{"id":13247,"date":"2022-07-01T08:05:53","date_gmt":"2022-07-01T08:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devblog.foresters.com\/?p=13247"},"modified":"2022-06-27T15:31:00","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27T15:31:00","slug":"pitching-in-around-the-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblog.foresters.com\/en-gb\/family-en-gb\/pitching-in-around-the-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Pitching in around the house"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The idea of doing household chores might not seem overly appealing to children at first, but whether they admit it or not, children do enjoy being given a bit of age-appropriate responsibility around the house. You can help make it happen with consistency and praise \u2013 and by lowering your expectations just a little bit.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Different jobs for different ages<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to WebMD<sup>1<\/sup>, even kids as young as two or three can be responsible for simple, one- or two-step tasks like putting their toys away, putting their clothes in the hamper, and wiping up spills. Just think about how quickly a toddler catches on to the way digital devices work. Their bright little minds can certainly manage simple chores too!<\/p>\n<p>What chores might older kids be tasked with doing around the house? WebMD suggests the following:<\/p>\n<p>Ages 4 \u2013 5<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Making their bed<\/li>\n<li>Emptying a wastebasket<\/li>\n<li>Watering flowers<\/li>\n<li>Washing plastic dishes at the sink<\/li>\n<li>Fixing a bowl of cereal<\/li>\n<li>Pulling weeds<\/li>\n<li>Using a hand-held vacuum to pick up crumbs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ages 6 \u2013 7<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Any of the above, plus:<\/li>\n<li>Sorting laundry<\/li>\n<li>Sweeping floors<\/li>\n<li>Setting and clearing the table<\/li>\n<li>Helping to make and pack lunch<\/li>\n<li>Keeping their bedroom tidy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ages 8 \u2013 9<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Any of the above, plus:<\/li>\n<li>Loading the dishwasher<\/li>\n<li>Putting away groceries<\/li>\n<li>Vacuuming<\/li>\n<li>Helping to make dinner<\/li>\n<li>Fixing their own snacks<\/li>\n<li>Putting away their own laundry<\/li>\n<li>Cooking simple foods, such as toast<\/li>\n<li>Mopping the floor<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ages 10 and older<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Any of the above, plus:<\/li>\n<li>Unloading the dishwasher<\/li>\n<li>Folding laundry<\/li>\n<li>Cleaning the bathroom<\/li>\n<li>Washing windows<\/li>\n<li>Washing the car<\/li>\n<li>Cooking simple meals with supervision<\/li>\n<li>Doing laundry<\/li>\n<li>Cleaning the kitchen<\/li>\n<li>Changing their bed sheets<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Making it happen<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>First, don\u2019t insist on perfection. A 5-year-old probably isn\u2019t going to make the bed quite as neatly as you would \u2013 and you have to accept that that\u2019s okay. The idea is to make them responsible for the tasks, so stepping in to \u201cfix\u201d their work undermines the process. Show them how to do the job, then let them try it while you supervise. After that, they can fly solo. They will get better with time and experience, and finding out that you can learn and improve by doing is an incredibly important life skill for kids to master.<\/p>\n<p>Make sure you praise your children during and after they complete their assigned chores. Humans of all ages thrive on positive reinforcement, so recognise their efforts by acknowledging the work they\u2019re doing. Remember, this is also an opportunity to point out how important their help is and how their efforts are contributing to the successful running of the household.<\/p>\n<p>To keep everyone organised and aware of the tasks they are responsible for, you might consider posting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesprucecrafts.com\/printable-chore-charts-1388450\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">chore charts<\/a> in a common area of your home so that no one can claim they didn\u2019t know what they were supposed to be doing. Children will enjoy the satisfaction of checking chores off their list and knowing that everyone can see what they\u2019ve accomplished.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, be consistent. Make sure your children actually do their assigned chores, because letting them off the hook and doing their chores for them every once in a while is a slippery slope.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Should allowance be tied to chores?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Some people tie allowance to chores, but other schools of thought suggest that children shouldn\u2019t be paid for tasks they should be responsible for doing anyway. It\u2019s up to you to decide what works best for your family, but one tactic is to tie allowance to <em>extra <\/em>chores that are above and beyond a child\u2019s usual tasks.<\/p>\n<p>We all want to feel needed and important, and making children responsible for chores they can easily be expected to handle is one way to give them that sense of pride and accomplishment.<\/p>\n<p>SOURCES<\/p>\n<p><sup>1<\/sup> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.webmd.com\/parenting\/features\/chores-for-children\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.webmd.com\/parenting\/features\/chores-for-children<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How and when to get kids to do chores.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":13219,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1936],"tags":[2162,2037],"class_list":{"0":"post-13247","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-family-en-gb","8":"tag-chores-en-gb","9":"tag-kids-4"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.2 - 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