I posted about this idea on my facebook page. I’ve had such a great response and so many comments I decided I should write a post about it here. In fact one person said, “Leslie, is this on the LM website? If not, you need to do an article about this ” So here is my article.

My kids have what we call “Popsicle jobs”. I have a cute little ceramic jar (an old coffee mug or plastic cup would do), in this jar are a handful of popsicle sticks. On each stick there is a chore. Each day the kids pick a Popsicle job out of the jar. The chores consist of things like:

• Empty all trash cans upstairs
• Bring dirty clothes downstairs
• Water plants outside
• Organize shoe shelf
• Vacuum downstairs
• Clean dog nose prints off doors

I also have one that says “mom’s choice” and one that is a “free day”. They really get a kick out of this and will usually do more than one. Something about the chores being pretty easy and quick and pulling it out of a jar. This seems to work for kids of all ages. You can even color code your Popsicle sticks for different ages. That way you know the older kids will pull the harder jobs that the little ones can’t quite do yet.

I was so happy to find this note on my facebook page today from a high school friend, “thank you, thank you, thank you for your brilliant idea for chore sticks!!!!!!! it has made a huge difference in my life AND my house!! with 5 kids, it was nearly impossible to keep my house clean. now if i ask them to do something without the stick, they won’t do it. but if we bring out the stick jar, they’ll do SIX chores!! really, can’t thank you enough!”

Now I can’t take credit for this idea. I originally read about it on Stacy Julian’s blog. If you are a scrapbooker you know who Stacy is and you also know how creative she is! I get some great parenting ideas from her. One of which is the Summer Fun List that I told you about.

So, if you have a hard time getting your kids to do simple chores without nagging and reminding them. Maybe the Popsicle Jobs will work for you too!