Summer Jobs for the kids

Kate,
We are still hoping for a little spring here in Utah. The weather has been crazy...70's one day, snow the next. I never know what the weather will be!! The kids get out of school on May 27, so summer is coming whether we've had spring or not! I love having the kids home in the summer, but it is very different that just having N. home. So I'm starting to plan for it now. Besides doing some cleaning of closets etc. I am thinking about their summer schedules and chores. I have already been asked when we will pick summer jobs. Yes, that's right, my kids get to pick their summer jobs and they love it...at first anyway. Even though your boys are young, they will grow quickly and you may want to give this a try.
I have made some 3x5 cards with jobs listed on them. During the summer, we break jobs down. For example, instead of cleaning the bathroom someone will clean the sinks in all the bathrooms and someone else will clean the tubs etc. These cards have jobs ranging from mopping the laundry room to emptying garbage to even watering the outside planters. The kids take turns picking a card for a job they want to do. I always keep some separate that the younger children can pick from. They all need to pick a vacuuming job, a bathroom job and a dusting job. The older children also get to clean out a drawer each week. I do feel that I need to teach my children how to clean and the variety of jobs gives them different experiences. After they pick their jobs, I make sure I feel that they haven't picked more than they can handle and then I make a chart. This chart is put on the fridge in a sheet protector so they can mark them off. Here's an example of last year. The top line is for the oldest child going down in age to the youngest. Even though it seems that they are required to do a lot every day, the most they ever spend is 1/2 hour.

The first week after school I help the younger children with their jobs so that they can learn how to do them and what is expected. I also have a binder that has all of the jobs and what is expected. These are in sheet protectors so that they can be marked off with a dry erase marker and then erased for next time.

I do save the cards and reuse them every year. This has worked well for us and you'll be thinking about chores before you know it.
Enjoy the bike trailer!
Amy