Heather Haupt

Equipping Families to Live Cultivated Lives


The Picture Chore Chart Tutorial

Written by 14 Comments

Here is the tutorial for the awesome chore chart that I had as a young girl. I’m just so in-love with the late 70’s/early 80’s artwork! It makes me feel nostalgic every time I look at it!  Of course, we’ve included a page of blank cards for you to personalize it and add your own chores!  (A big shout-out to my sister who really helped me with this project and prodded me to stop procrastinating and get it done!)

What You Will Need:
• 1 wood board, ¾ inch thick (12×8 board for 1 child) (12×12 for 2 kids) (12×16 board for 3 kids)
• piece of batting (12×8) (12×12) (12×16)
• 1 piece of fabric (16×12) (16×16) (16×20)
• 1 piece of felt (12×8) (12×12) (12×16)
• Sticky letters or fabric paint
• 3 lg cup hooks per child
• 2 sm sawtooth picture hangers
• Hammer and small nail
• Paper punch
• Scissors
• Glue (I used wood glue)
• 1 roll of clear contact paper
• 4 sheets of white card stock/child
• Printer to print the JOB CARDS (includes both girl and boy cards as well as blanks)

Instructions:
Step 1: Prepare job cards. Print PDF onto white card stock, three pages for each child. Color code at the bottom of each card (a different color per child), and write the child’s name on the blank card. Carefully cover over both sides of card stock with clear contact paper (or if you prefer have them laminated). Cut out. Punch a hole in the top of each card.
Step 2: Place padding on front side of board. Spot glue it in place. Allow glue to dry before next step.
Step 3: Cover padding with material right side up. When material is in place, carefully turn board over. Glue all four back edges securely down.  Allow glue to dry. If desired, hide material edges with felt square, cut to same proportions as board, glue in place.
Step 4: Using a pencil and a ruler, figure out where you want to place each hood and mark.  I placed cards in desired places to confirm desired placement.
Step 5: Place the words, “NAME,” “JOB,” and “DONE” at top of board, in that order.  Sticky felt letters can be used or you can use fabric paint.  I did not want to freehand my words, so I made freezer paper stencils for my words.  Directions for freezer-paper stenciling can be found here or here.  It is super easy and so addicting…
Step 6: Gently pound a nail into each pencil mark. Then, screw-in cup hooks, one hook under each word per child. Each child will have three hooks. (Do not pound the cup hooks in with the hammer or the hooks will bend.  We learned this the hard way.)
Step 7: Attach sawtooth picture hangers to the back of the board. (As you can see, in my pregnant state, I totally forgot to attach the felt to finish off the back…)
Step 8: Hang in easy to access place.  Ours hangs right below the calendar, next to our pantry.  As a girl, my mom hung ours on the wall of the counter in the kitchen.  Too out of sight will mean out of mind…
Step 9: Turn your little helpers loose!
Related Post:
Learning the Value of Work (our chore charts in action)

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. We had the same chore chart as kids and I still have my cards! Thanks for the PDF file so I can make some for my kids.

    Reply

  3. I love this!!! Thank you so much for sharing!! We will definitely be using this as part of our kitchen command center. Thank you!!!!

    Reply

  6. What a marvelous idea! I love how the children helped. I need to come up with something like this for my older teens!

    I am a new follower. I would love to have you visit and follow me back.

    Have a great weekend!

    Mrs. White
    The Legacy of Home
    http://thelegacyofhome.blogspot.com

    Reply

  7. Yay, I’ve been checking back since your original post to see if you’d done a tutorial yet or not. I love this idea and I’ve never done anything like this before so I really wasn’t sure if I’d be able to figure out on my own. I’m probably a little too excited over a chore chart, but it’s the little things. Thanks!

    Reply

  9. Love this! Although, I will have to put it off for a while. This is just the sort of thing that I like to put together but then have horrible follow through on. Or, as my dear hubby says…creating work for myself! Sigh. Will just admire yours from afar for now!

    Reply

  10. VERY cool! You are so creative and your photos always make me feel like I’m taking a little peek into your life 🙂
    Thanks for encouraging words on my blog.

    Love, Heather

    Reply

  11. Love, love, love this idea! I have been working on a similar chore/job system for my kiddos. Thanks for sharing!!!

    Reply

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