How a rotating chore wheel transformed our after-dinner routine

Tired of doing all the work during your after-dinner routine? Discover how implementing a rotating chore wheel can transform your family’s evenings and give YOU the help you need.

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About a year ago, I found myself really frustrated with our family’s after-dinner routine…or lack thereof. As soon as the kids finished eating, they would dump their plates in the sink (if I was lucky) and run off to play. Meanwhile, I would stand in the middle of the mess, exhausted from a busy day of momming, wondering where our imaginary maid was and why she never turned up for duty.

Can you relate?

When my kids were little, my husband would always offer after dinner…”Do you want dishes or kids?” I usually happily sent the kids off to play with Dad, and I enjoyed having those few quiet minutes to myself as I did the dishes.

But my boys aren’t toddlers anymore. They’re totally capable of helping, and I want them to learn to contribute to our family…and whatever other groups they are part of as they grow up.

Changing routines can be hard though, and just saying, “Hey! Everybody stick around and pitch in!” did NOT work.

When I started asking my kids to help out in the kitchen after dinner, they complained that it took too long, argued over who had to do which jobs…and don’t even get me started on unloading the dishwasher. For some reason, they viewed that as the ultimate torture. My kids are good kids, but they ARE still kids, and they don’t get super excited about cleaning.

How a rotating chore wheel solved our after-dinner dilemma

Finally, I had the idea to create a twist on a classic chore system…a chore wheel!

Traditionally, chore wheels are used to assign family members various “zones” of the house to clean. You rotate the wheel each day, weel or month, so everyone gets an equal chance to do each of the jobs. I adapted this idea to create a system for our after dinner routine, and it’s worked brilliantly!

How our after-dinner chore wheel system works:

I have 3 kids (ages 5-10 when we started this), so I came up with three specific after-dinner jobs. For your family, think about what you would like help with, and what jobs your kids are capable of doing. Our three jobs are dishes, counters, and table. Here’s the breakdown:

DISHES: My husband and I wash the dishes, but the child on dish duty is responsible for drying dishes and putting them away. This person is also on dishwasher duty for the week, so they unload the dishwasher whenever it’s clean. Having this job assigned weekly has cut down on our dishwasher fights SO much! Now my kids do the job with minimal complaining because they know when their turn is done they’ll get a two-week break.

COUNTERS: This job includes clearing off the kitchen counters and island and wiping them down. Our kitchen island is the workspace for lots of playtime projects, and it’s the dumping ground for all kinds of things, so it needs A LOT of help by the end of the day. We used to have lots of complaining (are you seeing a trend here?) about cleaning it up with arguments like, “But I didn’t even make that mess!” But now, the kids just know that’s part of the counter person’s job, and they do it much more willingly. Having clean counters at the end of the day makes me extraordinarily happy, so this has been a big win for me personally.

TABLE: Everyone takes their own dishes to the dishwasher, but the person on table duty puts away everything else: food, empty dishes, hot pads, etc. If there are leftovers, they put food in storage containers, bring dirty serving dishes to the sink for washing, and put all other items away in the fridge or pantry. This person also wipes down the table and chairs with a damp cloth.

What about Mom & Dad?

I purposely did not put myself and my husband on the chore wheel. Instead, we are “floaters” who help with all the jobs as needed. Often, my husband washes dishes, and I help put away leftovers, bring pots and pans to the sink, and put dry dishes away that are too high for my youngest child to reach. I love that now my kids appreciate when I do something to help them complete their jobs, and it creates a more positive atmosphere as we clean up.

How often do you rotate the chore wheel?

We rotate jobs weekly, every Sunday night at dinnertime. This makes it easy to remember when to switch, and it is a good amount of time for each person to keep a particular job. It also solves the potential problem of what to do if your family isn’t home for dinner one night. If you were rotating daily, would you still rotate the chart for the day you went out to eat, or not? For us, weekly rotation has worked really well for the past year, and I have no plans to change things up.

What if someone isn’t home to do their job?

