Wednesday 23 January 2013

Housework! Get the kids involved!!


Involving the kids in the chores is a great way to teach them about responsibility and the importance of keeping the house clean...Cleaning is often seen as one of those jobs that everybody will do their best to avoid but if you approach it in a positive light it can be turned into something fun!

It's important to set realistic goals for a child. You aren't going to get a five year old to spend an hour cleaning so focus on tasks they can easily do such as tidying away their toys...helping with the dusting or pegging out washing. If you do a little each day they're less likely to get bored...

Turn cleaning into a game by seeing how quickly toys can be tidied away...Who can match the most socks in 5 minutes or just have a dance around with the feather duster!

Hoover contests: set your watch and time the kids to see who can hoover their room or indeed the whole house in record time...They'll enjoy the challenge and it's a good incentive to get tasks done quickly and effectively.

Reward charts: these can be great for promoting good
behaviour so why not try it for cleaning too? Use stickers to mark the different tasks they've helped with (putting their toys/shoes away, tidying their room, helping with the washing up etc) and reward them with a little treat once they've completed ten tasks....

Ideas for age appropriate cleaning

Under five's
Help tidy their room/put their toys away in other rooms
Help make their bed
Put their clothes in the laundry hamper
Help dust
Put clean towels in the bathroom
Help Set and Clear the Table

Aged 5 - 10 years
Tidy their room/put their toys away in other rooms
Make their bed daily
Wash up/load the dishwasher
Match socks
Peg out washing/bring washing in
Put the bins out
Dust
Hoover
Help clean the car 

Aged 10 to Adult
All of the above
Load the Washing Machine
Clean Bathrooms
Clean Windows
Clean the car

Both my girls have their own jobs they do about the house..They both tidy their rooms....Put their clean clothes away & they put their toys away!!

2 comments :

  1. Couldn't agree more. I've got three sons and I consider it a service to their future other halves to have them doing housework. We do a thing called Housework Half Hour where I do a list of chores and they can pick from the list. Everyone keeps going for at least 30 minutes - I set a timer.

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  2. Thank you for sharing! I have two little girls and I'm wondering how to involve them in the cleaning process! You gave me great ideas! :)))) Wish me luck!

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