Review: Uncommon Goods Kids’ Responsibility Board

Uncommon Goods Kids Responsibility Board

My job as a work-at-home mom is not easy. I work part-time, volunteer, watch and teach my children, manage my house, exercise, cook, spend time with my husband, and blog. On any given day, I feel as if I need extra hours to get everything done, however, I decided not to allow myself to become overwhelmed by my to-do list. Therefore, I started giving my kids responsibilities. Even at the age of 4, they can help with  chores. In fact, it as a privilege for them to help and gain independence by sharing a few responsibilities. Although their responsibilities are tailored to fit their age group, having them help out is truly a time saver for me.

Uncommon Goods has many great products and unique gifts to share with others, but I was given an opportunity to share the Kids’ Responsibility Board with my readers and I am glad that I did. My children are proud to now have their own tasks to do, it helps them feel special and important like mommy. The board also helps the concept of money become a real and tangible idea. For a complete breakdown of my thoughts about the board see below.

What I like most about the Kids’ Responsibility Board

• Phenomenal idea. I love that the board looks official and important so it will help kids get excited about their responsibilities.
• Comes with great additions that you can tailor to fit your child.
• We’ve had the board for about 3 weeks and it helps us organize and get important chores completed around the house.
• My children now take ownership of their tasks and look forward to pay day.
• Looks exactly like the picture, so what you see is what you get.
• Can be personalized to fit your child and the tasks you want him or her to complete.
• Helped us brain-storm as a family. We not only added real chores, but we also included fun things on the chore sticks as well to help keep it kid-friendly. Because my children are young, most of their tasks are not completed alone, I help them out. But as they get older and do the tasks more often I give them more autonomy when they show me they are ready to handle it.
• With the purchase of the board you also receive a free newsletter with crafts, tips, hints, other products, and motivation.
• The board serves a large age group (3-18 years old) so it is built to last for many years to come.
• As my children get older, I think this board will become even more effective. We are currently using it shortly after breakfast to provide a routine structure to their day. Some of the tasks on our board are as follows: Brush your teeth, put away dirty dishes, place toys in the toy box, tidy play room, read a book, practice writing, put clothes in hamper, etc.

What needs improvement

• The board does not come complete. I was so excited for it to arrive, but when it did I had to go to a hardware store to purchase screws to screw into the wall. I considered finding a different way to mount it, but screwing it in appeared to be the safest because if it fell, it could be a tragic accident. The instructions and suggestions are found online and suggest customers use drywall anchors.
  
• I also had to purchase an ultra-fine tip sharpy in order to write on the board. I thought the board came with a marker, but it doesn’t. I tried using a dry erase marker we had around the house; however, it wasn’t a fine tip marker, so it was hard to write the tasks legibly to correspond with the small bullet points.
• The metal peg board is sturdy, but has really sharp edges, which are not child-friendly, so it needs to be kept in a safe place.
• If you have more than one child you will need to use creativity or purchase another board or their add-on kits because this chart is ideally made for only one child.
• Lastly, I wish the board started on the first day of the week, which is Sunday, just like the calendars.

Buy It

1. To purchase from Uncommon Goods, please click here.

**3 Years Later Update**

We still use this chore chart and it looks like new. It even survived a move. It is very sturdy and I love it now. I also love that the chore sticks can be easily replaced. After 3 years, we lost a few of the wooden sticks, but I was able to get new ones at our local dollar store.

So I would revise my post to mention that the design that I didn’t like originally turned out to be phenomenal and sturdy. It’s well worth the money.

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Disclosure: I received the Kids’ Responsibility Board at no cost in exchange for my honest review and opinion from Uncommon Goods.