Sometimes one of my kids is gone at karate or baseball practice…or various other activities…and isn’t home for dinner. Our rule is simple: we just do the job for the absent family member. This is one of the reasons we as parents don’t have a space on the chore wheel. We sub in for whoever is missing, and the missing child just jumps back in the next night when he is home.

It’s also the reason we only rotate our chore wheel once a week. I didn’t want to have kids arguing, “Well, he was gone last night, so we shouldn’t change jobs today!” By rotating weekly, it makes it easier to deal with “missed” days because that child still has several other opportunities to do their job.

Why I still love our chore wheel a year later

Honestly, creating our chore wheel might have been my best idea of last year. Seriously. Here are just a few reasons I love it so much:

1. I go to bed with a clean kitchen most nights! I love waking up to a clean kitchen, but cleaning is the last thing I want to do once all the kids are in bed. I love that this system has built the kitchen clean-up into our daily routine, and I get to enjoy the benefits of a calmer, less cluttered space.
2. My kids are learning to be responsible and work as part of the family team. It takes a lot of work to run a household, and I want my kids to know that there is no magic cleaning fairy that does it all. I want to raise capable kids who know how to take care of themselves and how to be contributing members of a group. This is one small way to teach some of those skills.
3. There is so much LESS arguing over chores. Having this simple system has streamlined our clean up and cut down so much on complaining and arguing about who should clean up which mess, and when, and how. It’s not perfect (they’re still kids after all), but they are learning to pitch in…and do their part with a positive attitude much more often than before.

Think a chore wheel would be a good fit for your family? Read on to find out how to make your own!

How to create your own chore wheel

To create your own rotating chore wheel, start by brainstorming which jobs need to be done regularly after dinner at your house, such as washing dishes, clearing the table, and clearing the counters. If you have more kids, you could consider including jobs like taking out the trash and sweeping the floor. Once you know the jobs you want to include, make your wheel!

You can design your own wheel, or you can save time by downloading my easy-to-use digital template.

Purchase the template: If you want a cute, functional, and easy-to-edit chore wheel, click the button above to buy and download the exact chore wheel template I designed to use with my family. It includes an outer wheel with spaces for family member’s names and an inner wheel where you can write the chores and the details of how to do them. Choose from a 3-person wheel or 4-person wheel, depending on the needs of your family. (If you are interested in a chore wheel for more people, contact me about making a custom design.) Once your purchase is complete, you’ll immediately receive a PDF with a link to your editable template.

Customize your chore wheel: Open the template in Canva (my fave free online design tool), and you’ll be able to easily edit names, tasks, colors, and more to make a chore wheel that perfectly fits your family’s needs. It’s a really user-friendly program, and if you need any help, I’m happy to answer questions!

Print & assemble: Once you’re done customizing, print your chore wheel (preferably on cardstock) either at home or your local print shop. Cut out each of the circles and laminte them for durability if possible. If you don’t have one, here is the laminator I have and love! Place the smaller chore circle on top of the bigger name circle, carefully poke a hole in the middle of each circle, and fasten them together with a metal brad. Now, try rotating your wheel! Nifty, right?

Display your chore wheel and introduce it to the family: Find a place in your kitchen where you can display your chore wheel for everyone to see. I used painter’s tape and hung ours up on the wall by our oven.

To introduce the new system, during dinner one Sunday night, my husband and I talked to our kids about how we wanted to have our whole family work together to clean up dinner each night. We then explained that we were going to try a new system to help us. We explained how it would work (everything I wrote above), and we jumped right in that night. They asked questions (like “What if someone isn’t there for dinner to do their job?”), and we discussed how we would handle each situation they brought up.

We’ve been going strong for a whole year now, and I am so grateful for the way this simple system has changed our family for the better!

Ready to give it a try? Download the editable Canva template now, and get started today on creating a simple and effective after-dinner routine!

Interested in more printables to help you create simple famly systems that work? Check out these:

• How to create a simple after school routine (+ free printable checklist)
• Printable kid’s chore chart template
• How to simplify weekly meal planning + free printable templates
• The Warm Fuzzy Jar: a positive parenting strategy to encourage good behavior