Create chores that everyone can handle.
Here are some guiding tips for instituting family chores.
- Choose age-appropriate jobs – no matter how small. In the beginning, doing chores is not really about your child making a difference in the order/cleanliness of your house. Instead, it is about building an ethos of pitching in. With this purpose in mind, everyone plays a supporting role in the work of the family. Above all, think crew members, not passengers!
- Start Small. Your child may not be able to do the laundry yet but they can certainly help match the socks or push the hamper toward the machine. Similarly, while they may not be able to set the whole table, they may be old enough to learn how to place the napkins or scrape the plates after a meal.
- Do praise your child for their hard work but don’t over do the “thank yous.” Remember, the hope is that they find value and satisfaction in the execution of a job and not through affirmations and accolades. The “danger” with ‘thank yous’ is that they place the ownership of the task on you as a parent, and not as a shared, communal responsibility.
- Give your little one agency in this process. For example, work together to think of three jobs that your little one can do independently. Write or draw them on three separate slips of paper and then put them in a hat. Each day, invite your little one to draw a new job from the hat!
- Make housework fun! A little humor and imagination can make even the most mundane job fun with children.
- Crank up the music and turn sweeping and mopping into a dance party!
- Try tossing balled-up socks into the machine as if you’re playing in the WNBA.
- Put a sticker or a smiley face under one of the dinner plates and when your child clears the table at the end of the meal, they will discover a fun surprise!
- Crank up the music and turn sweeping and mopping into a dance party!
Why Play This Way?
“Robert the Rose Horse” is a wonderful launching point for talking about the jobs each person in the family is doing. Self-esteem, as well as a healthy family dynamic, can often stem from each person thinking of themselves as part of the crew instead of as passengers on a ship. Here are some guiding tips for instituting family chores.
