Helping Around the House

I think you should make it into a game and sing a song. The song could be like Clean up, Clean up, Everybody do thier share. It happeneds to be off Barney I think. I don't like Barney myself, but my best friend ran a in home daycare and it seem to do the job and get the kids motavited.
I also love watching Supernanny, because the fact that she is really good about teaching new things to do to solve the problems families have. It comes on Wednesday nites at 8 p.m.. If you have time you should watch it sometime. The only way I get to watch it is to record on my dvr. Well, I hope I helpded you out a little. Let me know if not, K.

Try www.handipoints.com It's a cartoon virtual world they can play in w/ points they earn form jobs you set up. My kids LOVE it!

I hear flylady.net has a character called the "house fairy" which is aimed at children. It supposed to make it fun for kids to keep their rooms clean and to do clean up. I hope this helps!

I used to run a preschool program and what worked really well for the 2-4 year olds was to assign everyone a "magic number" of items that they needed to pick up that day. I would make a big deal of thinking about and then revealing the number ("The number for today is....TWELVE!") and they would immediately start racing around to pick up their number of things. That way, you can chose a bigger number if things are really messy, or a smaller number if they're not and it feels like a big surprise to the kids. Also, I would assign colors, so that one child had to pick up everything blue and another everything red. What made it work was having enough enthusiasm so it felt fun and like a game and for me to have a role in cleaning up too...either I would pick up the number of items or toys of a certain color or I would be the scorekeeper. Then, usually there was something positive at the end...snack or going outside or something like that.

Taniell, My advice: Forget the job chart, they are too young and being part of the family unit, which includes cleaning up, in my opinion should not involve bribes either.

Make the clean up part of the play - it takes YOUR involvement, since they are still really just babies. I ran a home daycare for years and this really works. Explain the game goal - getting things cleaned up. Then you can make it a counting game - "who can pick up three things?" "then four?" (Obviously, this teaches counting, but you can do it with color or shapes too).

Your example is VITAL! You must play the game at first to teach them by example how to play.

This game can grow to helping you shop in the grocery store, help putting away things or ...... - assigning them (I always did teams) products to find in the store, or put away, etc - I was comfortable with this kind of extenstionwhen they were older.

I am happy to say both my children now in thier 20's pitch in naturally - because it was something we "do" because we are a family - we help each other.

Please remember - when you are the mom and the kids are little YOU are going to be doing the majority of the work and all the example. Having a husband that will mirror you is a HUGE plus!

Good Luck.
Nancy

Dear T. (you have a great name! :) )
here is what I responded about 2 months ago, to one mommy:
(it comes from my experience of raising two sons):

Actively engage them into all cleaning and dish washing and such things: when I needed to wash floors, we turned the house into a pirate ship, and spilled some water on the floor, as if the huge waves washed the deck over, and we took turns who is the captain and the captain gave out orders (not only yuou alone do it!) how to clean up the floor, how to wash, what corners were missed and what else can be done so that all is sparkling. The sailors, under the captains' guidance (you in some cases) can also have a word to POINT OUT TO ZTHE CAPTAIN what he missed while ordering around, and of course the captain must HELP the sailors, not only just being a chief commander, as if he does not help, he loses the authority of the sailors and they won't obey him...
when I needed to clean the room up, all the surfaces full of eee... whatever, you know, then I did it thuS: absolutely EVERYTHING from all over the room, goes into one huge pile in the middle of the room, on the carpet (floor): papers, toys, books, dishes, uneaten snacks, EVERYTHING. Everybody helped to do it, ans it was fun as you do not need to apply your brain into such cleaning, just all from everywhere goes into one pile. Be careful with liquids and chocolate/ketchup only, as you do not want it all wet or stained. Now, what do you see?
A clean room!!!!! One task is immediately accomplished. What else do you see? Now, the next part stARTS: THIS IS CALLED A "TREASURE HUNT": you can make it more fun if you take turns, and one at a time, you close your eyes, and pick ONE OBJECT from the pile of 'treasures', and decide (together or alone) where would be the best place for this object. garbage? Fine, run take it to the bin. Upper shelf? Great, climb up and put it there... and so on. If your 'crew' had a lot of energy, make then run all over the house to place things up one by one. If you all get tired, you can make smaller piles around in the circle: garbage pile; bedroom pile, kitchen pile, and once all sorted out, put all the bedroom pile into a plastic baggie, walk over there, and take thing one by one, placing them into places.
This way, your house is clean, you teach the kids to be caring, neat, happy, communicative, creative, and all are happy.

