Making your chore wheel
- Type the names, one per line. Each name gets one segment on the large disc, so the wheel has as many segments as you have people, from 2 to 8.
- Type the chores, one per line. With the same number of chores as names, every segment of the small disc holds one chore. With more chores, they are grouped so each segment holds the same number, listed one under the other.
- Give the wheel a title if you like, choose whether both discs share a page or each gets its own, pick the paper and a color, and download the PDF.
The preview on the right shows the sheet as it prints. Names and chores run along the radius of their disc, reading from the center outward, so each one lines up with its segment when the wheel is assembled.
Cutting and assembling the discs
Cardstock makes a wheel that survives a few months on the fridge. If your printer only takes plain paper, print on paper and glue the sheet onto thin cardboard from a cereal box before you cut. Cut out both discs along their outer lines with scissors; the small disc is the easier one to cut neatly, so start there. The dashed circle on the large disc only shows where the small disc will sit, do not cut it.
Lay the small disc on the large one and line up the two center marks. Push a brass fastener (a split pin) through both marks and open its legs on the back. If the discs turn stiffly, widen the hole a little with a pencil tip. A piece of tape over the legs keeps them from scratching the fridge door.
No fastener at hand? A pin pushed into a cork board holds both discs at once. With the one-disc-per-page size, the large disc is as big as the paper allows, which is easier for small hands to turn.
Rotating the chores each week
Pick a fixed moment to turn the wheel, such as Sunday evening or after the Saturday breakfast, and turn the small disc one segment in the same direction every time. Every person then moves through every chore before the first one comes around again, and nobody can claim they always get the dishes. Mark the start segment with a small dot or sticker on the rim of the large disc, so you can see when a full round is done.
Turning once a week suits most households. For young children a shorter round, every three or four days, keeps the chores fresh, and for a shared flat two weeks per turn means fewer discussions.
Keeping it fair
A wheel is only fair when the segments are roughly equal in effort. List the chores in pairs of a heavier one and a lighter one, such as cleaning the bathroom and watering the plants, so that each segment adds up to about the same amount of work. When one job takes much longer than the others, split it: "vacuum upstairs" and "vacuum downstairs" are two chores that two people can take.
Chores that need an adult, like cooking on the stove, do not belong on a wheel shared with small children. Keep those separate and put age-neutral jobs on the wheel: setting the table, feeding the pet, sorting the recycling, wiping the table. If the household includes someone who can only do certain jobs, give the wheel fewer segments and leave that person off it, with a fixed chore instead.
Pairing the wheel with a chore chart
The wheel says who does what this week; it does not record whether it was done. The printable chore chart adds the week view: a row per chore, a box per day, and a tick when the job is finished. Hang the two together, and fill the chart with the names from the wheel each time you turn it. For a sticker or points system, the reward chart takes the same list of chores and counts toward a reward you agree on.
Tools that help with the draw
When nobody wants to pick the starting position, let the wheel spinner decide: paste the names, spin, and the name it lands on takes the first segment at the top. The random name picker draws one name from your list without the spinning, which is quicker for a one-off job like who takes the trash out tonight. For a big household or a classroom, the team generator splits a long list of names into small groups, and each group then gets one segment on the wheel.
Frequently asked questions
Is the chore wheel free?
Yes. Type the names and chores, download the PDF and print it as often as you like, for your family, a shared flat or a classroom. There is no signup and no watermark; one small line at the bottom of the page names our website, and it is cut off with the discs.
How do I put the wheel together?
Print on cardstock if your printer takes it, or glue the printed sheet onto a cereal box before cutting. Cut out both discs along their outer lines. Lay the small disc on the large one, line up the two center marks and push a brass fastener (a split pin) through both. Open the legs of the fastener on the back. If you have no fastener, a short piece of a pipe cleaner or a paper clip bent through a small hole works too.
What happens when I have more chores than names?
The chores are shared out over the segments in the order you typed them, so with four names and eight chores every segment holds two chores, listed one under the other. When they do not divide evenly, the first segments get one more. Put the heavier chore and a lighter one next to each other in the list, so the pairs come out fair.
Can I leave the names or chores empty?
Yes. With no names, the wheel gets one segment per chore, and with nothing at all it prints two blank discs with six segments and a line in each to write on by hand. A blank wheel is handy when the people change every week, like in a classroom.
Why does half of the text print upside down?
Names and chores run along the radius of each disc, reading from the center outward, so each one lines up with its segment. On a round wheel, that means the text on the left half is upside down while the sheet lies flat. Once the wheel hangs on the fridge, you turn the small disc, not the sheet, and read every segment by looking at it from the outside, as on a clock face.
Why are some characters missing from my text?
The PDF uses the standard Helvetica font, which covers English and most Western European letters, but no emoji and no other scripts such as Greek, Cyrillic or Chinese. Those characters are left out, a few rare accented letters lose the accent, and a note under the fields tells you when that happens. The preview shows the text exactly as it will print.