For each chore the kids do they get to earn a nickle.  They can enlist their siblings to help.  At the end of the week we tally the “stars” and give the kid’s the money they’ve earned.  They love knowing they completed a task!  And I love how they have started counting by 5s without “realizing” it!  At the end of the week we wipe off the list and we start over again.

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My kids are 5, 4 & 2.5.  Some of the chores they help with are:

• Emptying the dishwasher
• Mop the kitchen
• Vaccuum
• Sort the Laundry
• Wipe the baby’s highchair & walker
• Clean out the car
• Wipe the table
• Organize the toys
• Wipe baseboards
• Wash the windows
• Pick up the playroom
• Clear off tables

We have been doing this “chore system” for nearly two weeks and it seems to be working great with us!  I hope we are instilling the same financial foundation in our kids that my parents helped provide for me!

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What tips can you share from your own financial successes and failures?

Manilla wants to know and is giving away a Spa Day worth $500to one lucky person that tries their household account management site this month! Get control of your finances and relax knowing all your bills and statements are organized in one secure online place! It’s simpler and free!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Manilla. The opinions and text are all mine. Contest runs July 14-31, 2011. Winner must be signed up with Manilla to win. A random winner will be selected by August 5, 2011. Official Contest Rules

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Steps to Sock Mop with Your Preschoolers:

1. Remove the table from the room – not an easy feat for an 8 month pregnant Quirky Momma, but we managed.
2. Sweep the floors… then sweep them again.
3. Fill a shallow pan with soapy water
4. Put on some of Daddy’s socks
5. …and have fun stomping and sliding!

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My oldest daughter was great at spot scrubbing the floor with her feet.  My son preferred traditional mopping, he’s such a “tool” and gadget boy!  While my youngest liked splashing and making a mess.

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Want to get your own cleaning supplies?  Head over to Mom Loop and join in the cleaning fun!  Thanks Scrubbing Bubbles for providing samples for the Quirky Home to try and giving some to one of our readers to enjoy.

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Thanks to Brandie from Rudy Rukus for joining in our cleaning fun and to Jackie, from Pocketful of Posies for sharing her Sock Mopping Post!  Love them!

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Now, I can’t give the key to total organization. This is not because it’s a secret from Martha Stewart’s vault or hidden in a remote (and very clean) monastery in Tibet. Honestly, I haven’t figured it out myself.   After 6 years of domesticity, you think I’d know something about organizing and how to make many things fit in a limited amount of space. And, yes, I do have some tips gained through an entire marriage (so far) lived in small student apartments with no storage to speak of. Small spaces and the ever-increasing stuff that comes with kids have forced me to think creatively about how I organize, particularly in my kitchen and pantry. I reevaluated the way my mom did things and had to throw out what was not working for my family. It’s amazing what you can re-purpose if you put your mind to it.

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Some Quirky Home Organization Tips:

1. Keep your Kool-Aid packets in a notecard organizer.
Who knew that those little boxes meant to hold 3×5 cards would be just the right size for Kool-Aid and the odd cocoa packets. I literally had this epiphany 2 hours ago.

2. Use a shower organizer to hold garlic, and potatoes in your pantry.
We had a multi-tiered metal shower unit that wouldn’t fit in our current bathroom. So, instead of sending it into storage, we tucked it into a corner of our pantry to hold the things that need to breathe to stay fresh. I originally kept onions on it too, but it seems potatoes and onions have an antipathy towards each other. I now keep my onions in a separate perforated tub with a handle.

3. Keep your knives in a tupperware container.
Growing up, it seemed like the only solutions for storing knives were either in a block or in a drawer beneath the counter. Having been poked by the knives in the drawer one too many times, and unwilling to use counter space for a block, I had a Brilliant Idea early on in our marriage. I keep my knives-the nice pretty ones side by side with the Walmart specials-in a tupperware container just big enough to fit them. It tucks neatly in the cabinet next to my plates. This keeps the kids safe and Momma happy.

