Operation: Organization–Printable Kids’ Chore Cards

Hey, everyone, and welcome to another year of Operation: Organization {Back to School Edition}! Whether you have school aged children or not, you probably still feel the urge to organize as summer wanes and we head into fall and the holidays. This is the perfect time to make sure things are running smoothly in your homes before the busy season hits!

Operation Organization Back to School Edition Series at 11 Magnolia Lane

We have a fabulous line up of guest bloggers for you over the next two weeks. Some of them you’ll recognize from our previous series, and some might be new to you. We guarantee that they are all amazing at what they do–and they’re got some great ideas to share with you! {the full schedule is at the end of the post}

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I’m kicking things off today by sharing the chore charts that I made for my kids. I mentioned them in this post on back to school, and promised that I’d share them if I got permission from my friend Stephanie, who created the original document. She graciously agreed. She’s a Savannah friend whose son is friends with mine and she’s also a brand-new blogger, so you can visit her at The Pleasant Nest.

My kids are older (almost 15 and just-turned 12), so they have lots of responsibilities around the house. My son, in particular, does better with getting it all done correctly when he has a written list to follow, and the more specific it is, the better. These are perfect because he can carry them around with him and check things off as he completes them. I love that the last thing on every card is “check your work” because that increases the chances that it will all be done correctly when I come to inspect!

If you download these, you’ll notice that I have duplicates of most items; one for each child. Some of the cards (like “Before School Checklist”) are slightly different as they take turns on different morning jobs (i.e. walking the dog and unloading the dishwasher) from one week to the next. They just trade those cards on Monday morning. Some of the items are only done weekly; I just hand them those cards when it’s time for them to clean their room or mow the lawn.

I laminated our cards, punched a hole in them, and secured them with a binder ring. I’ve already mentioned the laminator I bought (and LOVE) for about $20; here are all of the supplies that I used:

Once the cards are laminated, my kids can use a dry-erase marker to check items off as they’ve completed them.

The complete file is several pages long and is editable so you can delete my items and add your own; click below on Word or Pages to download.

Word | Pages

Many thanks to Stephanie for sharing her files with us, and hopefully these will help you streamline chores and cleaning at your house. We’ll be back tomorrow with Lauren from Bless’er House!

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Need some help getting organized? Be sure to check out our brand-new Calendar Pad, perfect for organizing your entire family {here}, and our printable student planner {here}.