How Kids Can Help with Chores

Tired of being the maid in your own house? Get the whole family involved by turning housework into fun and games.

If you’re like most parents, you would like your children to help with housework, but it’s not easy. You bribe, cajole, beg and threaten and then end up doing the work yourself.

If you’ve tried complicated reward systems and linking allowances to chores, but you now want simpler ways to get your kids to pitch in, help is on the way!

Here are 13 surefire ways to get your kids to help with housework.

1. Get a feather duster. Despite the myriad of cleaning products, a feather duster is all you need to remove dust from your furniture and tables. Given something fluffy, your kids will love to dust for you.
2. Let them spray and wipe. Kids love spray bottles. Let them handle all the counters and surfaces that can be sprayed and wiped with a paper towel. Let them do some easy-to-reach windows, too. You may have to go over them again, but you’ll be surprised how well a child can do windows.
3. Your kids can so put away their clothes! Get different colored bins with handles for your children. As you fold laundry, put clothes in each child’s bin. On their way to bed each night, they can take up their bin and put away their laundry. On their way down each morning, they can bring down the empty bin. (These are a great place to put anything else you find around the house that belongs in your child’s bedroom.)
4. Make a game out of the most boring jobs. Divide up the socks between two children and have them play a “matching game” similar to Go Fish. When they get a match, they can fold the pair together and throw it in the “ocean” pile.
5. Hide a quarter in a cluttered room that your kids will find when the room is cleaned up. Finders keepers with the quarter.
6. Divide and conquer. When cleaning up an extra cluttered toy room or playroom, divide the room up into sections by running a strip of masking tape on the floor, from wall to wall, sectioning off the room. Assign each child a section to pick up.
7. Create a job jar. For really big jobs (like large playrooms and basements), jot down different jobs on slips of paper, fold them and put them in a jar or cap. Have your children pick a slip and do whatever is on the paper. Vary the jobs to keep it interesting. “Pick up anything Barbie and put it in the Barbie house.” “Clean up the corner between the windows.”
8. Dress for the occasion. Pass out aprons and painter caps and play Maid and Mister Fix-It.
9. Designate a kids’ cleaning day treat, something you all get to do when the chores are done. Run through the sprinkler. Bring out the bubbles. Eat Jello cubes. Drink juice in wine glasses.
10. Play delivery person. Put various things that need to be put away into a large basket with a handle. Have one of your children be the delivery person and put everything in its place.
11. Host a “Folding Party.” Divide laundry onto each child’s chair at the kitchen table. (You can divide up easy pieces to the younger ones, larger pieces to the oldest.) When all the children are finished folding the laundry on their chairs and putting it away, they get to sit down and have refreshments! (One Mom got into the spirit by sending her children invitations to her folding party. Her young son sent an RSVP saying he was very sorry, he couldn’t make it!)
12. Kids love charts! Make a simple chart of different chores and have your kids put a sticker under their name whenever they do a job for you.
13. Don’t forget thank-yous, hugs and praises. Everyone appreciates a pat on the back. They’ll be more willing to help out next time!

For related reading, see:

• Raising Kids with Good Manners
• Housecleaning Made Simple
• Chores in a Blended Family
• Rainy Day Activities for Kids

Print Article

Email Article

View All Articles

How to subscribe to feeds