Children often enjoy doing household tasks because it gives them a sense of belonging and a feeling of capability. Yet, many families feel that chores lead to power struggles and are a hassle to deal with. The problem with chores very often has to do with how we parents approach the whole idea of chores and house hold tasks.
I often find that a simple, encouraging, non reward based approach is not only easier on us parents (no points or stickers to keep track of) it also instills in children a sense that sharing household jobs is simply a regular and expected part of family life.
So here are three simple ideas for encouraging children to help out with chores:
*Work Together: Instead of giving children a list of jobs to do and walking away, invite them to work alongside with you. Working together gives us parents a chance to model tasks and also creates a sense of family responsibility, plus it’s a great time to connect. Bonus: Working together leads children to feel secure and happy to take on the jobs on their own as they grow.
*Have fun: Tug of war bed sheet changing? Pretending to be color sorting robots? Create a game or turn up the music… Keeping chores fun creates a sense of enjoyment so children are more likely to feel engaged, involved and look forward to helping the next time around.
*Keep it simple: Children are much more likely to help if they feel they can actually accomplish a task, so try to keep tasks age appropriate, simple and short. Instead of saying “clean up your room” it helps to break the bigger jobs into smaller ones “can you get the bed sheets off your bed” and “can you stack these five books?”
So, do your children like or dislike helping with household chores?
Peace & Be Well,
Ariadne
Ariadne Brill
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