Article Index
How To Get Your Children To Do Chores Easily
Chores for Kids
Age Appropriate Chores
Chore Wars
All Pages

Parents are so busy that many times we forget that our children need to learn how to do the things that we do on a daily basis without even thinking about it; things like folding clothes, washing dishes, feeding the family pets, taking out the trash or cleaning their bedrooms. They will be doing all of this for themselves some day, so when do we start training them?  

Most parents simply haven’t taken the time to teach their children from the beginning what responsibility is. It is easy for us to get so caught up in our little angels’ lives and how cute they are that we don’t realize we should have been teaching them about responsibility from the moment they were mobile.

It’s not hard to teach your child responsibility that will last a lifetime. By getting them to help around the house with chores as they grow you will be teaching them something that will help them later in life. It doesn’t have to be a battle to get your children to do chores; it is something that can be accomplished easily by addressing three primary issues:

* Chores for kids
* Age appropriate chores, and
* Chore Wars

 

Chores For Kids:

It is important to find chores for kids to do at an early age, even before the age of two.  By getting your child into a routine that chores are part of the household duties, you can give them a sense of accomplishment and builds their self-esteem, while teaching them responsibility.

I’m sure you have seen kids that don’t pick up their toys, make their beds or clean their rooms.  These same children have a sense of entitlement when it comes to going to the movies, hanging out on the phone with their friends or not having to do their homework before going outside to play.  Unfortunately, their parents aren’t doing them any favors by doing household chores for them and not holding them accountable.

By finding chores for your children to do, you are teaching them to become a person that understands that work and responsibility are a part of everyday life.  These activities will form their teenage years, help them achieve good college grades and give them a “work for a paycheck” mentality later in life.

 

 

Age Appropriate Chores:

Obviously, you need to find age appropriate chores that your child can perform, even with supervision. Do not try to teach your child chores that are not suited to their age, as this will cause him or her to become discouraged and not want to participate.  Even two-year-olds can do something simple, like pick up their toys and put them in a toy box, or put a towel in the laundry hamper.

By choosing age appropriate chores for your child, you will get a feel for their willingness to learn new tasks, and their sense of responsibility for completing it. You can gradually increase the degree of difficulty by finding new chores for your child to do, and this will give him or her some variety.

 

Chore Wars:

Yes, chore wars are bound to happen and how you choose to deal with them will affect the balance of power when it comes to getting chores done. This is where some parents start the allowance cycle, i.e. rewarding them for jobs well done.  

Experts have mixed emotions about this. On the one hand, it rewards the child for doing chores and gives them their own money to spend, which teaches them budgeting tactics.  On the other hand, it puts a price tag on different chores and if the child doesn’t want to do the chore that week, he/she may want to “give up” the allowance for the week to get out of doing the distasteful chore. If not handled correctly this can turn a parent into the loser in chore wars, causing the child to barter for the chores that they enjoy to get out of doing chores that are not as much fun.

Teaching your child responsibility can be a fun and exciting time for both of you. It is a wonderful feeling to watch your child learn something and see the light bulb click on over their little heads once they actually understand what it is they are doing. So keep in mind that you should make chore time a fun family time. Your child will find that doing chores can be fun and it will help to build their self-esteem. One of the greatest joys of your life will come when you observe your child mimicking something you do on a daily basis.