How to Make Choretime Fun for Your Littlest Ones...

It must be something children are born with. Mention to your preschooler you need her to help you, and suddenly she’s got to go to the bathroom, her stomach hurts, her feet don’t work, or she’s just ‘too busy’ playing. Fortunately, doing chores doesn’t have to come accompanied with moans and groans. By adding some fun, imaginative ideas to chore time, you and your child will end up having fun and actually enjoying chore time.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. WHY HAVE YOUR TODDLER AND PRESCHOOLER START CHORES NOW? AREN'T THEY TOO YOUNG? It starts with the toddler years. As toddlers, children learn imitation. They want to help sweep, dust and watch you do chores. By the preschool years, a child is better able to perform those tasks, and can begin to perform some of those tasks independently. Preschoolers are also eager to help and assist, which makes it an even better time to teach.
2. WHAT CAN THEY BE EXPECTED TO DO, AND HOW DO I GO ABOUT TEACHING THEM?
   First, start with chores that are simple and easy. Getting dressed, feeding or brushing pets, sorting and putting away clothes, clearing or setting the table, getting the mail and bringing it in, dusting, getting their own snacks, and cleaning up small spills or messes are easy things for you to start teaching your child. Preschoolers are also learning to actively engage with their peers. Some great chores that involve learning to work together are doing laundry, cleaning, pulling weeds, and finding items in the store.
   Teaching children should always begin with parents being actively involved in instructing, demonstrating, and performing the task at hand. Parents will most likely need to help the child until they are able to do it competently on their own. When teaching and instructing, start with, “Mom and Dad would like to start having you feed the dog and give him water everyday. Let’s start by feeding the dog. Let me show you where the food is, and help you put the food in his bowl. This is how much he will need. Why don’t you try it?” Praise for a job well done, then let your child know you will try again the next day. Once or twice during the day, ask your child, “does the dog’s food look empty? Does the dog’s water look full?” Continue to help them for the next several days until they are able to do it on their own. When teaching children, also remember to be specific. Avoid phrases like, “put your toys away.” Instead, be specific and say “put your toys away in your toy box.” Continue helping your child with the chore until they are comfortable doing it on their own.
3. WHAT IF THEY DO IT WRONG? Remember to not expect a job to be done perfectly. This is a learning process. Help show your child if a chore was done incorrectly, but do not criticize your child. Jump in if you see them doing a task wrong and say, “You’re doing a great job. Can you tell me why we wouldn’t want our napkins sitting on our plates? Let’s put our napkin beside our plate so we can use our plate to put food on.” If your child insists that napkins belong on the plate, you may want to let it slide once, then try again next time you have them help with that particular task. Also remember that children will take longer than you to perform chores. Make sure you take the time to explain how to do something, and allow your preschooler plenty of time to perform that task. Preschoolers are also prone to daydreaming, and refocusing on other things that come into their view. You may need to redirect them a few times back to the task at hand. Or, try joining her with that particular chore to bring her focus back. Refrain from encouraging boys to do traditional male jobs like emptying the trash, or cleaning the car and girls with traditional female jobs like helping with cooking. Make sure they are developing a large range of skills and interests by having them perform chores that encourage competence in a variety of areas. Also try to avoid teaching your child if they are hungry, tired, or not feeling well.
4. WHY IS A PRESCHOOLERS IMAGINATION SO IMPORTANT? IT SEEMS TO GET IN THE WAY OF FOCUSING ON TASKS...A LOT! Their imagination is an important tool in developing both intellectually and emotionally. Dr. Paul Harris of Harvard Graduate School and author of 'The Work of the Imagination' agrees that encouraging a child to use their imagination at this point of development will help them even into their adult years. “Imagination helps us to make casual judgments about how things might turn out differently, thinking about alternatives as we make moral judgments, and gaining the ability to make a mental image or model when listening to a narrative.”
   Making chore time fun and incorporating imaginative play into doing chores helps teach your child important concepts, while making chore time fun! It can be hard to think of new ideas to make chores exciting for your child. Below are some ideas to jump start the imagination and maybe even have as much fun doing chores as your children!
5. • Getting Children to the Table in the Morning, ON TIME! Turn the usual morning chaos of getting children up and ready for school into an exploration into space. Have your budding astronaut get ready in his space suit (school clothes). Tell him he is to be ready with his space pack (back pack) by 0800 at Mission Control (breakfast table). For children not telling time yet, you could say they need to be to the table by countdown time. Count backwards from 10 to 1.
   • Doing Hair/Brushing Teeth in the Morning: Getting your children to stay in the bathroom long enough to do their hair and brush their teeth could become the next Olympic event. Next time, have your child pretend she is a famous rock star getting ready for her show. Have her get her voice ready for her show by performing “warm-ups” in her microphone (toothbrush). Or, have them pretend they are the President of the United States getting ready to give a big speech. Have him address the nation in his microphone (toothbrush).
   • Getting Into the Car: Make getting into the car a trip to an exotic destination. Tell your children they need to report with boarding passes (juice, backpacks, etc.) to the front gate (door) when they hear Mom or Dad announce it’s time to board. Load the plane than “take off” to desired location. On the way to school you could talk about various locations you want to visit and why.
   • Dusting and Cleaning: Have your child pretend they are a detective, dusting for evidence. Or, have your child pretend they are Cinderella, cleaning up after a giant party that her stepsisters threw the night before.
   • Getting Toys Back Into the Bedroom: The frustration of stepping on toys carelessly strewn on the stairs, or getting up in the middle of the night, only to step on some squeaky toy left from the night before can be maddening. Instead of getting angry, try this. Have your child pretend they are a racecar, racing to put toys back in there bedroom or playroom. Have your child put toy cars back in the ‘garage’ for the night. (Toy box).
   • Picking up the Bedroom: Picking up the bedroom can be turned into an imaginative cowboy game. Have your child gather and “lasso” their cattle (toys) into their stalls. (Closet, drawers, or boxes). Use a jump rope or other piece of rope as a “lasso” if desired.
   • Playing with the Animals: Pretend your child is a famous lion tamer getting lions (dog, cat) to perform daring feats. Have your child make up silly names for tricks like tugging on a rope,
6. IN CLOSING...The preschool years are some of the most amazing years of development. Who else could turn spatulas into swords, stuffed animals into students, and beds into pirate ships? Make both your days and the tasks at hand more enjoyable by adding a little imagination to everyday jobs. At the end of your busy day, reward your child by sharing a moment together for a job well done.