Getting your children to do their chores is one of the toughest tasks a parent will face. In this episode of The Lab, DadLabs reveals the secret to getting your kids to help out with household chores like cleaning and picking up toys. First, we'll take you through the phases moms and dads will face during this parenting challenge. Then, we'll tell you take you into The Matrix - The Chore Matrix. Learn how chore charts for kids can encourage them to help out around the house. We'll even show you a few fun and creative chore chart examples from our own youngsters. If you've had luck using a chore chart, leave a comment on this video or let us know about it at DadLabs.com. DadLabs Ep. 670 is brought to you in conjunction with Man of the House.

Daddy Clay: Today we reveal the secret to getting kids to do their chores.
Daddy Brad: Are you ready for the matrix?
Daddy Clay: Today's episode is brought to you in collaboration with Man of the House.
Daddy Brad: Now getting your kids to perform a few household chores can be tougher than armadillo jerky.
Daddy Clay: Which is, which is very tough.
Daddy Brad: Very.
Daddy Clay: But there is a solution. Our highly scientific studies have shown that parents go through six distinct phases as they try to get their kids to perform chores. The first stage, 1. Resentment. It slowly dawns on you that kid leave their stuff all over the place and its somehow becoming your job to pick up after them. But because they're little and cute, you put up with it. Phase 2. Becoming your Mother.
Daddy Brad: Do you think I'm your personal maid? Do you think all this stuff is going to clean up itself? Do ya? Huh?
Daddy Clay: You will use these expressions despite having personal experience that they are not at all effective. Then on to the next phase, perhaps the most annoying, phase 3 The Julie McCoy.
Daddy Brad: Ella, you want to learn the pick up song? Pick up the toys and put em' in the basket. Pick up the toys and put em' in the basket. Come on, can you do it?
Daddy Clay: Stage 4: Creative Threats.
Daddy Brad: If this room is not clean, in five minutes, I'm killing the dog.
Daddy Clay: Stage 5: Resignation. You eventually decide that it's just easier to do this crap yourself. But if you are lucky and en-lightened young, neo-dad, there is another solution.
Daddy Brad: The matrix, otherwise known as the chore chart.
Daddy Clay: Okay, so maybe the shore chart isn't exactly a revolutionary concept.
Daddy Brad: Yeah, but it sure works better than stages one through five. Trust us, we tried them all. No the concept is pretty simple. The kids perform certain tasks and they put a check every time they perform them. Get enough checks and you get a reward. There are a lot of pre-made charts from the market we found that kids do better and get more invested when they help decide on the task and help make the chart themselves. This can be a fun and a really creative way to kick off the project.
Daddy Clay: So here's my daughters chore matrix. She just made a new one because she filled her old one in and you can see this is very much 9 year old girl. She chooses her own chores and sort of makes her bed, cleaning her room, setting the table. And if she gets a certain amount of check marks, then down here she has a list of places she'd like a gift card form and she can pick which one she gets. And see this, Claire's, some earrings, bookstore. She spells like her dad.
Daddy Brad: She has a lot to do.
Daddy Clay: And you notice that there are dots there. Kids love to use these do-a-dots, you can use stickers, or just do the old school check mark, but they love putting these dots in there, and that's something that makes it a little more fun for them. And we find it to be absolute effective. Does it work for you guys?
Daddy Brad: Oh, absolutely it works, its great.
Daddy Clay: We don't even have to ask the kids about their chores because they're after themselves, they want those dots, they love getting gift cards and so it really works for us. So we want to hear from you, what kind of luck are you having getting your kids to do chores around the house? Are you using a matrix or a reward calendar, let us know what's working for you. You can drop a comment on this video or go to Dad Labs, or join the conversation at Man of the house.
Daddy Brad: We'd like to thank our friends over at Man of the House for making this video possible. And we'd like to thank you for watching this video. And that's all for us here, take care.