Lil Pumpkin likes to potter around me and help in her own little way. And by that I mean she will sometimes take our floor wiper and swipe around a few times, the way she thinks we do it. No darling, the aim is to actually sweep the dust away, not create more mess by knocking things around.
Recently, it suddenly hit me that maybe the Lil Pumpkin is of age to really help me with the household chores, if she's guided properly. An Ephinany! Woohoo!.... The past few laundry folding sessions I've taught her how to do simple folding of small items, which she can do now. Yippee! Now, I only need to work on her keeping those items folded when done and not play with them haha
Yesterday, we taught her how to wash the dishes :)
She's starting with how to use the sponge to scrub, rinse and put away her own items. Lil Pumpkin likes to play with water so I guess to her, this is still in the "fun" range.
The thing about kids and household chores is, you have to keep it fun. When Lil Pumpkin, was younger, she loved to put away her own toys and books out of her own accord. Nowadays, it is kind of a "chore" for her so I guess it lost that sparkle for her.Some parents use reward charts to make it fun and to teach the children goal-setting, while others just emphasize that the children are doing their household duties for the love of the family, not for rewards.
I think for Lil Pumpkin's tender age, reward charts would work better for her. It will give her a strong visualisation of the goal, which I like myself, and help in the motivation part. She does like to be praised {sometimes after singing, she will ask us to clap for her, then she will take a bow & say "thank you thank you"!!} and would fit in with her nature :) And isn't it fun to be part of a "game" where you get points for completing chore tasks, and gain a prize at the end??
What age-appropriate household chores do your children help you with? How do you keep it fun for them?
10 comments:
oh these pics are so cute and you are right ... chores have to stay fun at this age!
After having my baby gal, I train my eldor son to help me taking up the napkins, pacifier and bla bla bla... Right now, my son offer to lend a helping hand to me all the time. E.g: when i'm baking he wanted to help *_^
Ai, I see you are exploiting child labour! Haha, don't worry me too.
I get my daughter to help with watering the plants, bring me stuff when I'm cooking and dust surfaces. She's 16 months old. :p But she loves being helpful.
She's helped me load the laundry and hang it up but playing with the dried clothes is too much fun so I've not asked her to help pack away as yet. She does help pick up or fetch odds and ends for us and bring dishes to the sink. She's also taken it upon herself to report when baby sister is doing something inappropriate, like eat paper. Maybe there's some untapped potential there!
For my household it's as follows
1yr old- Put away shoes in the shoe rack, help to keep the toys
1.5yrs old- vacumn the floor and magic wipe the place
2yrs old- put the clothes to wash, help to sort out the clothes.
3yrs old- put the dishes to wash, set up the table before dinner.
4yrs+ help to hang up the clothes and keep in the cupboard
6yrs up- wash/polish your own school shoes, mop the floor.. wash dishes etc.
Stopping by from Sunday stalker.
My daughter is 16 months old, and I wouldn't necessarily call what she does helping :) She does help me pick up her toys....and then take them back out. I have no doubt that when she is able to, she will take care of feeding the dogs though. Now, she takes her snack over to feed to her doggy.
kijjet: heh thanks :)
Angeline: my girl loves to help in the kitchen too haha..
DancingMommy: It's so nice to see them so helpful.. not sure if it diminishes with age when they realise it is not that "fun" anymore ;p
Veronica: aww how cute to see the sibling interaction there :)
Dominque: interesting and detailed list. thanks for sharing!
Shannon: how sweet! my girl loves animals too but unfortunately we have no pets.. eczema runs in our family.
Your daughter is adorable as usual!! I think chores are great for kids, especially starting out small at a young age :) Emma loves helping me around the house (Cameron does, but is not as willing as Emma anymore). I always had chores growing up, and would love for our kids too. The rewards chart is a good idea like you said!
Sophie helps around by picking after herself. I call her my little Cinderella as she likes to wipe. She'll take the wet wipe or tissue and wipe the tables and floor after meals. Haha I'm not complaining :)
We have chores ours must do each day after school. Usually they only take 10 minutes to do and are quite easy- take the laundry to the laundry room, feed the dogs, take the small sweeper and sweep the small bathrooms and hallways, ect. I don't pay my kids, but they don't seem to mind. I think if a reward chart works for you, great! Anything to bribe them into helping is always great in my book lol.
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