Building Your Children’s Skills Through Household Chores
We all want our children to grow up and leave our homes knowing how to take care of their homes and themselves.
I have found that the best way to help my children learn new skills is by encouraging them to help me with the household chores.
Each week my children get to pick a chore that they would like to help me with. Because I have four children old enough to help me with chores I have made four different titles for my kids to choose from.
We have a:
Kitchen Helper – helps prepare dinner and set the table for meals each night.
Laundry Helper – helps load the washing machine, hang and fold clothes and sort underwear.
Dishwasher Helper – helps pack and unpack the dishwasher and clear the table after meals.
Cleaning Helper – helps vacuum, dust and generally tidy the house.
I don’t expect my kids to do all these jobs on their own. They are all still young so they need guidance with most tasks but as they practise all of these household tasks they will eventually be able to manage most jobs without my supervision.
Having the children helping me one on one also gives us plenty of time to have some special time together and with five children any chance for some one on one time with each of them is very important.
Children as young as two can start to help with chores. They like to help Mummy and Daddy put clothes in the washing machine, pass clothes to hang on the clothesline, they love to help in the kitchen and put a damp cloth in their hands and they become a crazy wiping machine.
If given the opportunity to help while they are young, children will grow up feeling like they are contributing to the household and once they are ready to leave home they will be well equipped to take care of themselves.
Filed under: Articles • Homemaking
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We are really on the same page , my children are 13,15 and have been helping since they were young. It is a joy to walk past their rooms in the morning after they have gone to school, everything picked up,beds made and once a week I even hear the vaccum.
I completely agree. Even my 16month old puts her clothes in the hamper and rubbish in the bin, if you start them early it definately helps set up their attitude towards household tasks later on. My girls are taught they are part of the family and members of a working household
My 2 year old loves to “help.” Even if it’s not always really helpful, he will help me sweep and vacuum, wipe up spills, put things in the trash, wipe down the walls with a sponge, and empty the dishwasher. Hopefully his willingness to help will last!
That is some good advice. Now that I am grown I wish that I would have “helped” my mom more in the kitchen. Maybe I would be a better cook. lol
Amen sista!
Love this idea of job categories. I agree that working with a child one on one is great!
This is great! I’m trying to incorporate my kids helping into daily life and I am getting some resistance. I’m going to stick with it, though. It’ll serve everybody in the long run.