You can print "chore charts" off the internet. Maybe you include stickers with your chart. If they have done all their chores (hence, have all their stickers), they get some type of "treat" at the end of the week. Or you (and they) agree to about 10 different "treats" and they get to pull out of a hat what their treat will be for that week. (I found some great charts at chartjungle.com). This is pretty basic, but it will help alleviate your stress and frustration. Good luck--I hope this is helpful.

I do fun jobs with my kids and they love it. The idea is that you have a job jar for each kid. The slips of paper include all of the regular jobs like making their bed, cleaning the bathroom, etc. The key is that several of the scraps include "fun jobs". They are jobs like eat a cookie, jump up and down 10 times, have Mommy read you a story, etc. I change the fun jobs every few weeks to keep things exciting. Be sure that they understand that they have to complete the job that they draw and get it passed off before they draw another job. Also, I have found that you need to take big jobs, like cleaning their room, and break it down into smaller, more specific jobs like clean up your clothes and put the Barbies away.

Since your girls are the age that they are, make a game out of it. Like "lets see who can pick up the most toys". This always worked for me. Make up a neat little song to make them want to move around. This is the prime time to teach them to clean up after themselves. They will catch on quickly. You have to do this with them at the beginning tho. Have them make up songs as they go or put on some childrens music or music that is fun to listen to. It will work out. CL Thornton, Co

I also have a two year old and a four year old. Job charts haven't done much for us. What works is for me to ask them to clean up, and if they tell me no (which is often), I say, "That's fine, I'll clean up with the big black garbage bag." By the time I have the garbage bag in my hands they are running around frantically yelling, "No, no!" and putting things away. It works especially well if you do throw away a few of their things once in a while if they don't believe you mean business. Also, we have very specific places for every one of their toys so they know exactly where to put them. I stay completely calm and act pleased with them that they are helping, so I don't think I'm being mean. I just want them to learn the consequence of not cleaning up after themselves and if they say they have too many toys to put away, good! Get rid of them!

I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old who were not long ago 4 and 2 years old, and I understand completely.
The older one should be more responsible for sorting and stashing, the younger one can "herd" the toys from around the house to the bedrooms.

Also, I keep the categories for sorting playthings really simple. Both kids' stuffed animals are in his room, both their books are in her room. All the blocks are in his room, all the dishes and dress up clothes in hers. the distinction of having a single place for everything despite whose it is helps a lot. (General "toys" locations; one for each kid, action figures, balls, random happy meal toys, some special rock or another)

I made a chart divided into wake up, play, lunch, activity, dinner, bed times. I made pictures with really simple words beneath (thanks to google thumbnails). I stapled it into a book (size about a half page) and the older one latched on to it immediately. It works most of the time, and she's been using it for about 2 years. (He doesn't care). I sit with her at the end of the day and we check it off: Did you? Did you? And just remembering having accomplished everything makes her willing to do it again tomorrow. (She's now at an age where she negotiates.)

Hi, my sister started setting a timer for her son (5) to clean up. She would set it for like 5 minutes and tell him to see how much he could get done in that time. It became a game and she said he usually cleans up everything, even after the timer goes off. She also uses ALOT of positive reinforcement. Let your kids know they are doing a great job, praise the little they pick up and encourage them to do the rest. Maybe you can have a special family night to explain why we clean up our messess. You can "make messess" that will be inconvient. ie, a dirty kitchen (no clean forks or plates for dinner) clothes all over (can't find shoes to play), Tools left out (someone gets hurt)... See if the library has a book on cleaning and messess that might help get the message across.
Hope this helps!
M.

Hi, I have 4 kids that are 5 and under at home when the others are at school. This is what i have done with the toy situation to keep my house in order. I bought a bunch of those clear rubbermaid or sterilite containers with attatched lids and seperated the toys. Blocks in one box, dolls in one, cars in one, animals in one, etc. and put them on a set of shelves (inside a closet would be great also). The kids all love to choose which box of toys to play with. But they all know that they cannot get another box down off the shelves until they clean up the first set and put them back in the box. THIS HAS DONE WONDERS!! It also gives them the opportunity to learn to share and accept the other kids' ideas on what to do. MAKE SURE THAT THEY KNOW THAT YOU ARE THE ONE THAT GETS THE BOXES DOWN AND PUT THEM BACK that way, they don't just get into them whenever they please! Good Luck!

