Tired of cleaning up everyone’s messes? Tired of feeling unappreciated? Just plain tired? Use these ideas to get some help around the house!
Start young.
If your kids are already older and haven’t started chores, it may be more difficult to get them to understand the concept of helping out. Starting kids on chores as young as toddler age is a great habit to get them in.
Make it fun!
Use popsicle sticks to write chores on. Have each kid pick a stick from the can and get started on the chore.
Use a reward chart – give a star for each chore completed on time without any fussing or arguing.
Give rewards for help that goes above and beyond. If the chore is to dump the kitchen trash, and they did it without asking and dumped the bathroom trash, they get an extra star.
Stars can be redeemed for toys, money, events, etc.
Use bribery.
Sometimes it’s okay to use bribery as long as you don’t let them realize it’s bribery. “We are going to go to the zoo as soon as the house is clean, but if it’s not clean by 1PM we won’t be able to go. I can’t do it alone, guys… let’s have a race!”
Let the kids be in charge.
Write a list of chores. Each week, a different child gets to pick who is in charge of what.
Give them a choice: You can do the dishes, or you can dump the trash. Which do you prefer?
Stop everything else.
TV goes off. Music comes on. That’s how we roll. 🙂 Music means we are dancing around, having fun, but we are getting our chores done. If the kids start stalling, music goes OFF.
Do I have to pay them?
There are different schools of thought on paying kids to do chores. Some think that since you’re providing room and board, the chores are part of that. Others think kids should be paid to help out. While I think rewarding with money is a great way to get them to appreciate the value of a dollar, I also think kids should learn to help out – without being asked and without being paid. All of the chores they’re learning to do now will help them when they’re out on their own.
I have made a fun craft to help get my kids interested in helping me around the house. Check out my post on Kids’ Chore Dice here— Kids Chore Dice Tutorial
