Photo: Laura Ohlman on Unsplash
Why a chore wheel works
In most homes, the fight isn’t about the chores themselves, it’s about who’s doing more than their share. “I did it last time!” is hard to argue with when nobody’s keeping track. A chore wheel settles it in one spin. It has no favorites, it doesn’t remember who complained yesterday, and no one has to play boss and hand out jobs.
The spin is fair, too: the moment you press the button, the winning slice is picked with your browser’s secure random generator, then the wheel turns to land on it. Tapping fast, slow or twice in a row changes nothing. Before the first spin, agree on one rule: the wheel has the final say.
House rules for a drama-free spin
Pick your rules together once, and everyone knows what to expect:
- One spin per chore. No respins because someone doesn’t like the result.
- The cook skips the dishes. Take their name off the wheel before you spin. It’s fair, and it makes cooking a lot more appealing.
- “Everyone” means everyone. If the pointer lands there, the whole table pitches in, and the kitchen is clean in no time.
- Trades are fine if both people agree. You take my dishes tonight, I take yours tomorrow.
- Yesterday’s pick gets a night off. Remove their name for today’s spin, then put it back tomorrow.
- A name added twice gets twice the chances. Only do it if everyone agrees, for instance when an older kid has fewer chores than everyone else.
Splitting up dish duty
With a few people, the dishes go faster when everyone has a job. Load the “Dish duty jobs” list and spin once per person: wash, dry, put away, load or unload the dishwasher, wipe the counters, clear the table, sweep under it. To make sure everyone gets a different job, use the random wheel and its option to remove the winning slice after each spin.
A dishwasher doesn’t make the chore disappear, it just changes shape: someone loads it after dinner, someone unloads it the next morning. Those are two separate slices, and unloading before breakfast counts just as much as scrubbing a pan.
Chores that fit every age
Kids are more willing to help when the job is their size. The “Kids' chores” list has easy tasks to get started, and you can add your own. A few rough guidelines, to adjust for each child:
- Around ages 3 to 5: carry napkins and spoons to the sink, put dirty clothes in the hamper, pick up toys, water a plant.
- Around ages 6 to 8: set and clear the table, dry unbreakable dishes, match socks, feed the pet.
- Around ages 9 to 12: wash sturdy dishes, unload the dishwasher, take out the recycling, sweep the kitchen.
- Teens: the full load of dishes, pots and pans, the trash, vacuuming, a load of laundry from start to finish.
Sharp knives, fragile glassware and cleaning products stay with the grown-ups. And a simple thank-you at the end goes a long way toward next time.
Send the wheel to the whole house
“Send my wheel” creates a link you can text, send on WhatsApp or paste into the family or roommate group chat. Everyone opens it on their own phone and sees the same wheel with the same slices. It’s a handy way to announce the result before dinner is even over, or to let roommates know who’s on duty tonight.
Your slices travel inside the link itself: nothing is stored on the server, and nobody has to create an account. To avoid duplicate spins, decide who does the spinning: the cook, for example, at dessert, in front of everyone.
Beyond tonight
The wheel is perfect for tonight. For the whole week, with every household chore and a fair rotation, use the chore chart generator instead: everyone gets the same number of tasks, then the list rotates the following week. Our guide on how to split household chores fairly walks you through making the list and matching chores to each person.
Before the dishes comes dinner: the what to eat wheel picks the meal. For a speed cleanup, spin the number wheel: the number it lands on is how many things each person puts away. For the little household questions, the yes or no wheel answers in one spin. And every other random picker is waiting on the Buzzloo home page.