Have a family plan for everyday household chores and you’ll teach your kids a great life lesson. Not sure your kids will go for it? There are ways to make the tasks a little bit, well, less of a chore for everyone (especially for your children). The best way to inspire kids is to work with their natural, intrinsic drive to be productive–even creative–contributors to the household. Kids will feel like they are a part of something larger than themselves.
5 Values you can Teach your Children in doing Household Chores
Here are five (5) values you can teach your children in doing chores at home:
1) The value of RESPONSIBILITY
Doing chores is a tradition in many families. Chores help kids learn responsibility, and sharing chores give you help around the house. We all need to feel needed and to know that we’re making a contribution– even the kids. As a parent, you want household chores to be shared by everyone in the family.
With encouragement and building on kids’ natural desire to please, a child has to have some responsibilities and we can nurture them toward becoming cleaning experts, too.
2) The value of FAMILY OBLIGATION
Chores show kids that families are built on mutual obligations and that family members need to help each other. But they can’t feel that way if they don’t have chores and make contributions to the family. To avoid dragging your kids to do household chores, make it playtime and let them get involved with the activities at home.
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When you go to the grocery store to buy stuff for the fridge or for cleaning aides like dishwashing liquids, rags, and other things needed in the kitchen, bring them with you and let them help you decide which one to buy so they can have fun using them at home.
3) The value of SELF-TRUST IN LEARNING NEW THINGS
Your child may be able to do more than you think. Keep in mind that a child who has mastered a complicated computer game can easily run the dishwasher. However, you need to consider that in general, preschoolers can handle one or two simple one-step or two-step jobs. Older children can manage more.
You need to plan out age-appropriate chores for your children so as to not overwork them.
4) The value of INDEPENDENCE AND DECISION-MAKING
When we give our trust to our children with certain household tasks, such as sweeping the floor or washing the dishes, they will eventually learn the value of doing things on their own.
In the beginning, younger children will require assistance and supervision from their parents. However, as they go about their work and they’ve gotten used to it, you can let them do their chores independently. This will benefit them later on, especially when they reach adulthood and decide to start a family of their own.
5) The value of HELPING OTHERS
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ALSO READ: Benefits of Spending Time With Your Children in Nature
When we involve our children in simple tasks around the house, we are giving them the opportunity to be of service to others and everyone in the household. This can have a “ripple effect” and you can initially start at home. Once they have learned this at home, you can move on to teaching them the value of helping others outside the home, for example, at school or in the community.