When I was younger my mom picked up after us; I find myself doing the same thing w/ my now 4 year old daughter. As a compromise, I went to the $$ store and bought some incentive charts. The charts have 25 squares. Then I sit down w/ my daughter and we decide on 3-5 things she can do to earn stickers. Right now it is: brushing teeth; washing hair in bath; picking up; clearing dishes; getting dressed. Every time she does one or more of these things, she gets a sticker. When she fills up all 25 squares, she gets $5 to spend at Wal Mart, Target, $$ store. She can save them if she wants for something larger or $5 at a time. She puts the stickers on herself w/ my supervision. We put it in a drawer near the fridge or we have had it on the fridge to remind us. It's all positive; if she doesn't pick up, she doesn't get a sticker and thus no toy or baby. When we go to the store she will want something, and it is the perfect time to remind her that big girls, like her, help their mommy's pick up and do big girl things and if she wants to buy something she needs to do these things to earn stickers to earn things she wants to buy. It is hard when you want them to pick up and they choose not to; I just pick up, don't say anything, but will try to remind her in a nice, playful voice that it would be nice to have some help and she can earn a sticker. Most of the time it works! Sometimes it doesn't but this way there is less yelling, nagging, and I actually feel better even when I am picking up the mess.

I know people say you shouldn't bribe or pay your kids but we don't work or do things w/ out some expectation or reward in the end. If you didn't get paid at your job would you really spend so much time there? I am a teacher and used to be totally against extrinsic rewards, but after reading an article about a school district that actually paid kids $$ to attend school, earn good grades, etc. It was hugely successful. They likened it to work. School is a kids work / job. None of us would do it for free!!

Good luck!

We do a "15 minute pickup" every day---we just make it part of the evening routine. They get done what they can in that time and that's it. If there is some left we take care of it the next day. I like this so much better than how my parents would do it. I was a typical kid with my messes but they would use it as a power trip and I HATED that. Plus, it would get so messy that it would seem like an insurmountable task to tackle. But if you have them do a little at a time it's a great lesson on how a lot can be accomplished in just 15 minutes.

The hardest part about this is that my 8 and 6 year old get it and get things done without much prodding. However, my 4 year old has to be told every single item to pick up and you have to stay right on top of him otherwise the older ones get mad, obviously.

Best wishes.

Check out the House Fairy at: www.housefairy.org
The House Fairy helps moms motivate their kids to keep their rooms clean and help around the house.

I have 3 kids, all of which help out around the house with chores. We use small latex gloves to protect them from the chemicals, along with Windex & Flushable wipes, which are easy to use. One idea is to purchase some plastic beach pails that your girls could decorate and personalize to hold their own little cleaning supplies. You can create your own chore chart on your computer using clipart, and then laminate it to protect it and help it last longer. You can use crayon to mark each chore on each day and then smiley face stickers at the end of the week with a reward for getting all their stuff done. You could even have a reward box, let them pick out what they want and then place it on top of the fridge to look at through the week for motivation. Have some fun with it, sing a little song!

TIMER, FRIDAY BOX, AND THE BASKET
Hi! I also LOVE FlyLady, but it's a different' part of her system that has helped us the most.
Two things have worked for us. First if the TIMER. I set it for 3-5 minutes and it's off my shoulders. When the timer goes off, they've either finished or they haven't!
If they haven't, that'w where part 2 comes in: the FRIDAY BOX! I pick up whatever is left and put it into the Friday Box, and they don't get it back until Friday.
We had lots of tears and drama (and a very full box) the first couple weeks, but after that, Miracles happened! Not only did they get better about cleaning up, they started culling their own toys for donation.
The last thing that's helped is just an old LAUNDRY BASKET. I told the kids to drive it around and pick up everything that's out of place. After they did that, they got to put it away. Somehow it didn't feel like a chore to them. Probably because they got to say "Mom, YOUR slippers weren't put away OR Daddy's book!" :) Motivation for me too!

Hi! I have kids in the exact postions as yours, and I agree! They can dismantle the entire house in less than 10 minutes! What I have done that seems to help, is that we clean each mess up before moving on to the next. So, we got out the Dora cards, but want to play with the dominos now, so we play a pick up game with the Dora cards first. We have been doing this since the baby was born, and i actually saw my 2 year old do it herself the other day w/out me asking or playing a "pick up" game. I think I might be gaining ground! Good luck......I totally empathize!

