I think part of motherhood is trying to stay a step ahead of the little bitties. Instead I usually feel about 5 steps behind 
. We’re trying a new chore chart these days. Something fresh and new … and will hopefully keep their attention for more than a few weeks.
In case anyone else is looking for a new idea, here is what we’re trying out. Nothing too fancy, but it’s a start and it works for us.
I’ve had this magnet board from Ikea for a long time. I actually had some cute Stampin’ Up vinyl on it (floral cute stuff) and had planned to use it in my office for notes. We decided to use it for this instead, and the girls happily helped peel off the vinyl. (it’s always fun to peel off giant stickers, after all!)
I cut some white vinyl with my Big Shot and alphabet dies for the girls’ names (they look much better when not blotted out, heehee) and into strips for the divider.
These little pictures are all just images that I googled, nothing fancy or custom. The girls know what they represent. Water the flowers, finish homework, set the table, help with dinner, etc.
Note: to size these right with no guessing, I make these pages in My Digital Studio. It’s as easy as working in Microsoft Word or a basic program, but I could check sizing with my circle punches. Then I printed them off on my own printer and just punched the circles out.
Once they were punched into circles, I punched out a piece of self-adhesive magnet and stuck ‘em together. Easy peasy.
(These magnets and a few of these items are retiring at the end of May, so if you’re interested in getting any, quickety quick!)
Funny thing … I originally had all the pieces behind these cute rock-ish pieces.
They were kinda cute in some ways … but half of them were too hard to see through, I didn’t use a strong adhesive so they were falling off … oops. I scrapped that idea and covered them in crystal effects. Much better and easier for the kidlets. 
Each piece has a number written on the back. (Yay silver sharpie!) These are the point values of each chore. The less desirable the chore , the higher the value. I’m pretty lenient, though … they get a point for even getting hair done with no whining. C’mon, that’s a freebie. (and a necessity with my 3-year-old right now. It’s helped!) 
These magnet cups are from Wal-Mart. They are perfect “point” holders. I had a bag of popsicle sticks lying around, and they have worked great for us. I’m sure I could spray paint them all cute and glittery , but I also have a 6 month old, so let’s just be happy that the system is up and running, shall we? 
Ha.
At the end of each day I add up their points and update their popsicle sticks. My 6 year old counts her sticks like a little Scrooge McDuck several times a day.
And that’s it! Like I said, it’s not fancy, but it’s fun and functional! (so far!!) My favorite part is that because I made it, I can easily modify it!
Oh, and what are these points for, you are asking yourself? I didn’t take a picture of this, but we do have a “chore store.” There are some pieces of candy and dollar store toys, and then a bunch of cards for less tangible things. I also made these quickly in My Digital Studio. 
I used colored star stickers to assign values to these. An extra bedtime story is 5 points, but to earn a slurpee run is I think 20 points … or 25? You get the idea.
There are 2 large 50 point items. One is a piece of Barbie furniture for their doll house, and the other is the family movie date. To earn these they have to be smart with their points. Learn to save up for a while, and/or cooperate with your sister to combine points. I kind of like the teaching lesson with those. I also remind them to get along with each other, since negative behavior can mean losing a point. Dun dun dunnnnn.
Anyway, we’re working out the kinks, but they’re excited about it and my 3 year old mopped the floor today, soooooo … I’ll take it!
Pass on any tips or tricks you’ve come up with!
Laura
