Paul Bright, founder and dadThe main types of chore charts are picture charts, checklists, family grids, rotating charts, digital charts and reward charts. The right one depends less on how it looks and more on what your child needs help working out.
I built Star Rewards for my own family after getting frustrated with chore charts that gave us either a blank page or one long list of everything. The question I use now is much simpler: what needs to happen now?
Start with one chore and ask:
What should my child be able to work out by looking at the chart?
If they need to know what comes next, use a picture chart. If they know the jobs but forget one, use a checklist. If nobody knows whose job it is, use a family grid. Choose the problem first, then use the simplest chart that solves it.
Which type of chore chart should you choose?
Use this table as a quick starting point. These formats can overlap, so you might end up with a weekly family grid that also uses pictures or stars.
| What keeps going wrong? | Try this type |
|---|---|
| Your child is unsure what comes next | Picture chart or Now/Next/Done board |
| They know the chores but forget one | Short checklist |
| Everyone assumes somebody else is doing it | Family grid |
| The same person always gets the unpopular job | Rotating chart |
| The reminder is on the fridge, but the chore happens elsewhere | Digital chart |
| You want to track one clear, short-term goal | Reward or points chart |
Begin with a small version. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends making daily and weekly expectations clear and introducing one new responsibility at a time when a school-age child is new to chores. That is a practical starting point, not a tested perfect number for every child, but it is much easier than filling every row on a new chart. (AAP)
Use a picture chart when your child needs to see what comes next
A picture chart turns a broad instruction into a visible sequence.
“Get ready for sport” sounds like one job to an adult. For a child, it might mean putting on the clean uniform, filling a water bottle, packing their boots and leaving the bag by the door. You can use photos of the actual objects, simple drawings or familiar symbols to show those steps in order.
If the full routine is too much, a Now/Next/Done board shows only the current step, the one after it and what has already been finished.
Pictures still need to be taught. Guidance on visual timetables recommends showing your child what each image means and how to follow the sequence. Research on carefully taught visual activity schedules has also found support for their use with some autistic people, although that research covered structured interventions and does not tell us that every child needs a picture chart. (NHS visual timetable guidance, Knight, Sartini and Spriggs)
Try this first: Use two pictures, not twelve. Complete the first step together, then show your child how to move or mark it. If you still have to explain every picture after a few attempts, change the images or teach the steps again before expanding the chart.
Use a checklist when your child knows the chores but forgets a step
A checklist works when the job itself is familiar and the problem is remembering all of it.
An after-school checklist might say:
- Put your school bag on its hook.
- Put your lunchbox beside the sink.
- Put your shoes away.
For an older child packing for sport, it might say:
- Fill your water bottle.
- Pack your clean uniform and boots.
- Put the bag beside the door.
The wording matters more than the stationery. “Kitchen” makes your child guess what finished looks like. “Put the safe dishes in the dishwasher and wipe your place” gives them a clear finish line.
This is where broad jobs often come unstuck. In our house, if “clean your room” feels too large and boring, I look for one small thing that can be seen and finished, such as gathering the Barbies from the floor and putting them away. I might turn it into a playful two-minute challenge, even when it will probably take thirty seconds, then move to making the bed. Starting with a small action seems to reduce some of the friction for us, although it asks more of the parent at first because somebody has to break the job down.
Try this first: Ask your child to read the list back or show you what each line means. If their version of “done” is different from yours, rewrite the line now. A week of arguing over a vague box is a poor return on the thirty seconds saved when you wrote it.
Use a family grid when nobody knows who owns the job
A family grid gives each shared job one visible owner.
Sometimes the dishes stay beside the sink because each person thought somebody else was doing them. Put names down one side of the grid and jobs or days across the top. Keep personal responsibilities, such as putting away your own school things, separate from shared work, such as clearing the dinner table. Moveable notes or magnets let you change assignments without remaking the whole chart, a layout also suggested by the American Cleaning Institute.
Be specific about the adult's part too. “Help with dinner” is unclear if your child thinks it means setting out safe tableware and you think it includes carrying a hot pan. Give your child a job they can do safely, and keep any supervision or safety check with the adult.
Try this first: Look for a job with two owners or no owner, then give it to one person. Name the adult check separately where one is needed.
Use a rotating chart when selected jobs need to be shared
Rotate a small number of shared jobs, while keeping everyday personal jobs steady.
For example, one child clears the safe dinner dishes while another feeds a familiar family pet with an adult check. The following week they swap. Their own school bags, shoes and dirty clothes remain their own jobs.
I would avoid rotating everything. A complete weekly reshuffle gives children more to remember and gives you another system to run. Ask which jobs need practice and which need sharing. Keep the practice jobs fixed for a while, then rotate the shared ones on the same day each week.