I also have a two year old. A little Girl who also objects to cleaning up her own messes. However, anytime I clean up the kitchen after dinner and I am wiping down the counter tops and tables with my dishrag, she is really into mimicking me. So, I'll get her a clean rag out of the drawar and she goes along and wipes surfaces, walls and she thinks its so fun!! Keeps her rather busy for at least 15 minutes. I then compliment her several times on how big of a helper she is. Another thing she loves is when I do the laundry, I hand her the wet clothes one-by-one and tell her "big purple one" or "little white one" while she's putting them in the dryer. I let her put in the dryer sheet, shut the door, and push the start button. She feels so important! Plus she's learning colors at the same time! When it comes to messes like picking up the toys, make up a little song about it and help them do it to get them in the mode or I know there are CD's out there that have "clean-up" songs and when you need them to clean up, pop in the cd and ask them what time it is. I hope my advise helps!

I have five kids 19 to 5 and the best thing I found was consistancy and as much as I disliked it I would take away the toys. Explain why you are doing it. Let them know they can have them back the next day but they have to pick them up when they are done or you will take them away again. Usually they will catch on and decide they would rather pick them up then go without. This will help them to respect their belongings and their surroundings. A chore chart can be a useful tool and kids love rewards.

Turn it into a game. That's what worked for me and my siblings we would have to race to see who could clean up the best and the fastest. It was a great motivator. Plus if there was some kind of treat in the long run it really helped too. (bribery isn't always bad!)

First try a timer, see who can clean up the fastest. This works wonders with my kids. Then if it is something that continues to be hard the really get a trash bag out and say "well whatever is still on the floor you must not want and it will get put away for two days!"....I have to say this is a good method and worked well for my kids. Your four year old is more then capable of understanding that if he gets it out it is his job to put it away. The 2 year old will follow his lead.
I have very strict rules that the playroom we have is the kids job to manage. I do the rest for the most part and it is their "job". After working hard on making my point clearly whether it was putting up the toys for 48 hours in a plastic bag or the timer, my six year old does it without me even asking!! That is huge! She will clean up her mess every time now. It is a habit and good to start now.
I also explain WHY they have to clean up, that they can get hurt on a toy on the floor, trip over it, the toy will get broken and if they take care of their toys they will last longer.
One last tip. Have them watch Toy Story...then explain their toys would really want them to care for them the right way. This was what motivated my son! :)

I had the same problem (and still do, to some extent) until I decided to do the following:

I cleaned the house, and gathered and organized all the toys in the entire house. I sew, so I made 12 pillow case sized bags with a window in each and a drawstring at the top thick enough to tie in a knot that I could untie but my kids could not. I sorted all the toys into categories that I could place in each bag, and got rid of anything that didn't fit or that the kids didn't play with very much. Then, I put hooks on the wall of the toy room and hung a bag on each. The rule was that they could only get one bag out at a time. So if they wanted to play with cars, but the balls were already out, they had to pick up all the balls first and put them away. Then they could get the cars out, etc.

It doesn't cure the problem, but it sure helps with the toys anyway. I've found that it really helps make cleanup of the rest of the rooms in the house faster because there aren't quite so many toys out at a time. There are a lot of other good ideas on this forum too. I may try some of them as well. Good luck.

In our house I teach my son "personal responsibility"!

"These things are yours. They belong to you. You have to take care of them. If you don't you lose them."

We have the Saturday Box. If he leaves things out after he is done with them I get them. In they go. He gets them back on Saturday. If it Thursday-Saturday its the following Saturday.

I use the Housefairy, my sister uses it with her 10,6,and 3 year old, has been for a few years. I use it now with my 17 (yes it still works) and my 2 year old on a limited basis since she doesn't understand all of it but it is perfect for your 4 year old and the 2 year old is like a parrot mimicing...www.housefairy.org I hope it helps

Hello T., I am on a huge learning curve around this issue myself and have found direction recently in the book "Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves: Transforming parent-child relationships from reaction and struggle to freedom, power and joy" by Naomi Aldort. Her approach feels so good in my heart and I have seen myself shift to a much more relaxed and loving place. One step at a time. :) ~T.

