Whether you have one child or several kids running around the house, the fact is that you are one busy parent! It can be hard to find time to do all of the housework and chores that need to be done, much less spend the kind of quality time you want to spend with your kids, too. The fact is that even young kids can help with chores at home.
When kids help with chores around the home, they inevitably learn how to chip and participate with family housework. They will love it because they get the pleasure of knowing they are helping out, and they are entrusted with “big people” chores. You will love it because it frees up your time a little bit. Here are just a few of the different ways young kids can help with chores:
Dusting: Get out that feather duster or that bottle of dusting spray and dust cloth, and set our young child to town. You, of course, will need to show your child how to use the spray (as well as how much to use), and what different things are used with that kind of spray. (As a side note, your child can learn what things in the house are made of wood!)
Cleaning Windows: Just as with the dust spray, you can get out the bottle of window cleaner and roll of paper towels, and show your child how to clean the windows. Since they are the ones who usually smudge up the windows with their little hand prints, this makes perfect sense for them to do the cleaning!
Baseboards: Grab a box of baby wipes, and set your child to work cleaning the baseboards throughout the house. This task certainly doesn’t need to be tackled all of the time, but it can certainly keep them busy for quite awhile as they go through each room in the house!
Unloading the Dishwasher: This is likely a task that the two of you want to do together, as many items can be sharp or need to be placed on high cabinets. However, you can have your child put away pots, pans, cookie sheets, plastic cooking utensils, and more while you unload the rest of the items.
Folding Laundry: Depending on the age and dexterity of your child, you may find that folding laundry is a great task. The youngest of kids can help you try to match socks together, and some kids can help with folding smaller towels like wash cloths, hand towels, and pillow cases. These are great little chores to keep them busy while you folder the harder-to-fold items like shirts and pants.
When it comes to young kids and chores, there really is quite a lot that they can help you with. It is always smart to keep a close eye on kids with spray bottles of any kind. You may find that while you are vacuuming and putting things away in one room, you can keep on eye on your child dusting (or cleaning windows) in that same room. Then you can move to another room together. Young kids truly are great little helpers, and when you get them started helping out around the house while they are young, they are more likely to help you out later in their older years without quite so much whining and complaining as they otherwise would!
Here are a few other articles from this author:
Are competitive sports right for your kids?
Is your toddler afraid of the water? Swimming tips that work
The argument for kids playing multiple sports: Considerations beyond your schedule