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Chore and reward chart

A weekly chart your children put stickers on as they do their chores, adding up to a reward you choose together.

Make a chart for one child now. You can add more children, chores and a reward after.

Ideas from the AAP's chores by age

Ages 5 to 7

Ages 8 to 10

Ages 11 to 12

Saved on this device.

How it works

Add each child and their chores, and pick the days each chore is on. When a chore is done, your child taps today's space and a sticker lands there. Every sticker also fills the next space on the trail to the reward you chose together, so "how many more?" is something a child can count.

The AAP suggests stickers or stars for younger children, small rewards for a set number of points at the end of a day or week, bigger ones for more, and choosing rewards with your child. We start at 10 stickers; that number is our rule of thumb. The CDC says never to take away rewards a child has earned, so there's no penalty here: a grown-up can only fix a sticker that went on by mistake.

Kid mode shows today's chores as big tiles and hides everything else behind a 3-second hold. There are no streaks and no comparisons between children. The AAP's advice is to praise effort and phase the chart out once your child stops asking for points. Everything stays on this device.

Questions people ask

How many stickers should a reward take?
There's no set number: the AAP suggests small rewards for a preset number of points at the end of a day or week, and bigger rewards for more. This chart starts at 10 stickers, our rule of thumb, and you can choose 1 to 50. The CDC's advice that rewards work best right after the behavior is a reason to keep young children's goals short.
Should I take stickers away for bad behavior?
No. The CDC's parenting guidance says never to take away rewards a child has earned: "Rewards that your child has earned are theirs." This chart has no penalty; a grown-up can only remove a sticker that went on by mistake.
What chores can a 5-year-old do?
The AAP lists making their bed, setting and clearing the table, putting toys away, putting dirty clothes in a hamper, filling a pet's food dish and watering flowers, among others, for ages 5 to 7. The chart offers these as ideas when you add a chore, with the AAP's lists for ages 8 to 10 and 11 to 12.
Do rewards stop children wanting to help on their own?
They can if they never end. A review of 128 experiments found that expected, tangible rewards lowered people's own interest in an activity, more so for children, while positive feedback raised it. The AAP advises praising effort and phasing a chart out once a child stops asking for points.
Where is the chart saved?
Only in this browser on this device. There's no account, and nothing about your children leaves the device unless you export it from Settings.

Sources

  1. HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Age-appropriate chores for children
  2. HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Positive reinforcement through rewards
  3. CDC: Tips for using praise and rewards
  4. Deci, Koestner and Ryan 1999: Extrinsic rewards and intrinsic motivation, a meta-analysis (Psychological Bulletin)
  5. Action for Children: Reward charts for children and toddlers