This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Sharpie, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #SharpieClearview https://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

OK ladies, I discovered something that I absolutely LOVE about summer and I just have to share it with you! I discovered the art of how to get kids to help with household chores and tasks!! We started something new at our house this summer that I have just loved and I’m a little sad to have the kids go back to school for this reason. I decided that my kids had to get a list of things done before they could play with friends or with their electronic devices and it has been wonderful! I think it worked well because of the ages of my kids – they’re 11, 9 & 7 so they can all do a variety of household chores now.

They each had a list of things that had to get done every day (like put their breakfast dishes away, brush their teeth, make their bed, pick up their room, read for 20 minutes, empty the dishwasher, etc.) plus 2-3 other “cleaning chores”. And I just have to tell you that my house has never been cleaner, seriously!! They do the normal things like dust and vacuum and wipe down bathrooms, etc. but then I added things like wipe down the baseboards, vacuum around the baseboards, wipe down the doors, clean the light switches, dust around the tops of walls, etc.

Now that school is just around the corner (9 days to be exact, but who’s counting?!) our routine will have to change a bit, so I created a task list for each child so they could remember the things that need to get done in the morning before school and in the evening after school and activities.

I wanted to create a specific area where we could keep these fun new charts so that they were easily accessible, portable and motivating. I added removable clear plastic hooks to the back of my pantry door in our kitchen, which is where all the action takes place at our house. I then clipped the task lists to some clipboards and added a Sharpie Clearview highlighter to each clipboard with a piece of twine. This way the kids can take the clip boards down easily when they’re ready to mark off their tasks and they always have a highlighter close by to check off their progress. I got my Sharpie Clearview highlighters on sale at Walgreens – gotta love that!!

The kids were all actually pretty excited about the new system and I think it’ll keep them on track for the new school year and the new schedules.

I have a blank task list that you’re welcome to download and use at your house to help keep you and your kids organized and on a new schedule for the start of the school year. I know it’ll help minimize the chaos at our house when school starts back up and the kids are wanting to play with friends or on their devices. All I have to do is ask them to make sure their tasks are completed and we both have an easy way to check that!

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I saw an idea at the end of the school year that I loved and wanted to remember to do it at the beginning of the year. Guess what? I remembered! It’s a ‘Favorite Things’ questionnaire for the teachers to fill out so you know exactly what they love. No more guessing their favorite stores or treats – you’ll have it all right at your fingertips! And if you’re a room mom you could have the teacher fill it out and then pass the information along to all the parents in your child’s class – they’ll thank you for it later (like Christmas & Teacher Appreciation week)!

As you know, I’m not a graphic designer so I just made a simple sheet that obviously you’re welcome to download and use. Click on the link below to download.

Teacher’s Favorite Things

What do you think? Great idea or what?!

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As I’m sure most of you are thinking…I can’t believe summer’s pretty much over!!  My kids are going back to school next week, which I AM looking forward to, just so we can have a little more structure over here.  Don’t get me wrong, summer was GREAT, but it is nice to get back into a routine and hopefully an earlier bedtime for everyone!

There have been so many fun, creative ideas for getting the kids back into school, that I wanted to show you a few of my favorites.  Hopefully there’s something here that’ll strike your fancy too, and send those kids back to school with something fun to remember.

I always take my kids’ picture on the first day of school, but I’ve never done anything fun, so I thought these free printable signs from Chickabug would be cute to print out and have my kids hold when I take their picture.  You can download any age, from preschool to 12th grade.

Anna and Blue Paperie (one of my favorite printable designers!) has some cute printables to add to your child’s lunchbox, or to attach to a special treat when they get home from school.

The girls at Fresh Chick Design Studio created some darling book labels in matching boy or girl colors, so that your kids’ books don’t get lost at school!

For some fun and easy gifts that your kids can give their teachers on the first day, here’s a couple of ideas.  The first is from the always amazing girls at eighteen25.  They created a printable to add to a little cup of cookies, or a cookie mix…too cute!  There are tons of other cute back to school ideas at the eighteen25 blog, so take a look around for some more inspiration!

The next teacher idea is from another graphic designer favorite, the gals at Anders Ruff Custom Designs.  They created a cute label to add to a tin can filled with pencils, so that when the kids borrow a pencil from their teacher, they’ll remember to give it back

Magnolia Creative Co. designed these back to school printables for Catch My Party (a GREAT resource for tons of party ideas!), which include some cute snack bag toppers and lunch box notes.

And last, but not least, my idol Kim at The TomKat Studio created these darling lunchbox notes for you to stick in your child’s lunch box, so they know you’re thinking of them

I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer and maybe I’ve shared a few ideas to get you and the kids excited for school to begin! I know I’m excited!!

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