Do Your Kids Do Chores – A Giveaway
by Alyssa Avant on January 18, 2010
in Featured, Just Contests
Welcome back!
If there’s one thing I wish I could figure out about parenting, it is how to motivate my children to pick up their toys, clean up after themselves and not make such messes. I know that’s what children do, and I have to teach them, and they have to grow up a little, but there has got to be something to make this process a little better.
I would really like advice in this area though, my children are 6, 2.5 and 18 months. I want to be realistic but at the same time I need them to help. I could really use something like this handy dandy chore chart. I bet that would help huh? Here’s what one customer had to say about the chore chart:
“As soon as we started using this chart we noticed an improvement in our son’s behavior. Our expectations no longer seem arbitrary to him. Instead he knows what we expect, and he looks forward to reviewing the chart at each day’s end. When he has performed what is expected of him, he gets to place a smiley face magnet in the appropriate box.”
Well, if you give me some great chore advice I’ll enter you to win one. Yep! My Precious Kid has donated one to give away
here on the blog. Enter between now and Sunday, January 24 at midnight and you’ll be entered to win. Simply leave your chore advice in the comments below. (Contest valid in the United States only.)
I’ll randomly choose a winner on Monday, January 25.
Hey Alyssa,
You may find this article on sixty second parent helpful http://www.sixtysecondparent.com/_webapp_69440/Chores_%E2%80%93_how_to_get_your_preschooler_to_help. Personally I find that when children are young they are more likely to help if you are along side them doing the chore as well. At our house we do something called the 5 minute frenzy (usually done to loud, fast music)- five minutes of frantic cleaning up as a family earns a sticker on the chart – 10 stickers earns a lucky dip prize (prizes include things like an extra chapter at bedtime, family eating out together etc). It is working so far!
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We (like Michelle) do a ‘ten minute tidy’ to pick up toys an clutter before my husband gets home.
My kids are 5 and 2.5 and we will also set a timer for 15 minutes (not that the 2yo lasts that long) and we’ll do chores together. The kids love using spritz bottles (I clean with vinegar and water) so they spray an wipe the fridge, oven, dishwasher if I’m cleaning the kitchen. They do the shower and mirror if I’m in the bathroom. They help fold laundry, and my son does a great job doing the sliding door.
I keep meaning to make a chart though an this one is really cute.
Hugs,
Heidi
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Well, aside from doing it for them, my best advice is – don’t expect perfection, it only sets them up for failure.
Lisa @ Sweet Sweet Reality´s last blog ..Monday Menu Planning: Week of Jan. 18
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A chore chart is on my “to buy” list and this one looks fantastic! We start with a single chore (like taking a damp cloth to the table after lunch) for our 2 year olds, then gradually add one more daily chore to their expectations for each year in age. There are also some special chores, like dusting or mopping that the kids help with on a weekly or so basis. The expectation of participating together in the care of our family home is tied to allowance – if they choose not to do assigned chores, they loose some allowance proportionately. Since they are all savers and have great goals for their saved money, this is usually great motivation.
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My boys do have chores. (They’re currently 12, 11, 10 and almost 9) It takes some adjusting and can be so rough and bumpy in the beginning, but once they got into the habit of helping it starts to get to the point where I do’t even have to ask them to help anymore.
As long as you don’t mind towels that are folded crooked or the occasional missed spot on the floor, even the littlest kiddos can help out with something.
Some days I wish they helped out a little bit more, but I’d so much rather them go play that I don’t push the issue too much.
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I’ve never really given my kids a chore “to do” list, but what I have done is been consistent with what I expect from them. My 11 year old only has to be told or shown once on any given chore, but my 6 year old needs constant reminders on how things should be tidied up. I have been known to put certain things (like toys, or special items) in time-out for a day or so, when I’ve given a warning to pick up something. It’s only normal that we’re going to get frustrated sometimes that it’s not done “our way”, but like Lisa said above, let’s not expect perfection, but let’s encourage the effort.
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We do the jar of quarters. If she does something without being told or helps around the house or things like that then she earns a quarter. (we start out with $5.00 in quarters at on Sunday Morning) Then if she has to be talked to more then once or does something that is not as good we take a quarter away.
You would not imagine the chores she has started doing around the house without me even asking.
Tricia´s last blog ..Are you living the life you dream about?
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We do the pick up the toy by color game. I tell them to find all the toys that are ‘yellow’ and put them away. They run around looking for yellow colored toys and put them away. Then they run back to me and I give them another color, “find all the green color toys and put them away”, they do and come back. It helps to teach them colors along with cleaning up!
Then we also do the “I will count to see how long it takes you to put that game away….and I start counting. They can fill their arms with toys and take off, and it also helps that we have stairs because then they run up the stairs *carefully* and quickly come down so they are also cleaning & getting exercise! LOL
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I should mention too that cleaning up is our biggest chore!!
Phyllis´s last blog ..Go Grocery Shopping: In Your Kitchen
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