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Parent Tip of the Week: Using a Point System for Doing Chores

If work were fun, we’d call it play! Almost all of us would choose anything else over chores. Children often need external rewards to do things they don’t enjoy. (Adults do too; even the most boring jobs come with a salary!)

Here’s a painless way to encourage kids to get their chores done without needing to nag or yell at them: Set up a system where your child can earn points for each chore successfully done in a certain time frame, like a day or a week. Together, choose several chores that the child can reasonably manage in that time. Assign points to each task based on how difficult, unpleasant or time-consuming it is.

As the points add up, they can be traded in for small rewards – or bigger ones, if your child is willing to wait longer to save up more! To monitor progress and remind your child to keep at it, make a chart on a piece of paper, hang it up on a bulletin board and let your child check off the tasks as they’re completed.

Using a point system has many advantages:

Rewards don’t have to be expensive or extravagant.
Children can watch the points build up as they “earn” their “salary.”
Children feel more in control of the things they enjoy. They can use the points early for small rewards, or save them and use them later for bigger rewards.
Children can have input on what chores are worth how many points.
Parents and children can work together on making the system work for your family.

Here’s a sample point system:

Clean room = 5 points
Help with laundry = 2 points
Clean kitchen = 3 points
Eat a new food = 1 point

Here are some ideas for sample rewards:

5 points earn 30 minutes of video game time, or $1 toward a new toy or video game.
10 points earn a family game night.
20 points earn a movie or outing.

Always make sure you follow through with the promised reward soon after it’s earned. Parents who use this system usually find that kids are more likely to do their fair share of the household chores without complaint.

Have a tip you want to share? E-mail Frances Platt at PlattF@mhawestchester.org with your Parent Tip of the Week!

This content was adapted by MHA from the Parent Hacks web site (http://www.parenthacks.com/2008/02/tie-video-game.html). Inclusion of a web link on this site does not imply endorsement by MHA of all content of the referenced web site.

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