To practice responsibility, learn life skills, and create a sense of self-worth, a chore chart for kids is a necessity for just about any parent. But in the digital age, does a printable chore chart really hold the same cachet and engagement as it once did? Probably not. Fortunately, you can solve this problem with a modern chore chart solution.
With an online chore chart, you can automate your chore lists, transfer funds to your child and set rates for each job. Discover how updating your process can take chores from mundane to exciting — all while teaching your kids valuable life skills.
What is a chore chart?
Essentially, a chore chart helps you assign household tasks to your kids and track when they’ve been completed. Chore charts have been used for years. You might have even had one when you were a young child.
Traditionally, parents have posted a chore chart somewhere in the home. Some create a DIY chart with poster board and stickers or with a whiteboard and dry-erase markers. Others may download a free printable chore chart or chore chart templates from the internet to create a checklist for weekly or daily chores.
It’s common for parents to combine the chore chart with a reward system or their kids’ allowance.
While the DIY approach will get the job done, it often involves a lot of manual work and might not engage and inspire kids of today. Modernizing your chore chart can help you automate part of the process. Plus, with so many distractions from digital sources, having something concrete that maintains the interest of children isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a necessity. That’s the beauty of a modern chore chart for kids.
Why do you need a modern chore chart for kids?
You could certainly just name off household chores to your kids or maintain a physical chore board in your home, but a modern chore chart has many benefits for both you and your kids. Greenlight lets you create a list of weekly or daily responsibilities right in the app.
For starters, a modern chore chart will save you time on assigning and tracking chores. You can set up recurring household chores, but you can also assign your child a one-time task.
In addition to creating a to-do list for your child to follow, you can include due dates and descriptions for each chore to provide clarity about what’s expected. You can even connect your child’s allowance to their chores and automatically pay them when chores are completed.
Plus, you can give constructive feedback and praise, set expectations and even monitor the progress on your list of chores so your kids stay on track.
However, a modern chore chart for kids does more than just help you create and monitor a list of chores. It also helps your child learn important skills and create good habits.
First, a modern chore chart builds personal responsibility and accountability, which will help young kids as they become older teens and even adults. The Greenlight app will send your child a reminder about incomplete chores. This feature reinforces the idea that they are responsible for completing the task and keeps parents from having to remind the child over and over.
Second, a modern chore chart can help your kids develop valuable time-management skills that they’ll need in other facets of their life, including schoolwork. By knowing when a chore is due and what’s involved in completing it, your child will learn how to prioritize and juggle their responsibilities at home with their homework and extracurricular activities.
Finally, when you pay out an allowance for chores completed, you reinforce the value of hard work and detract from entitlement. This can lay the foundation for financial responsibility and literacy that your kids can carry into adulthood. You just might find that your kids are even more willing to help you out or ask about chores just to see their bank accounts grow.
Plus, the Greenlight app goes beyond tracking chores and paying allowances. You can use the app to teach your kids how to divide their earnings between saving, spending, investing, and giving.
How to create a chore chart for kids on the Greenlight app
The days of dry-erase boards, stickers, and family chore charts are over. Today, parents can make their lives easier by using the Greenlight chore chart for kids while younger children and older teens can stay on top of a chore checklist just by looking at their phone or tablet. When you consider that kids between eight and 18 spend between six and nine hours of time on a digital device each day, using an app for chores and allowances is a natural fit.
Here’s how to get started with Greenlight’s chore chart.
1. Download the app
Completely customizable and editable, chore charts on the Greenlight app are surprisingly easy to set up. Just download the app, create accounts for yourself and each of your children and follow the prompts. You can also order a pre-loaded debit card straight to your house during this process, regardless of whether you have younger kids that are just learning about money or older teens.
2. Set up chores
Once you have everything ready to go, you can create your routine chart, chore chart, or whatever you want to call it. Just follow these steps to get the ball rolling:
Go to your kid’s dashboard, which you can access from your personal profile.
Scroll down and tap the Assign Chores button.
Select chore options.
Choose either a one-time chore or a weekly chore. Depending on which one you choose, you can select the allowance amount, due date, and where to deposit the money.
Add a description to give your kids a better idea of what they need to do. Show them in person what you expect just to drive home the point.
Select Save Changes.
That’s it! Once you have the chores arranged to your liking, you will get a notification when the child completes a chore. From there, you can select pay now, or you can inspect their work and pay later.
The Greenlight app allows you to change, edit, or delete chores in just seconds, which is handy if you have a few minutes to spare during your busy day.
3. Choose payment options to suit your parenting style
The Greenlight app also allows you to choose how you want to pay your child. Select from monthly, biweekly, or weekly payouts to suit your needs. You can also decide whether to give a flat rate, partial payment, or an all-or-nothing payment based on your parenting style.
4. Teach your kids to use the app
Now that you’ve created a chore chart for kids, you simply need to teach them how to use the app. The process is easy, just follow these instructions:
Download the app to your kid’s mobile device. You should have created an account for them when you installed the app on your phone.
Have your child log in using either their phone number or username.
Select the Upcoming Chores tab in the app. This brings up the weekly, recurring, and one-time chore chart.
After your child completes the task, they press the square located to the left of the task. This will send you a notification, and you’re ready to inspect their work or pay out.
Let Greenlight take the guesswork out of your chore chart for kids
Chore charts for kids are an ideal way to maintain order in your house while teaching life skills like personal and financial responsibility.
As a busy parent, you already have enough on your plate. Sign up for Greenlight and use the modern chore chart for kids to make your life a little bit easier. The app will put a smile on their face — all while making you look like parent of the year. That’s a win-win any parent can enjoy.
