KIDS + CHORES
For the last two days we’ve talked about how to simplify your housework. We are all so busy and especially if you’re homeschooling and your kids are always with you, it’s hard to keep up. On Sunday we talked about an easy cleaning schedule, a way to divvy up smaller daily chores so you don’t need hours at a time to clean. Yesterday we talked about the moment of shock when we realize we’ve got guests coming and you can’t use the excuse that “we’re moving.” The emergency cleaning plan helps get it all done in thirty minutes or less.
Today I want to talk about how to make this cleaning thing even easier–have your kids do it. Ha ha, right? No, really. Maybe not have them do it all, but any almost any age of kid can help around the house. Your kids can and should be helping you with chores in your home. I always feel like this; I am not Merry Maids. Yes, it is my job to make this home…I am a homemaker after all. But it is not my job to do every ounce of the picking up, decluttering, scrubbing, organizing, wiping, putting away, and meal preparing in this house. We all live here. We all help. The end.
I like to look at it like this; a huge part of our jobs as moms are train our kids to be independent. It is our duty to show them how to properly clean a toilet, do the laundry, and keep order. As a mom, I feel like I am the home manager and I have these great little worker bees here to help out. As they get older and older, they can do even more. I really believe that at a certain point I won’t be doing much vacuuming, dishes, scrubbing floors, or other kid-friendly jobs at all. They can do it. We owe them that responsibility.
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Chore Ideas for Kids
Toddlers (1-3 years)
- Picking up toys
- Helping you put clothes from the washer to the dryer
- Throwing garbage away
Young Kiddos (4-6 years)
- Make their bed (it will be messy, but that’s ok!)
- Set the table/clear the table
- Load the dishwasher
- Pick up toys
- Fold towels
- Help you scrub the floor
- Dry dishes
Older Kiddos (7-10)
- Pick up toys
- Put away clothes
- Fold clothes
- Sweep/Mop/Vacuum
- Wash/dry dishes
- Make beds
- Clean bathroom sinks
Pre-Teens (11+)
- Make beds
- Learn to do laundry
- Clean bathrooms
- Some cooking
At our house I can’t keep up with a chore chart. It just gets too confusing or something and I never follow through. We also don’t do allowance. If my kids do something extra, like I will occasionally ask them to vacuum my car or sweep the garage, I will give them a couple dollars. They also walk the neighbor’s dog twice a day and make their spending money that way.
My kids each have a morning chore, which I guess I do have a chart for, but it’s nothing they check off, its more like a to-do list that never changes. I have it taped to their bathroom mirror. They each have to make their beds, put clothes away, and do a bathroom chore like wipe out the sink–these are their daily chores. Then once per week they have to dust and vacuum their rooms, empty their trash cans, and put away their laundry on laundry day. It works out really well.
Remember too that your kids will probably not do housework as well as you will. That’s ok. Teach them. If their beds are super messy after they’ve made them, go back and show them how to improve. You can do this in a sweet way. You won’t have to correct them forever. They just need to be trained to help and to help well. We function the very best as a family when we’re all pitching in.