4. Use applesauce cups for measuring.
Did you know that individual serving size applesauce are each a 1/2 c.? So, in theory, you can wash and reuse the leftover cups. I find the half cup measure is the one I use most of all. Instead of having to worry about whether my measuring cup is dirty, I simply grab a clean applesauce cup. And, since they are meant to be disposable, I have no problem using them for holding paint or other goopy, messy things. If a cup is too filthy, gets mangled, or can’t be cleaned off, you can throw it away without remorse. It just means you have to buy another packet of individual applesauces. I’m sure your kids won’t mind helping you empty them. Aren’t they helpful?

5. Get an ottoman or coffee table with storage space within.
Although I don’t have the room for my coffee table (it’s pining away in storage), we have discovered how useful a storage ottoman is. It can be a footrest, a low table, and a seat for little people. However, I would never have bought it if not for the internal storage space. Now, when a neighbor or friend sits on the ottoman, they have no idea their rump is reposing right above my cloth diaper stash. I keep my Gdiaper pants, the waterproof liners, and the cloth insert (along with wipes and cornstarch for rashes) all tucked away in my lovely ottoman. It’s almost as cool as a secret passageway through a bookshelf. Almost.

6. Drink out of mason jars.
For those who preserve food by canning, one look in closets and pantries can reveal an overflow of empty jars. I just plain don’t have the room to let empty jars languish on my shelves. Any opened (and then emptied and cleaned) jar is immediately pressed into service as a glass. It’s not only economical. I find that I enjoy the rustic charm they impart.

Or maybe they just remind me of my moon-shining, horse-thieving ancestors.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the many shortcuts and tricks I use in my home. I just wanted to share what I have found useful in our home. How have you creatively re-purposed storage to accommodate your home, lifestyle, or current needs? Please share, I could always use another tip to help me make (and keep) our home organized.

Want to read more about homeschooling, geeky and yet crunchy momma, Nicole?  Read her blog!  You won’ t be disappointed.

Much thanks to House of Sims and The Kitchen Designer for contributing photos!

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A bit on shovels and other hard to store things: I have a large 5 gl bucket that I fill with one bag of playground sand that I keep my often used garden shovels in. The sand keeps them dry and sharp, and as long as you have it up next to a wall, it is a stable way to keep your most used shovels. If you don’t have a wall to put them next to, a large tomato cage would do the job well and keep them standing up and out of the way.  The other shovels, along with my apple picker, tree trimmer, rakes, hoe, and picks, all hang on the garden shed/garage wall. I have used many different tools to make this work, but my favorite is strategically set nails strait into the studs. For this house, however, I am planning on using one of those broom holders that fits onto the studs and holds a variety of things with only two screw holes. I will have one inside the house for brooms, wipe rags, mops and plastic bags, etc. The other will be in the garage, holding all of those things that don’t go into my bucket of sand. Axes and other sharp things that could fall on you while you are working in the shed should be as securely attached to the wall as possible. In the last shed, I just simply used two nails, securely put into the studs, with the ax on it, and then wrapped a rubber band round the nails so the ax didn’t move unless I wanted it to. This worked really well.

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Another Quirky Momma family recently re-did the storage of her party/kid craft supplies using old formula containers.  The formula tins are great for storing things, unlike most cans, the edges are child-friendly and not sharp (or at least the cans she has).  They are also stack-able.  Great for all those little knickknacks that make up your kids-craft supplies.  Maybe you can adapt this for your home.  And if you don’t happen to have a ton of tins lying around, Organize.com has several in a variety of colors.

Ok, on to the declutter list (only 5 this week because two are big jobs):

1.      Garden Shed

2.     Garage storage areas

3.     Canning jars and cooking extras

4.     Party supplies

5.     Fabric and sewing machines

This is part of our De-Clutter Challenge!  Feel Free to join us as we organize our homes!