My children attend Waldorf school and I have always been so amazed how willingly the children clean up. The teacher simply starts cleaning up and singing clean up songs. She will, for example, ask one of the children to "drive the trucks back to their garage" when wanting the trucks to go back to their spot. Also, if there are specific places that specific toys live all the time, they will get used to knowing where they belong. A big mess of a toy box is usually hard for kids to find what they want to play with and they have to make big messes to find what they are looking for. I know it's not always realistic as a busy momma that we can sing and keep our patience, but this really helps. At your children's ages, they are mainly in imitation mode, so it's our hard work to be worthy examples. Good luck!

I don't give them time to think about it. "Go pick up that car!...quick, put it in the cupboard. oh, thank you!!" I'm very 'matter-of-fact' when I tell them to clean up. It's not a request - it's what has to be done next.

When the mess seems like more than they can handle, I pack up half the toys in a box (while they're too busy playing to help) and store it in the basement.

We also have a roomba vacuum. All my kids pick up their toys/clothes so that "HAL" doesn't eat their stuff.

2-5 yr olds love to help...so I let them. They like praise and individual attention.

for older kids, "how old are you, again?....oh, ok - go pick up X things and tell me when you're done." They almost always pick up more than I've asked them, too. Then if the house/room is super messy, they get to play for 5-10 minutes and then I ask them again.

I used to have trouble with getting my kids to clean up, sometimes they still grumble about it, but they still do it. I found a really simple solution was to simply tell them that in order to have or do something they REALLY wanted, they had to clean up first and the faster they did it, the faster they could get what they wanted. For example, if we were going to go to storytime....we couldn't go until they picked up their toys, and if we missed it, too bad, AND they weren't going to get anything else they wanted until they cleaned. It can be something as simple as saying "You can't watch Little Einsteins until you clean up toys." Just figure out what they really want (because ALL kids want something) and then don't let them have it or anything else until they do what you want....and absolutely DON'T give in. It might take a few times for them to get the hint that you're serious, but once they do....all you'll have to do is say it's clean up time and they'll hop-to. Also, don't have the attitude that it's a chore. Just teach them that it's just something that is expected.....after you play with things, before people come over and before you leave the house, you clean up....it's just the way it is.

Hi there! One thing that helped me w/ my son was singing the song that's on Barney - "clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere, clean up, clean up, everybody do your share". That made it more fun for him. Another thing that works for my son and his cousin is to "race" to see who can clean up the most toys.

I liked a lot of the suggestions posted already...however, part of the issue is that a two and four year old can make a much bigger mess than they can clean up on their own if they are not playing with an adult and not cleaning up as they go. I realize you have your hands full, but are you able to play with them? It also really helps to limit what they have access to if you can not be engaged with them at the time. Good Luck!

You might check out House Fairy. I think it's just housefairy.com, but she ends up being the person they clean their room for, in case of her surprise visit and you shouldn't have to nag anymore.

I have a few ideas that have worked with my children. We have 10 minute pick up. We all stand in the kitchen while I set the timer then we run to our designated mess and see if we can beat the clock.
I have also posted a chart on the fridge with pictures of 10 nickels for the week. They are gauranteed to get the nickels at the end of the week if they do what they are asked with no complaints. If they don't do what they are asked they have to go to the fridge and cross off a nickel. I let them save their earnings and take an occasional trip to the dollar store and let them spend their earnings.
Sorting like toys into small totes and allowing them to play with only one box at a time keeps the major chaos down also.

I put on music and play "freeze clean-up" (an old trick I learned when I worked daycare). When the music is on, the kids clean really fast; when the music stops, they freeze. During the "freeze", I usually tell them they are doing a good job, and point out what needs to still be picked up (i.e., "there's still a sock over there by the dresser", etc). Also, I try not to let them get out something new until they have picked up what is currently out. Good luck--getting them trained to clean up is a good skill. You'll be glad for it later!!!!

I have two boys, 6 yr old and a 3 yr old. My oldest is a great helper! Never had to worry to much about him not picking up his messes. My youngest is the opposite! Flat out tells me NO! Gets up and walks away. I tried everything. Finally my oldest asked if he would help pick up and my youngest said "ok brother!" My oldest tought him to sing the clean up song he learned from preschool. Now you can hear my youngest singing that song evertime he "cleans up"!

I have also played "Hurricane Harry" with my kids. I give them each a laundry basket and set a timer. Then they have that much time to run around and put things away and what does not belong in that room goes in the basket to be put away. After the timer goes off, if there are any toys left out. I get them! The first time I had more toys then they did and then they got the picture! I hold the toys in "toy time out" for a few days.

