Kids are not always fond of doing their chores, but adults aren’t too fond of them either. The best way to get everyone into the habit is to make the experience more enjoyable. In order to do this, find out how to make household chores more fun for your kids.
Ready, Set, Go
One of the easiest ways to get chores done fast is to challenge your kids to a race, or have them race each other. Make sure each child has the same or comparable chores, like making their beds or one cleaning dishes and one drying dishes. You can have the races “count” per day, or set up a time chart on the wall and compare best times for the week. With any race, there should always be a first and last prize involved and also any honorable mentions! Prizes can be something as simple as a sticker or even some type of an allowance, you know what will motivate your children.
Create A Chore Chart
By creating a chore chart, kids can clearly see what needs to be done and how often. This is great for older kids and takes some of the nagging out of doing chores. Kids can read the chart, place a sticker or check mark when they complete a task and parents can check what is being done visually, without having to constantly ask. Rewards can be given for chores done without being asked or a fully completed chart in the time allotted. For small kids or children who can’t read very well, pictures of the actions can be used instead of the written word.
Make Chore Trading Cards / Chore Sticks
Using poster board, cut out card-sized pieces and put the name of the chore on it. Shuffle them up and let each person in the family, or each child, choose their chores at random. Allow children to trade chores if they’d like, or keep the ones they were assigned. Good behavior can be rewarded by allowing them to leave one chore card for the week, pass it off to you, or have the option of one free trade the next week. For bad behavior, extra chore cards can be given or allow another person to trade off an unfavorable chore for a more favorable one with the person that is being punished.
Kids love games and prizes, turn chores into contests and you’ll children will actually look forward to doing them.