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Mopping, wiping, vacuuming and learning:

• I use mopping to work on memory skills. Did you already mop here? How can you tell? With our table top we can easily practice deductive reasoning. The area without crumbs and greasy hand prints was wiped down, the other areas still need attention.
• With mopping, short-term memory is more important. Often the floor looks about the same. So we work on developing our short-term memorywhile mopping.  Where have we mopped? Where do we need to mop next? My kids currently are obsessed with Dora.  And if you know much about Dora, you know the adventures have three parts, so we try to make mopping into an adventure. “Go under the table, around the chairs, towards the sink”.
• We also discuss patterns and progression by starting on one side of the room and working towards the other so we can know where we mopped.

Do you have any tips on how to include kids into doing chores? Have you blogged about chores in your household? I’d love to read about your kids successes and hear what chores they participate do in your home. Submit your story to our blog carnival. I’ll feature my favorites sometime next week!

Thanks to these flickr families for contributing photos!

Cooking with your toddlers:

• Sequencing steps. It is important for kids to follow specific steps in a process. Example: First, mix eggs, butter and sugar. Then add the flour. Finally, spoon the cookies onto the cookie sheet. This is a great time to discuss consequences and make predictions. If we skip the flour step, can we still make cookies?
• Exposure to fractions. My preschoolers have learned that fractions are a part of a greater whole by measuring the full amount and then subtracting parts to put in the recipe. Example: While making bread we use six cups of flour, but we add them one at a time to the dough. It takes an extra step to demonstrate fractions as I found that they “get it” more if we start from the whole and work backwards. This typically means I have to measure twice, but the experience is worth it!
• Learn and practice sensory vocabulary with terms used to describe textures, tastes and physical motions. Examples: Is it soft? hard? wet? clumpy? slimy? etc. Does this taste salty? sweet? bitter? sour? etc. Can you stir, pour, knead, mash, break, etc.
• Encourage the kids to try new foods. Kids Health made the observation that kids are more likely to try a new food if they have ownership of it, if they feel invested in it as the “chef” or the person who made the meal. Having your children cook with you provides opportunities to discuss wise food choices.
• Discuss the importance of refrigeration and sanitation while cooking.

Do you have any tips on how to include kids into doing chores? Have you blogged about chores in your household? I’d love to read about your kids successes and hear what chores they participate do in your home. Submit your story to our blog carnival. I’ll feature my favorites sometime next week!

Thanks Eyeliam for sharing the photo.

Here are some ways we have used washing the dishes as a “teachable” moment with our kids:

• Have discussions of bigger and smaller – Which plate is bigger? Can you find the smallest spoon? Which stack of cups is the tallest?
• Practice sorting items that have similarities into groups. Discuss exceptions. Example: We keep all of our forks in one location, except for our large serving forks.
• Explore Space, Child Care Aware, advises kids to “see and explore how shapes and things fit together”. For us, this means stacking plates and bowls in the most compact way so they can “fit” into the cupboards and spooning our spoons so they fit into the silverware tray.
• Dish washing is a great way to incorporate math vocabulary into your day: Are the cups on the top or the bottom? What dish is the lightest? The heaviest? Is this dish wetter or drier than “that” one? Can you find the dish that can hold the most? How many circles can you find? Squares? Cubes? Cylinders? Rectangles?
• Practice basic counting and arithmetic. How many plates are in the dishwasher? Put some away and re-count. What happened to the amount of dishes in the dishwasher when we put some away? I was amazed that my three year old has begun to understand the concept of subtraction from playing with dishes.
• Responsibility and safety. This is probably one of the most important lessons kids can learn while doing the dishes. We talk about how knives are dangerous and how to call mom (me) when we break a dish so I can supervise the clean up. We also discuss how when we make a mess (spill water from a dish that got flipped, or spill the silverware during “putting it away”) we need to clean it up.

Do you have any tips on how to include kids into doing chores? Have you blogged about chores in your household? I’d love to read about your kids successes and hear what chores they participate do in your home. Submit your story to our blog carnival. I’ll feature my favorites sometime next week!