Try to make it fun, and be consistant with them! Good luck!

T.-
I also have a 4 yr old son, and I've recently come up with a chart with 10 boxes of cleaning up toys, and 4 boxes of cleaning the house, and 4 boxes of eating all his food (we have a problem with that). I put a picture of toys in all the pick up toys boxes, and a picture of a house in the help clean house box, and a clean plate... You get the point. I put that chart on the wall and hung a pencil by it. Everytime he finishes a task, he gets to cross off a box. When he finishes the whole sheet, he gets to do something special, such as go bowling or go to the arcade or go get a meal at McDonald's or get a new toy. We're trying to teach him that he has to earn things by helping out around the house instead of everything being handed to him. Also, I printed out a sheet with Movies, Playstation, V-Smile, Computer Games, Bedtime Stories, and Sweet Snacks with pictures accordingly. I cut them all out into little squares and every time he doesn't listen or talks back or won't help when I ask him to he has to draw out one, and he can't do that thing for the rest of the day. So, if your girls have certain things that they like, a certain toy or something you can put it on a list and if they don't help you make them draw out until they do help, or if they draw out all of them they have to go to time out until they decide to help. Anyways, I hope this helps! Good luck!

You can make it a game. Set a timer for say 5 minutes to start with. While the timer is ticking you can show them(at least the first couple of times, they must help also)by singing the "Clean-up" song from Sesame Street. Another game is Beating the Clock - they have to see if they can pick up their toys,etc. before the clock goes off. If they don't get the stuff put away (don't worry if it is not perfect like you would do it at first-they will learn,especially if you are not "begging them") and don't seem to care to pickup with you first asking, then bag up the toys and stuff and store in your garage or where they can't get to them. This has worked beautifully for me and my friends. It doesn't take long for them to realize how much they miss there stuff. If they still don't care to get them back after 1 week then you might think about giving the stored stuff away - they don't seem to need all the stuff they have, if they have alot. Good luck!!!!!

T.,
Try "Turning your Words into Gold" ... Say, I read stories to boys who pick up their toys. I give snacks to boys who pick up their toys...or I take boys to the park who pick up their toys..etc. You could even try "I give away to poor children the toys that I pick up." If you try this, make sure there is a high impact or new toy that you give away. If you really do this, and give away the toys, the next time you say this, you'll be amazed at how fast they clean up.

This is a classic Love & Logic trick. You can get an audio from the library or their website called "Avoiding Power Struggles" or "How do I get them to take out the trash." I also recommend you consider taking a love & logic parenting class. It's full of funny stories and lots of help. Check out my web site www.shellymoorman.com for mor info.

Good luck!!

To borrow FlyLady's idea, set the timer for 15 minutes, and see how much you can do before the timer goes off. If you can't get it done, leave it for later. It might be especially good timing if you could start the timer 15 minutes before something fun is going to happen, like their favorite tv show, or movie night, or dessert.
My kids love to vacuum (they're 2 and 4, so they don't do a very good job, but it's fun!) and they know they have to pick everything up off the floor first, so their toys won't "get sucked up and go bye-bye." It's amazing how fast they clean up when I say they can vacuum!
Another fun thing my friend introduced to us is the "Chocolate Chip Game." She has 5 kids 6 and under, and it really gets them scrambling to clean up. Each kid gets one chocolate chip for every three things they put away. They get minimal sugar, maximum clean up. It's amazing! I've seen her house get cleaned up, entirely by preschoolers, in 10 minutes flat. My son was there once to help out, and then we tried it at home. Just yesterday he asked if we could play the Chocolate Chip Game!
My mom had a chart for us when we were older. This was more for chores, but she had each chore (dusting, clean the bathroom, vacuum, and I don't remember what else) on a chart, and we rotated through them. She wrote down the specific tasks for each chore (clear off counter, wipe it, clean mirror, scrub toilet, etc. for bathroom duty). We did it every Saturday morning, along with cleaning our rooms. When we were done, we got to pick something out of the candy bucket. If we did it before noon, we got "double dips" and could choose two things. The candy was probably leftovers from Halloween!
My mom also had "Oscar the Grouch." He would steal our stuff when we were reminded a few times to pick them up, but still didn't do it. Then we had to earn our stuff back. If we didn't care and never earned it back, I think my mom donated it to charity. I don't remember what we had to do to earn it back, but you could figure that out. When Oscar was mentioned, we picked up our stuff fast!