Use a digital chart when the reminder needs to travel
A digital chart helps when a reminder or update needs to appear somewhere the paper chart cannot.
Paper is visible, cheap and free of notifications. If the chore happens beside the fridge, paper may be the best answer. Digital becomes useful when an older child manages jobs across the week, when the chore happens elsewhere, or when more than one person needs to see that something has been completed.
One reminder at 4.30 pm saying “Put your clean sports uniform and boots in the bag” may be more helpful than six alerts for every tiny step. Set the reminder for a time when your child can act on it. If they repeatedly dismiss it, change the timing, wording or task before adding more notifications.
Check what the app stores and whether a notification could show your child's name or routine on a lock screen. The chart should also remain usable without colour being the only status cue, dragging being the only way to move something, or controls being too small to select reliably. (W3C guidance on colour, dragging and target size)
Star Rewards is one digital option for making chores and routines visible and recognising when they are done. I built it, so this is not an independent recommendation. A paper checklist or magnetic board may suit your family better, and an app cannot teach a chore your child does not yet understand.
If your older child would rather keep the system private, the guide to using a reward chart without making it feel childish covers that decision properly.
Use a reward chart for one clearly agreed target
A reward chart suits a defined, short-term goal where your child can understand both what earns a mark and what the marks mean.
A plain chore chart organises responsibilities. A reward chart adds an agreed result, such as a sticker, points, pocket money or choosing the family game. For example:
You earn one mark when the safe dinner dishes are beside the sink and your place is wiped. Five marks means you choose Saturday's family game.
Your child can see the task, the finish line and the result before they begin.
Research on tangible rewards and a child's existing interest in an activity is contested. Two major reviews reached different conclusions about when rewards might reduce later interest, and neither directly tested an ordinary family chore chart. That leaves parents with a practical decision rather than a universal rule: be clear about what the reward is meant to support, and use it for a defined purpose. (Deci, Koestner and Ryan, Cameron, Banko and Pierce)
If that concern is the main thing holding you back, read the fuller guide to reward charts and children's motivation.
If your family pays for some chores, separate everyday responsibilities from optional paid jobs so the choice is clear. There is no single required allowance system. The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau suggests discussing which jobs count as extra in your own family.
I also think a good chart is one you eventually throw away. Once your child can manage the task consistently without it, stop using it.
Can you combine different types of chore charts?
Yes. Combine formats only when each part solves a different problem.
A child might use pictures to follow a morning routine, while a family grid shows who clears the dinner table that week. A checklist can include one rewarded target without turning every family responsibility into a transaction.
If the chart needs a lengthy explanation, several colour keys and a separate set of rules, it has probably grown too large. Remove anything that does not help your child decide what to do, understand what finished means or record that it is done.
Test the chart with Find, Understand, Update
Before you print, buy or download anything, test the chart with three questions:
- Can they find it? Put the chart where the decision happens. A morning checklist beside the front door is more useful than one buried in a family planner.
- Can they understand it? Ask your child to explain one task and show you what finished looks like. Replace “be responsible” and “tidy up” with actions they can see.
- Can they update it? Make sure they can tick, move or mark the chart without waiting for you to do it.
Your child may still need teaching, help or an adult safety check. This test simply tells you whether the chart is usable, or whether it has become one more thing you have to translate and maintain.
What should you change if the chart is not working?
Change the part that failed before replacing the whole system.
- They do not look at it: Move it to the place and time where the decision happens.
- They ask what a task means: Rewrite it with a visible finish line, or show them how to do it.
- They lose their place: Shorten the list or show only the current and next step.
- They cannot update it: Make the marks easier to use, or choose a format they can operate themselves.
- You keep forgetting to maintain it: Remove tasks, reminders or rules until the chart fits the week you actually have.
A chart cannot make an unclear chore clear, and it cannot remove every reminder or disagreement. It should make the next action easier to see. If it adds more work than it removes, simplify it.
If the chart worked for a while and then quietly fell out of use, change one thing before rebuilding it.
Make the first version in five minutes
Take one piece of paper and write down the problem you want to solve. Choose one chore your child understands, then draw or write the smallest chart that could help:
- a two-picture sequence;
- a three-line checklist;
- one named job on a family grid;
- two shared jobs to rotate next week;
- one well-timed reminder; or
- one clearly defined way to earn a mark.
Put it where the chore happens and try it for a week. Then ask whether your child could find it, understand it and update it. Change the part that failed instead of rebuilding the whole system.
If you are starting with rewards and have not chosen the first target yet, use the guide to what should earn the first star. If a simple paper chart fits the job, you can also make a free printable reward chart.