Big thanks to these families for sharing their photos

Sorting laundry and math skills:

• Counting, learning one-to-one correspondence, or learning that “1″ means 1 item.   Kids Love to Know explains number correspondence as, “how to point to only one object when they are counting and to stop counting when all objects have been touched.”  Laundry piles are a great way to physically experience numbers and quantity while contributing to the family!
• Recognizing and creating sets.  We are working on folding our clothes together in bundles (see tip post).  My kids are learning which colors and clothes “clash” and create sets of top, bottom and accessories, with their clothes.
• Differentiation and similarities comparisons.  Example: Daddy has a shirt, Z has a shirt.  Daddy’s shirt is bigger but both are shirts and both are  folded the same way.  Or,  we may have a contest and my daughter’s pile is bigger than my son’s (or smaller than).  Recognizing quantities is a pre-math requirement.
• Matching socks.  We can play the make-a-match card game… or we can play make-a-match with socks!  I prefer the second.  I detest socks and love the fact that my kids match them together.  Now we are working on their motor skills.  Hopefully, they will begin folding them soon!

Do you have any tips on how to include kids into doing chores?  Have you blogged about chores in your household?  I’d love to read about your kids successes and hear what chores they participate do in your home.  Submit your story to our blog carnival.  I’ll feature my favorites sometime next week!

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We began by measuring our equal parts of water in a few small cups.  Then our experiments began:

1) we poured the water quickly on a completely dry sponge.  What happened?  The water splashed everywhere.

2) we poured the water slowly on a dampened sponge.  What happened?  The water filled the sponge.

We used the above two experiments to spark a discussion about rain and flooding.  The sponge represented the earth and the water is like rain.  We live in North Texas where we can go a month or so without any rain.  The sponges made a great analogy as to why flooding sometimes happens (as it has recently) in spite of the fact that it doesn’t rain very often in our area.

3) we squeezed out our sponges and repeated the process.  The kids loved “making” rain.  The sponge can also represent a cloud, and can demonstrate how clouds become saturated with moisture and how God uses them to send rain to the earth.

4) we banged on the saturated sponges and watched the water splash out of them.  Couldn’t think of a “learning” discussion to go with that one, but my two-year old had a blast!

5) We washed off our faces and discussed the uses that water has for us.

The kids then wiped off the table.  I love it when they do chores!  If only getting them to wipe down the table was this easy every post-dinner time.

If you are curious, here is a sample of the highschool soil/sponge activity I did a decade or more ago.

This project was part of our Water learning theme.  Click the link below for similar activities:

Bathrooms:

• Tiled walls, bath tubs, showers
• Shower Door
• Vanity and Sink
• Mirrors and Chrome fixtures
• Floors cleaned and mopped
• Toilets cleaned and sanitized
• Window sills, ledges and blinds dusted
• Cobweb removal
• Doors and Door frames/jams handwiped
• Cabinet facing wiped

Kitchen:

• Counter tops cleaned and sanitized
• Outside of range hood cleaned
• Top and front of range cleaned
• Drip pans and glass surfaces wiped
• Sinks cleaned and chrome shined
• All appliances wiped
• Floors vacuumed and mopped
• Microwave cleaned inside and out
• Cabinet doors wiped
• Inside of cabinets wiped and organized
• Inside of fridge wiped and organized
• Wipe down all kitchen furniture
• Wipe out and sanitize kitchen trash can
• Doors, door frames and jams hand wiped

Sleeping and Living Areas:

• All flat surfaces wiped
• All hard surface furniture dusted
• Doors, door frames and jams hand wiped
• Picture frames dusted
• Ceiling fans and light fixtures dusted
• Window sills, ledges, blinds dusted.
• Windows washed
• Wood floors damp mopped
• Carpeted floors steam cleaned
• Under furniture vaccuumed
• Couches and chair (including under cushions) vacuumed
• Baseboards wiped
• Cobwebs removed
• Vent openings vacuumed