Do you struggle to get your children excited about doing chores? I shared a guest post on Confessions of a Homeschooler on five ways I get our kids excited about chores that you might find helpful.
How do YOU help your kids be excited about doing chores?
When I was a kid, my mom would encourage me to engage a chore creatively, rather than simply carrying out orders. She’d tell me the end result whe was after and ask how I might go about getting from here to there. This had the effect of making it into a game. And when that failed, there was always old-fashioned deal-making and bribery. 🙂 The one chore I could never muster any enthusiasm for, though, was cleaning the gutters. There seemed to be no way to cut the Gordian knot on that one. Anyone got any tips for injecting some creativity into gutter-cleaning?
I, too, find my kids loving to help when we have a game going, a tool to use, and/or non-monetary rewards. Although, I’m sure they would jump at money as well. 🙂 I recently wrote a series on How to Make Cleaning Fun for Children, where I share what works in our house.
http://usingtimewisely.com/how-to-make-cleaning-fun-for-children-part-1a-of-3/
Enjoy!
I try to think of ways my children can help me as I’m doing chores around the house. Age appropriate of course. But they are there beside me, doing with me! And they love it. They both love collecting hampers and sorting the laundry. My almost 3 yr does this quite well. The key is to do chores with them, teaching them. They then know the correct way to do chores and to do it with excellence. Are my towels folded perfectly…no, but my almost 6 yr is learning and does it well. It’s amazing how much your children get excited about helping around the house when you invite them into what your doing 🙂 The joy on their faces is priceless.
I make it into a game. Sometimes the kids all compete against me to see who can get their job done correctly. I call this the 10 minute challenge. Other times they compete against each other like in the Great Sock Match-Up game here:: http://www.thecouponhigh.net/2012/06/lets-organize-the-great-sock-match-up-challenge/.
The winners get rewards like extra tv time or small amounts of money.