this space." Show the finish point for each task, then copy this example weekly chore chart onto paper or into a document to print.
- Shoes in their place
- Dirty clothes in the basket
- Books back on the low shelf
If the shoes land nearby, point to the agreed space and finish together.
4. Choose its home and your cue: 1 minute
"After your shoes come off, we'll check this picture." Tape the chart where your child can see it and write a cue beside each row if useful.
If they wander past it, go over together and point to today's box. For the clothes row, the cue might be getting changed.
5. Practise a job and mark it: 2 minutes
"Let's put these books back, then you can tick the box." Rehearse a small job together and name what they did: "You put the books on their shelf."
If they need help, give it. Welsh Government guidance recommends specific praise and achievable expectations; you don't have to wait for a flawless attempt.
6. Sit together and finish: 1 minute
"Show me which picture we'll use when we get home tomorrow." Sit quietly beside the chart and let your child point, without adding another job.
If they've had enough talking, simply leave the chart ready. End the setup there, with a quiet pause.
Use pencil ticks rather than loose counters or magnets, especially with under-3s nearby. The Child Accident Prevention Trust warns about choking on small parts and swallowing powerful magnets.
How much time should you give it each day?
Aim for a brief glance and a tick after each job, rather than another daily meeting. The chores themselves take as long as they take. If you've only got two minutes tonight, practise putting the shoes away together and leave the rest of the chart for tomorrow.
Keep the pencil beside the chart so ticking it doesn't become a separate hunt. On a busy day, doing a small job together is enough.
What if the chart turns into another argument?
Start by looking at the job and the moment you've chosen. Is the basket awkward to reach? Does "books away" mean something different to each of you? Try doing the task alongside your child before changing the chart or adding a bigger reward.
For example, if "tidy your room" keeps stalling, replace it with "put the books on this shelf". If arriving home is too busy, try the job after changing instead.
When stickers are part of your system, keep earned ones: Welsh Government advice says not to remove them for later behaviour. With this checklist, a completed job stays completed too. If the chart still isn't helping, put it aside and keep doing the job together for now.
Should chores earn pocket money?
Either approach is an option. MoneyHelper describes paying for chores or treating them as an unpaid contribution to family life. Decide which you mean before you introduce the chart, and explain it plainly. A tick can simply record a finished job without becoming a payment.
If you choose payment, agree the job and what counts as done beforehand. If you choose unpaid helping, say: "We all help look after our home." Keep the arrangement affordable and consistent with what you've promised.
What should change at the Sunday reset?
Review the chart together on Sunday: keep the jobs that fit, shrink the one that kept stalling and remove anything that didn't need doing. Check the setup too. Put the basket, book space or other destination where the job actually happens, then prepare the next week's sheet.
Put a line through days when a job wasn't needed. After a gap, restart with a familiar job, without adding a backlog.
If family yoga is already part of your day, "roll up the mat together" is another job to try. Explore our mats for family practice: they're for ages 3 to 8, full length at 183 x 61 cm so adults can use them too, with 15 numbered poses laser-engraved into the surface.
Frequently asked questions
What chores should a 3-year-old do?
Try putting shoes in their place, carrying dirty clothes to a basket or returning books to a low shelf, with you alongside. Choose a job you've already shown them and start with just that picture. These are starting ideas, not milestones your child must reach by their birthday.
What chores should a 7-year-old do?
Possible jobs include pairing clean socks, folding small towels, laying out napkins or putting their belongings away. Choose from tasks you've practised together, then agree what finished looks like. For example, folded towels belong on the low shelf, rather than in a pile awaiting another instruction.
How do I make a printable chore chart?
Copy the weekly table into a document, add a drawing or photograph beside each job and print it. Keep three job rows at most, with a column for each day. If your child finds the weekly grid confusing, make a daily version with one box beside each picture instead.
What if my child misses a day on their chore chart?
Leave the missed box empty and carry on with today's job. Don't add yesterday's tasks to today's list just to fill the chart. At your next weekly check, ask whether the job needed more help, a different time or a clearer picture. After a longer gap, restart with one familiar task.
