Chores teach your kids responsibilities. It’s these regular chores that will begin their lessons in accountability and work ethics.
To them, it’s just some annoying thing they have to do, but they’re learning important life skills that they’ll continue to use until they have children to teach as well.
Assigning Daily Chores for Kids
Always consider the appropriateness of a chore for the age of the child.
Toddlers can still do things like dusting or wiping down tables that they can reach. However, they won’t have the dexterity to do some of the chores. For instance, doing the dishes could involve breaking things, or worse, they could end up getting hurt. This task should therefore be given to the older kids.
Remember that older kids can do more than younger kids. You want to give toddlers a minimal amount of easy work, while you can assign teenagers things like mowing the lawn, cleaning the bathroom, and doing the laundry (if you trust them).
Spread the chores evenly among the age groups. Don’t have one teen doing half the work of another teen under your roof or you can bet there will be some conflict. Don’t be afraid to check on the work their doing and have them redo any dishes they missed a chunk of food on or rewash windows and mirrors they left streaks on.
Put Your Name on There Too
Helping out with the chores gives you a chance to set a good example for your kids. If you don’t have kids old enough to run the riding lawnmower, put that on the list as one of your jobs.
Show your kids that you are equal to them when it comes to daily chores.
You can also include things like grocery shopping on the chore chart. It’s just another way to remind your kids of all the things you do for them.
Vary the Chores Each Week
It’s not fair to anyone if you gave them the task to clean the toilet every single week. Make sure to change up the weekly chores, even if it means you have to take a turn cleaning the toilet.
Being the only one doing something day after day or week after week is what gives most kids a negative outlook on chores. Washing dishes every day gets tiring. Yes, they’ll have to do it when they’re an adult living on their own, but they don’t have to like it.
Use a Dry Erase Board or Print a Chore Chart from Online
You can’t expect everyone to memorize which chore they need to do each day or each week.
That’s why a chore chart is important.
You can invest in a dry erase board to hang somewhere in the house and save on paper. Or you can print out chore lists from online.
The chore chart is where everyone can check and see which chores they need to do, and mark off the ones they get done.
It’s the tracker you’ll use to determine if they get that amusement park trip or not.
If you have older children that are trying to save up for something they really want, consider giving them an allowance as an exchange for doing their chores.
Even younger kids that understand the concept of money can benefit, even if you’re just putting the money away for them.
Other incentives could be a trip to their favorite zoo or theme park if they do all of their chores without being asked for a certain period. You could reward them with a trip to their favorite restaurant or store. You could gift them with treats or even stickers for a job well done (which is great for little ones).
Some people don’t believe in giving incentives for chores.
However, if your child or teen were washing dishes at a restaurant, they’d be getting some sort of pay, so why not give them a little something?
Sure, a roof over their head, clothes on their backs, and foods on their plates should be pay enough, but you also want to encourage them to do a good job (and sometimes that costs money).
Chores Ensure that Everyone Helps
By having chores for kids to do inside your home, you are ensuring that everyone is helping out in your household.
The weekly chore chart is for everyone’s benefit, not just something to keep the kids busy with and out of your hair.
Homes where everyone helps with cleaning and organizing equate to parents with less stress.
Feature image via Cromly Stories