How to teach children do laundry

Laundry is one of those chores that is never ending. Even when you have folded and put away your last piece of clean laundry, the very clothes you are wearing await. You can lighten your load and teach your children valuable life skills by teaching your children to do laundry.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. The first step to teaching children to do laundry is showing them how to sort clothing. For older children, teach them to sort the laundry into whites, brights and darker colors. Even younger children can get in on sorting. Place three baskets in the laundry room. Make a sign for each one with the color or colors you want placed in that basket.

2. If your child is old enough to read fairly well, teach them how to use the washing machine. Let them know what temperature you want used for each color group. It might be helpful to write these steps on 3 x 5-inch cards, laminate them and hang them on the wall over the washer.

3. Teach your children how, when and where to add the laundry soap. Whether you use a scoop or a lid to measure laundry soap, use a permanent marker and draw a line to show how full it should be. Remember that most scoops and lids leave lots of extra room, probably in hopes you'll use more than necessary and buy more.

4. If you use a clothes line to dry laundry, it will be simple and even fun to teach your children how to hang clothing on the line. If you use a dryer, show your child how it is operated. You might want to make more 3 x 5-inch cards showing, in words or pictures, which items go into the dryer and which need to hang dry or lie flat to dry. On another laminated 3 x 5-inch card, write down the approptiate times and settings for items.

5. Folding and putting away clean laundry is another chore you can teach children at almost any age. You can show the smallest child how to match and roll socks. With older children, sit together and fold like items, showing them how you prefer them folded as you go. This can be a great time to bond and talk about your day as well. Give each child the responsibility of putting away their own clean laundry. If they are not folded perfectly, or accidentally get put in the wrong drawer, remember it's not the end of the world. Learning life skills such as how to do laundry will give your child a sense of self-worth and satisfaction and may even bring you closer together.