Summer Chores and Money Management

A few months ago, I posted about Elijah's chore chart.  We did a great job with it for a while, then I let it fizzle.  This summer I am bringing it back better than ever with a few tweaks to include Graham in the mix.

When I set Elijah up with his money management system, Graham was just a baby.  So this week I set out at Old Time Pottery to find the perfect containers to separate their money (give, save, spend).  I hit the jackpot when I found these votive candle holders for $5.  I added their names with stickers and wrote on the jars with gel paint (each word is in a different color since they can't read).

I also simplified our chart so that Graham wasn't overwhelmed.  5 simple tasks each day: Make Your Bed, Clean Up Toys, Eat Your Food and Take Your Dish to the Sink, Good Attitude, Obey the 1st Time.  Each night we put stickers next to each task they completed.  At the end of the week, the get a dime for each sticker they earned.

When I go to give them their dimes, we place a dime on top of each sticker.  Then we count out 10 at a time, place 1 of the 10 in the give jar, 1 in the save jar and the rest in the spend jar.  We do this until all the dimes are used up.  For now, even if there are not 10 in the last group, we still give one, save one, and spend the rest (they don't understand the math anyway).

Comments

[Resa]

Holly, thank you so much for sharing!! Our almost 4 year old will love this. He is very goal oriented. Thanks again!

[Becky Lowe]

What a cute idea - you're so creative.

[Tricia]

Holly - This is amazing! I hope you don't mind but I am a Children's Pastor and would love to share this with my parents. We teach the kids about tithing, but they still have trouble understanding the whole 10% thing. This is a fantastic way to teach the kids the importance of chores and giving!

[Jennifer]

I love this idea. I'm going to start it with my six year old today. Thank you so much for sharing!

[Laura]

Thanks for this post. I am trying to set up something similar for my 5 year old but not quite there yet. I like the idea of the different jars which I hadn't thought of at first. It seems like that would make it easier than dividing it up at the end.

[Travis]

That is a great idea!