Cereal spilled all over the floor, a lukewarm gallon of milk sits on the kitchen counter with several dirty bowls. The children are glued to electronics and are still in their pajamas. It’s 11 am, and only the second week of summer break. Kids are out of school, or will be soon, and if you're anything like me the anxiety is kicking in right about now. Luckily I have a simple fix that will help you and your children visually see what they should be doing to contribute to the family, and to themselves.

Summer Job Chart

What is this simple fix that will revolutionize your summer you ask? Why it's a daily checklist customized for your kids with prompts for things they need to do every day. You can check out out here and print your own. The required activities are straightforward and easy for kids to do on their own (we included pictures so that our illiterate, yet adorable, Helen could easily do her jobs alongside her siblings). The jobs don't take much time, so there's still plenty of play time each day.

Make it Fun

When we made our chart, we sat down with our kids and went over what should be included together. We let them help decide what they needed to do daily and why it's important. Aside from getting ready and helping around the house, we also want them to spend some time each day exploring their interests through reading and play. Including that was important to both us and them. We also came up with rewards and other fun little things to make it more exciting for them. One thing we've done in the past is purchase little stickers they could use to check off each box. If they had checked off a certain amount of boxes in a given week, they would earn a new sticker page.

xo, Abi