How to Turn Daily Chores into Learning Games (Printable)

When we get our kids to do daily chores, we often end up doing them ourselves. Maybe we want them done the ‘right way’ or simply because we need them done now! It will save you time and energy. Unfortunately, while you may be making things hassle-free, not assigning daily chores to your children prevents them from building essential life skills. 

Think about it. We all have a need to belong. When children contribute to household chores, it helps them feel valued. Moreover, it increases their independence early on. They develop a sense of responsibility, practise discipline and learn the value of working together towards a goal, like keeping your home clean and organised. 

This is why assigning daily chores to your children is important. However, it is quite common for children to run away from these chores. Why? Because they see chores as boring and repetitive work. But what if you could turn those same tasks into games or challenges? Suddenly, chores can become something they look forward to.

Today, we will be discussing how to turn daily chores into learning games.  

Step 1: List Out the Chores

Begin by listing out the chores you want your children to do. These chores can be specific to their routines, such as: 

• Make your own bed 

• Fold your clothes 

• Tidy up your toys

Alternatively, these tasks could be more general and towards the entire family, like:

• Taking out the trash 

• Help set up the dinner table 

• Water the plants 

• Put away groceries 

Step 2: Gamify the Tasks

Once you have listed out the chores, gamifying them is the most important part. The good thing is that there are various ways to do it. Here are some of them for you:

I’ll Be Responsible

The easiest way to reinforce a behaviour is to put it on a chart and keep it right where you can see it. You can break these into two routines: Morning and Evening. For each routine, mention the tasks and let your children tick them off as they finish them. This will make them responsible. How do you gamify this? There are multiple ways. One, by setting a reward for consistently striking off their tasks for a said number of days. Two, let them decorate their done tasks. Third, let them stick their tasks on the chart/book like a scrapbook. 

Colour-Coded Clean Up

This game breaks down chores into small, focused tasks. It is also a great way to reinforce colours in your young kids. For this, every kid gets assigned a colour and they’re responsible for cleaning or organising only the items that match their colour. You can use colour cards or wrist bands for fun. Have your child race against the clock and watch them finish all but neatly! 

The Chore Olympics

Turn a series of chores into a fun Olympic-style event for your kids. They earn points for every task they complete based on speed and accuracy. To do this, you will first have to create events. Here are some ideas for you:

• Vacuum Sprint: Time how fast and well they can vacuum an area of the house

• Toss It: How many items can they put back into their place in a minute

• Sort Your Clothes: Sort out your clothes and fold them neatly 

Use a timer to make it feel like a real competition and draw a score chart. This game brings energy, structure, and a goal to each task. 

Bingo It

A bingo card with chores instead of numbers? Yes, that’s right! Each time they complete a task, they mark a square. To do this, you will need to first create a 5x5 bingo card for your children and hand it over to them. Set a timer next and let them work through the tasks. Offer a small prize for each row or the full board. It makes the chores visual and goal-driven.

To Do & Done

‘To do & done’ is a great way to see what’s next and pending on your list. It is precise, clear, and a quick way to finish off the tasks while making it appear like a challenge. It teaches your kids how to prioritise the tasks based on what they think is most important.

Word of Caution

It is important to strike a balance between completing daily chores normally and while gamifying them. The reason is that you don’t want your children to complete these chores only for rewards. You want them to develop better routines and learn essential skills. Make sure to explain why the chores matter and the benefits they offer to help your children understand what’s happening better.

Skillmatics’ Chores of Fun Printable

Skillmatics is here to take the stress off the table and add fun. They have created a free chore printable for you to download and turn chores into learning games right away. What does this printable contain?

Download Printable

Here’s a quick overview of the game ideas.

• My Daily Responsibility: A morning and evening routine tracker where children can stick a cutout of their tasks after they’re done. 

• Tic–Tac To-Do: Ask your children to finish 3 tasks in a row to get a surprise reward. 

• To Do & Done: An easy way to track the chores that need to be done. As your children complete them, they move the task to the column ‘Done’ for a reward. 

• Chore Chart: Collect the stars by completing the chores to win an easy reward, like choosing the game for family night.

The best part? All you need is a printout, scissors, and a marker. It’s that simple! 

Conclusion

Chores help children become more planful and organised. It is an opportunity to help them develop daily or weekly goals, which, over time, improve their work ethic. Do you know what makes doing chores better? Company. When you do them together, tasks stop feeling like chores and become fun, shared activities.

Download Printable