Chore Game

I usually clean up the main floor well enough for visitors - but the upstairs is a disaster zone. It was so bad I decided I'd have the kids chores be all upstairs cleaning today. So, I made a list for each kid. Then, I thought 'this is going to drag on all night if I don't find a way to make them want to stay busy.' (The chores would only have occupied 40 minutes to one hour of time depending on how well they stayed focus and didn't interrupt one another.) So, I decided I'd reward them with a whole candy bar. This is so not a common practice in my house - like - ever. I wrote down the name of three candy bars and drew slashes between letters. I had grouping of letters occupying 6 cards. (Remember that board game that went something like - Wil lu mar rym e = Will you marry me?) So, I stashed the cards in places they had to look if they were doing their chores correctly. For example, one chore was to empty the bathroom trash - there was an index card under the trash can. Well, after dinner I had the two older boys bring their cards to the living room. Me and Sky were totally amused watching them try to put the words together correctly to figure out what their prize was. Now - they didn't know it was a candy bar. And, each kid got something different. It was fun - they really enjoyed it. ___________________ Now, Joshua was more concerned about finding the clues than doing the chores. All of his chores consisted of steps to get his room clean. So, he spent a lot of his time moping. And, of course, he didn't get his room clean or find all 6 cards. So, he didn't get his candy bar nor did he get to partake in the fun. ____________ We did decide he could do some chores tomorrow to earn his candy bar but I won't make it a game. That's going to be a special treat when I have a big jobs for them. But, anyway - it was fun and I wanted to share.