Are your kids old enough to help around the house? Well, if they can master complex online games, then they can easily make their beds or run the dishwasher.
Here are a few tricks to get the kids going and some age-appropriate chore suggestions as a general guideline.
Tips to Motivating Your Kids to Help Out
According to Elizabeth Pantley, author of parenting books, if you don't teach your kids the process and supervise them for a while, they will likely not follow through.
The trick is to keep them engaged and be consistent so that they don't drop their chores in the hopes that someone else will take of it.
Make a Chores List
Listing all the daily chores to get your family going will give everyone an overall view of what needs to be done. Creating awareness of how much they contribute so far is a crucial step to get them on board.
Let Them Choose the Chores They Like Better
Use common sense and our suggestions below to make sure that everyone chooses age-appropriate chores. Making a four-year-old walk the dog just because it's their pick won't quite work out.
Set up a Family Chores Chart
It's an excellent exercise to have the chart up somewhere where kids can check their chores and be reminded of them, aside from the sound of your voice. Even when setting deadlines and reminders yourself, Pantley recommends the use of a technique called "when/then." For example, "when the dishwasher is running, then you can go watch a movie."
Be Specific With Instructions
Haven't we all heard the "clean up your room" phrase enough? Ideally, you want to let your children know just what you expect them to do as in "change the bedsheets, dust the room, fold your clothes, and put it away."
Age-appropriate Chores
See the below chart as a general guideline of what experts consider age-appropriate chores:
Ages 2-3 | Ages 4-5 | Ages 6-7 | Ages 8-9 | Ages 10 and above |
Put toys away Fill pet's food dish Put clothes in a hamper Wipe up spills | Make their bed Empty wastebaskets Bring in mail or newspaper Water flowers | Sort laundry Sweep floors Set and clear table Keep bedroom tidy | Put away groceries Vacuum Put away own laundry Take the pet for a walk | Load/Unload dishwasher Do laundry /Iron Clean bathroom Baby-sit younger siblings (with an adult in the home) |
Don't Rely on Allowance
Parenting experts do not recommend to tie allowances to chores. It's not about the money; it's about the lessons learned. Younger kids might not even be motivated by money at all.
However, allowance can be useful as a motivation engine for older children to take on extra tasks. For example, a spokesman for ASAP Appliance & Plumbing Services confirmed that the online repair enquiries from teenagers helping out their parents to find suitable dryer repair services has increased in the past five years
Final Thoughts
Remember that when you are getting your children involved in the household chores, you are not only getting help but are teaching them several life lessons like responsibility, tidiness, team-work, learning the household tasks, and the sense of contribution.
So as much as it might be demanding to get them started, hang in there: the best is yet to come.
