Let’s set the scene for the 7 best ways to make chores fun.
You’re suddenly 8 years old again and your parents walk in and tell you you need to clean the living room and bathroom.
You groan and don’t understand why your parents are putting you through the horror of chores.
You begrudgingly do them, but why is it so important to clean up the mess that isn’t even all yours? The answer is work ethic and independence.
I think we can all agree that cleaning and doing chores is not the most fun activity out there.
I’d much rather spend my free time relaxing or going grocery shopping, but we all know it needs to be done.
Kids, however, don’t have the understanding of the importance of taking care of a household instilled in them yet. In an ongoing study by Harvard (Harvard Grant Study) that has spanned 75 years, they found that developing a work ethic young will help your children find success in the future.
In an interview with Tech Insider, Lythcott-Haims (former Dean of Freshman at Stanford University) stated, “By making them do chores, taking out the garbage, doing their own laundry, they realize I have to do the work of life in order to be part of life.
It’s not just about me and what I need in this moment, but that I’m part of an ecosystem. I’m part of a family. I’m part of a workplace.”
Another study, from The University of Minnesota, that spanned over 20 years and found that the best predictor of adult success was based on how early children started participating in chores.
Some children started as young as 3 – 4 years old.
To some, 3- 4 years old may seem too young, but the chores can be age appropriate.
My parents always had me clean up my toys and put them back in their specific toy box when I was a toddler and carry my plates to the sink. As I got older, I was expected to help out with dishes, laundry, and cleaning the house more.
Tasks weren’t necessarily assigned to me, I just knew it needed to be done.
My family always played music when we cleaned to make it feel more fun.
Now, when I get ready to clean, I throw on a podcast or a playlist so I can make cleaning go faster. From personal experience, having chores and knowing when to clean helped me become ready for the responsibility of living on my own in college. It takes a few messy roommates to make you appreciate having chores when you were younger.
From cleaning up toys to lending a helping hand washing the dishes, you can still begin to teach them responsibility.
There are products out there that can make it easier for children to help around the house. One such product is the Toddler Tower Adjustable Stool from Simplay3. It lets kids help alongside their parents safely!
Chores don’t have to be something that drains you of all energy whish is why we created the 7 best ways to make chores fun!
These activities can be used to make it a fun and enjoyable experience…well as enjoyable as it can be.
If you follow a few of these tips from Simplay3 and parent bloggers, cleaning will be a party in no time!
7 Best Ways to Make Chores Fun
Now that the statistics and scientific facts are out there, how can we get ourselves (and kids) to clean? Believe it or not, cleaning can be fun if you make it
- Create a Playlist
By creating a playlist you can dance around and be active while simultaneously cleaning up your living space. It makes time seem like it goes faster.
- Divide and Conquer
Divide up tasks and create a contest to see who can get their area done and cleaned the fastest. A little bit of fun competition never hurt anyone.
- Make a Game While Cleaning
While you’re cleaning up take a laundry basket and toss your clothes in there like a game of basketball. Making it feel like a way to engage in playtime will make cleaning up feel like less of a chore. The younger ones will correlate cleaning with having fun (almost like Pavlolv’s study of classical conditioning).
- Make a Chore Chart
If there is a certain toy or movie that your child wants, make a chore chart to teach them how to work towards a goal.
Not only will responsibility be taught, but organizing out what needs to be done makes cleaning day run smoother when you know what your responsibility is.
Doing chores shouldn’t be seen as a punishment, so adding fun incentives to it makes everyone happy!
- Add in Some Down Time
We all know that burnout is a real thing so why not use the 7 best ways to make chores fun and avoid the burnout?
Taking some down time or adding in small breaks here and there where you and your family can watch some YouTube videos or just have downtime to do whatever you need, will help you feel refreshed when you go back to cleaning.
- Get Creative
If you have an old laundry basket laying around, have a day where you decorate it. Your kids can paint it or put stickers, gems, and other decorations on it! The blog Motherly outlines that children like to have ownership over something.
Let a child be the “Cleaning Cop” where they’re “in charge” of going around with a basket picking up dirty laundry and putting them in “jail.”
- Be Hands On
The final of the best ways to make chores fun tips is to let your child work side by side with you.
If you’re doing dishes, let them help dry them. Not only will you be spending quality time together, but they will feel like they are contributing to the workload in a very simple way.
Photo Credit: Simplay3 Toddler Tower
Shaye Sicurella is a recent grad from the University of Akron where she graduated with a B.A. in Media Studies and Public Relations.
She is very family oriented having grown up as an only child with close cousins who are like her siblings.
She loves being able to help children’s minds grow which is why she loves to be a part of the Simplay3 Company, gold medal Parent and Teacher Choice Award Winner from HowtoLearn.com – Simplay3 Toys are U.S. Made and Veteran Owned.
In her free time, she loves to come up with new recipes, spend time with her friends, travel to new restaurants with her family, raise money for the Battered Women’s Shelter with an annual concert, and take care of her pet ferret!
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