Painting Pigs and a Chore Chart

Micah's original behavior chart has served its purpose. When we first started it we put a square up for every especially good/bad thing he did. He was able to look at the chart and know if he'd had a good day or not. Now that he's older he can understand if he's earned a reward by having a good day without using the visual aids.

So we decided it was time to move on to the next step. And for us that next step was assigning chores. He can earn a nickel for every chore that he does.

We bought him three piggy banks to help him start to understand money. They all came in one kit from Hobby Lobby (my new favorite place to buy birthday presents. The toys are interactive and educational.)

He really enjoyed painting the piggy banks. He had a method. He'd start with the first color in the line of paints. Once he had a good area of the bank covered in that color, he'd rinse and move to the next color. He never skipped a color or went out of order. And he was pretty annoyed when I suggested he paint the tail blue when the next color in line was red!

The big one is for "spending money."

The medium-sized one is for saving.

And the smallest one is for giving.

He collects his nickels at the end of the day and divides them into the three piggy banks.

His chores are:

making his bed

folding towels

putting away his laundry

wiping the bathroom sinks

setting the table

putting up silverware once its been washed

picking up his toys before his quiet time

picking up toys before Daddy comes home

He doesn't have a chance to do each of these things every day. And little hands doing big jobs usually means things aren't done to 'grown-up' standards. But we get a kick out of seeing him pitch in and help. He likes to talk about his "job" as the big brother in the house.

My absolute favorite chore he's taken on is sweeping up the crumbs after he and Caleb eat. He's worked hard on mastering this little broom and he really does a good job!