How to Make Household Chores Fun for Kids

Kids these days always have “something better” to do. In their language, “something better” basically means anything and everything else they can get preoccupied with that would get them out of doing chores around the house. Who would want to wash dishes, when you can watch your favorite cartoons after finishing your meal? Where’s the fun in cleaning your room when you can fingerpaint or play outside in the garden the whole day? Why would you want to sweep the floor, when you can sleep the whole afternoon? It can be such a chore to do chores. It’s no wonder children always try to get out of it. But still, even with the never-ending excuses, parents and educators have not given up on the chore fight just yet.  

Starting Young
The desire to pursue the quest on how to engage kids in doing chores comes from a string of values that parents and educators share. There is the strong belief that these chores that most children try to steer away from are more value-laden than they appear to be. Therefore, getting these children in the habit of doing chores at this time is crucial. Mrs. Coco Castro Cruz, a nation-builder, social entrepreneur and a hands-on parent to Sining (4 years old) and Diwa (1 year old), firmly believes that it is best to start them young for them to be able to make it part of their lifestyle. “Eventually, when kids grow into adults, they will need to run their own families and their own homes,” she says. “More than the obvious domestic benefits, exposing them early into a culture of helping others makes children grow up to be responsible, caring adults,” Mrs. Cruz adds.

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Mrs. Elizabeth Anne King-Santos, a Professor in Early Childhood Education in Kalayaan College and Roosevelt College, agrees that doing chores at a young age is crucial to forming habits that would significantly affect a child’s present and future development. According to her, there is a need to start them as young as we think they can because of the values that they pick up from doing chores around the house. “Children develop responsibility (which is both an attitude and a skill), delayed gratification and social skills like working and helping others,” says this homeschooling mom. “When they accomplish tasks, they also get to experience pride, a sense of accomplishment, independence, autonomy, and a general good feeling about themselves.”

Children who are encouraged to help out in the house at a young age carry with them a positive attitude towards chores as they grow up. Mrs. King-Santos shares how the transition from playing to helping out in the house was not at all difficult for her son Inigo because even when he was an infant, she would already physically help him put back toys into containers while she sang or said “pack-away”. “As soon as he could do it on his own, I would encourage him to pack away toys he played with, dirty clothes, his shoes on his shoe rack, among other things,” she shares. In fact, at 1 year old, he was asked to help clear the table by bringing his plastic plate or bowl to the kitchen after meals. At 3, he started fixing his bed when he woke up in the morning, even though he still needs some help sometimes when folding big blankets. Before he turned four, he started helping his mom set the table and water the plants. “At times, he helps in cooking, baking, and washing the dishes,” Mrs. King-Santos beams. She also reminds parents that children do not perfectly carry out these chores and that this was okay. The important part is to let them take part in the task. “He volunteers to sweep and mop the floor often and we let him even if he does not really get the floor cleaned and I would have to do it all over again,” she happily shares.  

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Only Good Things
Simple as they are, the habit of doing chores can do wonders for young children. According to Mrs. King-Santos, their early years are the formative years, where they experience the most connections in the brain and consequently, where the most learning occurs! “Since the best way for children to learn is through experience, it is highly suggested that you expose them early,” she says. “Chores can be a great way to learn numerous skills.” Development occurs across all the domains of the child.      

Physical. Mrs. Cruz sees how chores help young kids bring out the extra energy in her own children. “Similar to play and exercise, household activities make their bodies move, ensuring them of good physical health especially in this day and age where everything is doable with just a click of a button,” she shares. In fact, Mrs. King-Santos adds that the physical benefits are manifested as the child’s muscles are strengthened, his body coordination, stamina, and endurance improve, and his fine motor and gross motor skills are refined.

Cognitive. Parents and educators agree that creativity is expressed in learning and doing the chores. “They are able to think out of the box when completing their tasks, especially when there are faced with certain challenges that would delay or stop them from completing a chore,” Mrs. Cruz observes from her children. Aside from greater focus, lengthened attention span and the development of the eye for details, Mrs. King-Santos stresses that math skills are also developed in chores. “In the simple act of table setting, skills like matching, counting, one to one correspondence, and problem solving are enhanced. Watering plants and caring for pets help children understand science concepts and telling the time, while fixing beddings can teach fractions, following instructions and shapes,” she says. “Packing-away helps in counting, matching, grouping and classifying, segregating, describing and memory recall among others,” Mrs. King-Santos adds.         

Socio-Emotional. For Mrs. Cruz, no matter how simple, a child’s attitude and maturity towards chores are reflective of the kind of character he has. “Assigning them to chores also helps a child build confidence --it allows him to do things on his own, make mistakes, learn from those mistakes and celebrate his successes,” she shares.  

