My children actually do chores around the house easily. Recently my son has learned about allowances. Great. So I made up a chore chart that are things he can do towards his weekly allowance. I decided to try out a recipe I had for homemade scratch off paint to make this chart a little more fun.

Supplies needed:

• cardstock (this is 65 weight cardstock)
• Marker
• Masking tape or painters tape
• Metallic acrylic craft paint
• Dishwashing liquid
• Paint brush

Cut strips of masking tape and let your child place them on the paper. You can guide them or draw some lines for them to place to the tape on. The tape does not have to be lined up perfectly (as you can see). This is about making something extra fun.

Write down different chores your child can do in each box. Other than the folding towels one above, all of these can be done at any time and without my help. So whenever he feels like scratching off a chore and doing it he can. Good choices are cleaning light switches, wiping off doorknobs, wiping off the front of the fridge, oven, or dishwasher, etc.

Now it is time to mix the scratch off paint. The ratio is two parts paint to one part dish washing liquid. I used 2 tbsp of paint and 1 tbsp of soap. It made a LOT! I would recommend doing a teaspoon ratio instead of tablespoon. Let your child pour in the ingredients. It is really fun to watch them come together.

Next have your child stir it up thoroughly. Don’t go too fast, though. This is dishwashing liquid and it will make bubbles if stirred too fast.

It is time to paint. Fill in each box with the paint mixture. If this gets on the table or on the skin it is super easy to clean up. It has soap built right in it! I love this stuff.

Let it dry and remove the tape. As you can see, you might want to press down the tape to create a nice tight seal after your child makes the tape grid. Ours is a tad sloppy, but it isn’t getting hung in a museum, This baby is getting used.

Don’t be surprised if the first thing your child wants to do is scratch off a square so they can do the chore. I swear, why didn’t I think of this earlier?

I may never dust again. At least I am hoping.