You can often hear from parents that children do not help them around the house. Toys scattered throughout the room, mountains of unwashed dishes and, as a result, daily scandals, punishments and tears. How to ensure that the baby alone, without urging, helps around the house? When do you need to teach children to work? In our article, you will find nine simple but effective tips on how to grow a little helper.
We start from early childhood.
It’s best to start educating children in household chores from early childhood. Usually, you don’t even need to force a small child - he himself seeks to help mom wash the dishes, and dad - to unscrew the bolt or hammer a nail. Unfortunately, parents begin to dismiss the zealous assistant, they say, we can handle it ourselves. Is it any wonder if a grown child will refuse to respond to a request for help? He’s used to everything being done around the house without his participation.
Already at the age of two, the baby can help her mother by completing small assignments. What matters can you trust children at different ages?
- 2-4 years
A two-year-old baby is able to perform any simple task: bring a book, gloves or a purse to mom. At this age, he can already be allowed to put on and take off his sweater and pants on his own. Parents should explain to the child which shelves their items are on so that they put them in their place.
- 4-5 years old
The child can already do more difficult work: put the toys in their places, sort the socks by color, put the dirty clothes in a basket. It will also help parents wipe the dust, set the table and spread out purchases. Most importantly, show your baby that you appreciate his help.
- 5 years and older
Now you can teach your child to regularly clean his own room. Assign the following duties to him: caring for flowers in the nursery, daily cleaning of the bed, collecting a backpack in kindergarten. From the age of seven, allow him to walk the dog on the street (if it is not of a large breed) and cook dinner, even if it will be ordinary sandwiches.
If you have not been able to instill a two-year-old baby in love of work, try to teach a younger student to cleanliness. Do not be afraid to be late.
We also read: Why should a child help around the house
Assistant Education Tips
Our recommendations will help adults to behave properly in the process of accustoming the child to household chores.
- Do it together. Perhaps the most common phrase of a busy mom usually sounds something like this: "Go play, please, I'm very busy right now." This is a serious mistake in the important process of educating real helpers. Do not brush off the baby, do homework together. Let him stay with you not in the kitchen, let him take part in kneading dough, making a salad or serving a table. Or put the toy ironing board next to the real one and "iron" together.Do not share your household responsibilities with your children.For example, while cleaning up in a children's room, tell us a little fairy tale about toys that unsuccessfully searched for their favorite box and found it thanks to a little helper.
- Praise your baby for help. Encourage with magical words that children and adults alike accept: “Only you can do this job really well!” The child, realizing his own uniqueness and importance in the process of collecting candy wrappers or dusting on shelves, will be happy to assist you in what he is known to do best. (We also read: How to encourage a child?)
- Consider the wishes of the child. Notice the tendency of children to a specific activity. Some people like cleaning the house, while others prefer to put away toys or rearrange books, which requires concentration and scrupulousness. Let every baby do what he loves the most. For best results, make a list of homework that is appropriate for the child’s age and abilities, and let him choose which ones he would like to complete. You may be surprised at his choice!
- Clean up fun. Even boring everyday work can easily be turned into a fun activity. "Taming" the vacuum cleaner in the children's room, washing dishes with "magic bubbles" and searching for "treasures" in packages with products that my mother brought from the store. Even simple homework can be an interesting adventure in the life of a small child.
- Do not expect high productivity. Do not expect that a small child will be able to immediately do homework perfectly. Therefore, do not swear if he broke a plate while washing, put the fork in the spoon compartment, or turned your floor into a ship deck. Get ready for the fact that you will need to redo a lot after the first attempts of the little assistant. If something didn’t work out right away, tactfully explain how to fix the error. (We also read: To punish or not a child for accidental misconduct?)
- Be patient. If the child needs a lot of time to complete the assignment, do not push, do not bother, and especially do not scold him for being slow, otherwise he may be frightened and refuse to help next time. And if mom will always finish work for the children, then they will not understand how important it is to complete the work that has been started.
- Do not punish with work. You will make a big mistake if you consider homework as a punishment for misconduct. A child should not assume that he is cleaning toys or washing dishes because he has done something wrong today. To make a bed, to wash dishes, to lay out toys in places should always be, regardless of its behavior.
- Do not pay for homework. Never reward children with money for housework. If you want to reward your child for an excellent job, go to the zoo, to the rink or to the circus as a family. Remember that household chores should not be taken as a bargain. They are as much a natural part of children's life as playing, chatting with friends, and studying. (We also read: Children and pocket money. How to teach a child to relate to money)
- Do not divide work into girlish and boyish. It often happens that girls like to play with appliances, and boys prefer to mess around in the kitchen. Therefore, there is no need to divide household chores into two large groups: for girls and for boys. Both the daughter and the son must clean the rooms, wash the dishes, sew buttons, look after the plants and even be able to hammer in nails.
We also read:
- 6 ways to motivate a child correctly
- 40 basic things a child should be able to do at home from the age of 2 to 13
- How to teach a child to order and cleanliness
- How to raise responsibility in a child
- Household tasks you can trust a two-year-old child
- What to do if the child is lazy - how to deal with children's laziness
- How to re-educate a spoiled child
If you throw your clothes around the apartment, don’t clean the dishes after dinner, don’t make a bed in the morning, don’t hope that your child will grow up to be hardworking and tidy. Want kids to clean up after themselves? Show them a positive example!
Very useful information and tips. Indeed, in truth, a child must be accustomed to work from childhood, and not raise a lazy person and a parasite. This is a pretty hot topic in our time.
I know that many mothers face the problem of not wanting children to help them with cleaning. Therefore, I want to share my experience, as I instilled a calm and adequate attitude to help around the house, my daughter. She is now 5 years old, but I decided to take care of my nerves in advance, so from 2 years old I gradually asked my daughter to help me. It all started with a book, T-shirts, and then they began to collect toys, then they gave them ironing and washed dishes (well, of course, under my supervision!). Now she herself always takes away her toys, because she knows that it is necessary. And mom is happy)))
My daughter (4 years old), when she saw how tired I was, offered to wash the dishes myself, since then she has been helping me herself, fortunately there is no limit, I just praise her constantly and give delicious treats for help.
Very useful information and tips. I teach my child from childhood to work, let her get used to independent living. In the future, my daughter is definitely useful.
Yes, I agree, a very useful article. As for me, I don’t understand until I try it out for myself))) We solved this problem by buying a dollhouse for a young hostess. Now she cleans it up and knows from her own experience how important it is to keep everything clean)