How We Finally Got Our Kids to Do Chores (Big Family Tested!)

There’s a real connection between order in the home and peace in the soul—but with a big family, that’s easier said than done. Big family means big messes… and even bigger chore struggles. If you’re tired of doing it all (or asking a hundred times before anything gets done), you’re not alone. In this video, I’m sharing what finally helped us get our kids to do their chores—what flopped, what stuck, and how it’s working in real life.

Watch the episode here:

Why We Needed a Chore System (ASAP)

We have five kids (with one on the way!), and at some point, it became clear: we needed a better system to manage their chores. Things were slipping through the cracks, and it was time for a change. That’s when we started looking into the Hearth Display—a pretty big purchase, so I wanted to share our honest experience.

But first, here’s a little of our backstory when it comes to chore management.

Starting From Scratch: No Experience, No Systems

My husband and I both come from small families—he had one sibling, and I was an only child. Our moms were very neat and tidy, but they mostly did all the housework themselves. So when our own family started growing, we were kind of flying blind.

I turned to another mom I admired—her home was always spotless despite having many kids—and asked her secret. She recommended two books:

• Managers of Their Homes
• Managers of Their Chores

Both were written by a Christian couple and offer an incredibly detailed system for managing large households. They were super helpful and gave me a lot of insight—especially on planning ahead so you're not always playing catch-up.

The Chore Chart Phase (aka Too Much Paperwork)

Inspired by the books, I created elaborate printed schedules and chore cards. We used lanyards with cut-out task cards, and I had tons of printed schedules constantly being tweaked and reprinted. The system was detailed—but honestly? It wasn’t sustainable. It felt way too rigid and time-consuming to maintain.

Enter: The Giant Magnetic Chore Board

We moved on to something a little more flexible: a DIY chore board made from two large metal sheets and color-coded dry erase magnets. This system was a huge improvement. We could move tasks around, mark things off, and make quick changes when needed.

It worked well for about a year. But as the kids got older and more capable, the system started to fall apart. We ran out of space, and it didn’t help with things like events, schoolwork, or one-off tasks.

Supplies for DIY Dry Erase Chore Board

• Steel magnet boards
• Dry erase magnets
• Small glass magnets (for checking off tasks)
• Fine tip dry erase markers with eraser
• Black whiteboard tape (for marking divisions between days of the week)

Why We Chose the Hearth Display

That’s when we started researching digital family command centers, and ultimately landed on the Hearth Display. The deciding factor? Its routines feature—which lets you create dynamic lists of tasks in a specific order. Perfect for morning routines, homeschool schedules, afternoon chores, and evening tasks.

Some features we love:

• Shows one task at a time (with emojis for younger kids)
• Rewards completed tasks with confetti and streaks 🌟
• Profiles can be personalized with photos and routine colors
• Confetti = motivation 🙌

Making Chores Fun (and Trackable)

We also use Hearth to track our family’s reward system. Our kids get 30 minutes of screen time per day—but can earn more by doing extra chores. Before Hearth, I had to rack my brain every day to come up with extra tasks. Now?

I just created a separate "Extra Chores" list in the app. Tasks are:

• Recurring (set by frequency)
• Open for any child to claim
• Visible to everyone on the display

And I can check their progress right from my phone, wherever I am. Game. Changer.

Other Features We Use

• Calendar syncing with Google & Apple
• To-do lists that aren’t tied to routines
• User customization (photos, routines, etc.)
• Instant access via mobile app

A Few Wishlist Items

The Hearth Display isn’t perfect, but it’s close. Some things I’d love to see added:

• A built-in timer feature (great for screen-time limits)
• More frame options (the current one is nice, but not real wood)
• Possibly a more “art-like” display, similar to the Samsung Frame TV

We also hit a couple of small bugs with long, complicated routines—but the support team was super responsive and helpful.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we’ve been really happy with the Hearth Display. It’s well thought out, kid-friendly, and honestly, it’s made a huge difference in how smoothly our household runs. So much so that I signed up for their affiliate program.

If you’re interested in getting your own, you can use my link below for $40 off your order:

👉 Visit HearthDisplay.com and enter code N2TE2FC3XNVT at checkout
or
👉 Just click my affiliate link here and the discount will apply automatically

Links in this blog post may be affiliate, which means I may receive a small percentage of your purchase. Thank you for your support!