What to do when kids need CHORES

Something that all parents have to work out at some point is to what extent the children are going to contribute to the household chores. Along with this is deciding at what age can they handle certain jobs, which temperaments simply will not tolerate other jobs, and how to navigate this whole minefield. 

Some of the challenges are totally understandable, like that we can't have toddlers and little kids doing certain tasks they just aren't able to do, and also the reality that big kids are often so busy and away so frequently that they can't be expected to do certain daily tasks either. To help with all these issues, we have developed the ZONES system for chores, and it's been working for us for many years now. 

Each child is assigned a zone that is appropriate for their age and stage in life, and they will usually stick with that zone for 6 months or more to develop real mastery of that chore. When they move to the next zone, they can help train the next kid on their zone as well, helping the kids also learn the skill of teaching. If you don't have as many kids as we do, that's fine and I think zones can still work great; you will be the one training them each time which is also totally fine. 

Here is a link to a basic printable version of our ZONES and also a blank sheet you might find helpful to print and fill out for your own household.