Annie
07-21-2009, 12:57 PM
Household Chores for Preschool-Aged Children
by Rachel Paxton
Children can learn to do household chores at a young age. Even
toddlers can be taught to pick up their clothes and toys and put
them away.
Preschool-aged children should be doing a wider variety of
household chores. In our home, I keep my preschoolers' chore
list short and simple, but they have come a long way in learning
to clean up after themselves.
Not too long ago, I was still helping my four-year-olds get
dressed in the morning. That was one of the first tasks to be
put on their chore chart! I thought if I made it a "chore", and
that if doing chores would earn them a special reward, then they
would be more motivated to get themselves dressed in the morning,
and I was right.
Another chore I have my preschoolers do is put their dishes in
the sink after they eat, including scraping their plates into the
garbage can first. The first couple of times I had to remind
them to do it after they ate, but very quickly it became a new
habit for them and they started doing it without even thinking
about it.
Young children have a way of making your home look like a tornado
tore through it. Picking up all their toys day after day gets
really tiring, and some days I just want to give up. I don't
make my boys pick up every single toy laying around the house,
but every afternoon I have them do a general cleanup to get most
of their toys put away where they belong. If you label
containers for them, this exercise is also a great way for
teaching them simple words as they look for the correct container
to put away their toys.
At night time my boys put on their own pajamas and brush their
own teeth. There are many rinses available that make brushing
teeth fun for kids...who wouldn't want their teeth to turn blue!?
My boys look forward to brushing their teeth every night.
Every night before bed my boys get to choose a small toy from a
"treasure" box I put together to reward them for doing their
chores. This box is full of small plastic lizards, frogs,
stickers, temporary tattoos, and other small toys. You would
think a child wouldn't go to all that trouble just for a small
temporary tattoo, but you would be surprised. The novelty still
hasn't worn off for my kids, even after several months. They
really look forward to picking out their treasure every night.
My main goal in choosing these simple chores for my children was
to have them start doing the things for themselves that I do for
them day after day. It frees up more of my time for other
household chores, and they are learning to take more
responsibility for taking care of themselves.
Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author of
What's for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing more than 250 quick
easy dinner ideas. For more recipes, organizing tips, home
decorating, crafts, holiday hints, and more, visit Creative
Homemaking at http://www.creativehomemaking.com
by Rachel Paxton
Children can learn to do household chores at a young age. Even
toddlers can be taught to pick up their clothes and toys and put
them away.
Preschool-aged children should be doing a wider variety of
household chores. In our home, I keep my preschoolers' chore
list short and simple, but they have come a long way in learning
to clean up after themselves.
Not too long ago, I was still helping my four-year-olds get
dressed in the morning. That was one of the first tasks to be
put on their chore chart! I thought if I made it a "chore", and
that if doing chores would earn them a special reward, then they
would be more motivated to get themselves dressed in the morning,
and I was right.
Another chore I have my preschoolers do is put their dishes in
the sink after they eat, including scraping their plates into the
garbage can first. The first couple of times I had to remind
them to do it after they ate, but very quickly it became a new
habit for them and they started doing it without even thinking
about it.
Young children have a way of making your home look like a tornado
tore through it. Picking up all their toys day after day gets
really tiring, and some days I just want to give up. I don't
make my boys pick up every single toy laying around the house,
but every afternoon I have them do a general cleanup to get most
of their toys put away where they belong. If you label
containers for them, this exercise is also a great way for
teaching them simple words as they look for the correct container
to put away their toys.
At night time my boys put on their own pajamas and brush their
own teeth. There are many rinses available that make brushing
teeth fun for kids...who wouldn't want their teeth to turn blue!?
My boys look forward to brushing their teeth every night.
Every night before bed my boys get to choose a small toy from a
"treasure" box I put together to reward them for doing their
chores. This box is full of small plastic lizards, frogs,
stickers, temporary tattoos, and other small toys. You would
think a child wouldn't go to all that trouble just for a small
temporary tattoo, but you would be surprised. The novelty still
hasn't worn off for my kids, even after several months. They
really look forward to picking out their treasure every night.
My main goal in choosing these simple chores for my children was
to have them start doing the things for themselves that I do for
them day after day. It frees up more of my time for other
household chores, and they are learning to take more
responsibility for taking care of themselves.
Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author of
What's for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing more than 250 quick
easy dinner ideas. For more recipes, organizing tips, home
decorating, crafts, holiday hints, and more, visit Creative
Homemaking at http://www.creativehomemaking.com