Apply These 4 Tips to Help Your Children Get Involved in House Chores

As parents, it is important that we celebrate our children’s accomplishments, but it is also important that we teach them from an early age to help with household tasks. It is essential that they learn that everyone in the family is involved in the daily chores, and that it is not a matter of “helping mom or dad”, but that it is everyone’s business.

Even if they are still very young, we can gradually start to involve children in household chores. But how do we make it fun and a normal part of the routine? We give you the answer in this article; enjoy the reading!

1.Consider Their Age

From the age of two, they begin to develop symbolic play, which consists of imitating the actions that adults do in real life, so this is a great opportunity for them to start collaborating on simple tasks. For example, they can help you put clothes in the washer or towels on the table, tell you what they like best.

Gradually, they can be given tasks of greater responsibility, always according to their abilities and stage of growth. For instance, when they’re a little older, they can help set and clear the table, put dishes in the dishwasher or wipe down a cloth. At first, these tasks can be a bit complex for them, but over time they learn to do them better and better and eventually they become automated.

2.Keep in Mind That Practice Makes Perfect

Remember that working together on household chores is a learning process, so we need to be patient with mistakes or the fact that sometimes they bother us more than they solve us.

We need to spend the necessary time to teach them how to do the chores, explain how to do them and trust them to do it well. Even if they sometimes make mistakes, we have to be patient and not criticize them, because this way they will try to improve.

3.Make Your Home Child Friendly

It is also very important to adapt the house to children, making it easy for them to do everything they can do themselves. It is not consistent to have the glasses in the highest cupboards if they have to set the table, for example. Independence is the key to them taking initiative and being able to do things without our help.

4.Find Original Ways to Encourage Them

Motivation is key to getting kids involved in chores, so activate their imagination like putting stickers on the laundry baskets to sort out the white and colorful clothes. A trick that works really well is to organize the cabinet drawers by putting stickers with drawings of the clothes inside, or putting colorful stickers on the cutlery drawers, for example.

Teaching children to participate in household chores is an education that will serve you for life. It’s not about “making them work,” but about taking on the collaboration of community service. If we do things for them, they will not learn to do them and we will delay the development of their abilities and decrease their confidence. On the other hand, by involving them in daily tasks, they will feel useful and valued as members of the family.

Additional Tips

If you don’t know what kind of chores you can give them, you can have a look at our ideas below, we’ve listed the tasks depending on your children’s age:

Under Three Years of Age

At a young age, they can start doing simple tasks around the house, such as picking up toys and putting books back in their place after using them.

Ages Three to Six

– Sort their stuffs: put away toys and tidy their room.

– Put dirty clothes in the hamper

– Pick out clothes and get dressed on their own.

– Help at mealtime: set the table (little ones will help with simple things like napkins or plastic dishes) or be your assistant while you prepare the food.

– Help with shopping at the supermarket. Help choose what to bring, ask them to find a product or let them help you place the purchase on the grocery tape.

Ages Six to Twelve

– Water the plants.

– Help take care of pets.

– Help in the garden.

– Tidy up their room.

– Tying up the bed.

– Cooking together.

– Separate clothes from laundry.

– Put clothes away in closets.

– Washing dishes or putting them in the dishwasher.

– Shopping for simple things: from age nine or ten, depending on their maturity level.

– Take out the garbage.

How do you usually get your children to help at home? Share your tips with us in the comments below.