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The Fun List
While chores done by children need not be anything out of the ordinary, and while they can already crudely imitate the chores they see adults doing, what fun would it be for them if they cannot perform a task independently over time? Tasks must be age-appropriate for the children to enjoy the learning experience of household chores. A fun list of chores that they can do would keep them coming back for more. Mrs. King-Santos shares some possible tasks that children of different ages can be expected to accomplish and enjoy.

Very young children (toddlers)

• packing-away
• putting dirty clothes/laundry in hamper
• water plants

3-4 years old

• helping feed pets
• dusting

4-6 year old

• setting table (better if plates are unbreakable; if not, putting utensils, coasters, placemats can be an alternative activity),
• fixing beddings
• mopping

7 and above

• setting and clearing the table
• washing the car
• cleaning own room
• taking out the trash, sweeping, washing dishes, vacuum, etc.

Chores that include food can also be a very good task for kids of different ages.  “Young children, even toddlers can help in preparing food or cooking and baking,” she says. They can do tasks like mixing, spreading, mashing, kneading, pouring. “We just have to be very careful about rules and equipment, such as not going near the stove and being careful with knives,” adds Mrs. King-Santos.

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Make Them Want More
The fun begins when chores don’t feel like tasks that need to be accomplished.  Following these tips will help parents ensure that doing household chores is fun for the youngsters. More than pleasure out of doing them, volunteering to do them in the future (without being reminded or forced) is the end goal for these fun ideas.  
 
Game on. There’s nothing that children enjoy the most than playing games. Creating a game out of ordinary chores will get kids excited. Tweaking ordinary games can add excitement as well.  Instead of playing a game similar to touch the color, specify which they have to pack-away.

Move to the music. Incorporating music in chores will help make time seem to fly. “For toddlers, singing about what they are doing, like watering the plants, will be helpful,” suggests Mrs. King-Santos.  She recommends that the easiest song to do would be “This is the way we _____” and just insert the task or activity or skill the child is expected to do or is doing. “For older kids, turning on the radio and playing their favorite song helps.”

Gear up. When your kids have their own tools, they will feel more empowered and privileged to do chores. “Accompany your children to buy their own cleaning tools and have them design and write their names on it. It gives them ownership and it excites them into using them,” shares Mrs. Cruz. This will also help them become responsible of their own belongings.

Hunt for treasure. Both Mrs. Cruz and Mrs. King-Santos agree that surprising your children simple small prizes will get them excited to do more chores more often. “You may hide treats and stickers around the areas of the house that children may find when they dust or help clean,” says Mrs. King-Santos.   

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Chart the rewards. Children are attracted to visual affirmation, and having a reward system will motivate them to finishing more chores. Create a chart for tallying the number of times a child performs a chore or putting stickers and stamps for a job well done. Mrs. King-Santos suggests that at the end of the week, the children may get a reward based on the number or accomplishments. “This system works better for older kids so you can decide on this together with your child before doing the chart,” reminds Mrs. King-Santos.

Change it up. Chores can get boring and monotonous, especially when it’s the same thing over and over again. Rotating the chores among children in the home will help ease the boredom and will help them become better in doing other things. Mrs. Cruz suggests that taking them on trips is another way of changing it up. For every household chore they are able to do well, look for a similar outside of the house learning experience. “For example, if they are able to help around the kitchen, take them to a cooking class. If they are able to help water the plants, bring them to a farm. If they are able to feed the pets daily, bring them to a zoo,” she advises.  

Get everyone involved. Doing chores as a team encourages participation from children. “Children are encouraged to do chores more if you all do it together or if they see all members of the family contributing,” says Mrs. King-Santos. “Seeing some members not doing a certain chore or exempted from helping out may cause resentment and negative attitude towards doing chores.”

Praise, affirm, assure. Mrs. King-Santos encourages parents to give credit and praise where it is due. “From their need for independence and autonomy, toddlers and young preschoolers naturally look forward to helping out and doing something on their own,” she says. “Make sure then that you always thank them and praise their efforts. Just a smile, a nod, or hug can go a long way with young children.” However, she reminds parents that nagging, blaming, criticizing, threatening and comparing them with others do not do anything to raise the kids’ self-esteem.        

Chores create an environment that allows children to develop cognitively, socio-emotionally and physically in their growing years. However, this environment can only become more meaningful for any child if it is shared with significant people in his life. It is the presence and love of parents and family that allows children to truly benefit from these experiences.

 

Photo by Ocs Alvarez