5 Chores for School Aged Kids

When our kids reach school age, we often expect them to help out around the house.  Ideally they will have already been doing some small chores for a while.  Starting chores young makes it much easier to get them to do more substantial housework as they become capable.

You might be surprised at the chores a school aged child can handle.  If you can find tasks that they both enjoy and can do easily, it will make chore time much easier.  Here are some good chores for young school aged kids:

* Setting and clearing the table – Kids are often eager to help at mealtime.  Setting the table is a simple but important task that they can perform.  You can make it easier by using placemats that have outlines of where the plate and utensils go.  You might also want to consider getting plastic plates and cups to help avoid breakage.  After the family eats, your child can help clear the table.

* Folding and putting away the laundry – The laundry can be quite a chore.  Enlisting the help of the kids to get it folded and put away can be a huge help to a busy mom.  It’s usually unrealistic to expect a young school aged child to fold an entire load of laundry on her own, but she could fold her own clothes and put them up.  She may not fold them as well as you or put them exactly where they belong, but there’s no need to make a big issue out of it.  The important thing is that she is trying.

* Dusting – This is a very simple task that kids usually enjoy.  Give your child a duster or a sock to wear on her hand and let her have a blast.  If you’re worried about breakable items, move them all to a safe place before she begins.

* Help with the dishes – The dishes may go more slowly when you have a child helping, but things will get better once she has helped a few times and gotten the hang of it.  If you have a dishwasher, your school aged child can help with the loading and unloading.  If you wash by hand, she could rinse and dry the dishes.  Storing them in low cabinets will allow your child to put them up herself as well.

* Pet care – Kids usually prefer playing with their furry friends to assisting in their care, but having your child help with pet care is a great way to build her sense of responsibility.  You could start small, having your child give the pet food and water.  Once that is mastered, she could clean cages or litter boxes, and perhaps help with grooming if the pet gentle and even-tempered enough.

School aged children can help around the house in many ways.  Your child may be able to take on more complex tasks, or she may need some coaching on the simpler ones.  Either way, making housework a part of your child’s routine will make your life easier in the long run.

Create a Cleaning Routine to Make Housecleaning Easier

Cleaning house is a never-ending job.  There is an endless supply of dishes and clothes to wash, and that pesky dust never stays away for long.  Sometimes it seems that there are just not enough hours in the day to keep the house clean and get everything else done too.

In order to stay on top of housecleaning, it is essential for us to have a routine.  Every situation is different, so the routine that works for your mother, sister, or friend may or may not work for you.  But we can all create our own routines to make housecleaning easier.

* Tackle one room at a time.  Many of us don’t have an entire day to dedicate to house cleaning every week.  Doing one room at a time allows us to break the work up into smaller chunks while still accomplishing something noticeable.  One or two rooms each day should allow us to get the whole house clean in a week’s time.

* Do one task at a time, but do it for the whole house.  This is another effective way to break the work up.  For example, you could dust the entire house from end to end and be done with it.  Then you could move on to sweeping or vacuuming.  Doing things this way will save time by eliminating a lot of the “stop and go” as well.

* Try grouping certain tasks together to multitask.  Chores like doing the laundry do not require constant attention, so we can do other things while we’re waiting for the clothes to be washed and dried.  Associating another task with it that is more labor-intensive, like dusting or cleaning the kitchen, can increase our productivity.  Once the first load is finished, we can fold or iron clothes while waiting for the next load.

* Break larger tasks up into smaller ones if they become too monotonous.  Some of us have rooms that it seems to take forever to clean, or certain chores that we just hate to do.  Breaking them up into smaller, more manageable parts might help us get them done.  For example, if you despise cleaning the bathroom, you could clean the shower and then go work on something more enjoyable for a while.  Then you can come back later and tackle something else, and repeat until the whole bathroom is clean.

* Put on some upbeat music to keep yourself motivated.  Listening to music you love can make any task more pleasant, and something with a good beat will keep you moving.  You might even find yourself dancing as you clean.

Having a routine is a great way to do anything more efficiently.  This is especially true for housecleaning.  You may have to experiment a little at first, but finding a routine that works for you will pay off.  You’ll be able to get your house clean in less time, and you might even start enjoying it more.

Children and Chores – Do You Delegate?

By Aurelia Williams, author of Getting out of the SuperMom Trap

A few generations ago, children were commonly expected to help around the house. When society was mainly based on agricultural endeavors, children were expected to help around the farm as well. Our society has changed and so has our expectation of our children. Learning to delegate household chores to children can benefit both the children and the parents.

Let’s admit it, mom and dad work hard all day. Facing household chores in the evening can take away time that should be spent with kids, stress you out or just add another burden to your otherwise overloaded to do list – something I talk about extensively in Getting out of the SuperMom Trap. Delegating household chores between all the occupants of the house seems only fair. There are jobs around the house even the smallest child can do.

Chores are great for the kids as well. Though they may complain, forget or otherwise try to find ways out of chores they do benefit from them. They are taught responsibility, essential life skills and even some reasoning skills. Learning to do dishes or laundry is essential to any child. They need to be able to do these on their own some day so they may as well start doing these at home. It also gives them a feeling of accomplishment.

What chores kids can do, really depends on the age and the ability of that child. You may want to do the chore with them to begin with. Show them the correct way, then let them try it with your supervision. If they do ok, assign them this chore. Always follow up and make sure their chores are done and done correctly. Remember they are kids and are just learning.

Preschoolers can perform the basic chores. They can learn to pick up after themselves. Take care of their toys, make their beds and this kind of chore is ideal.

Older from 6 to 9 children can do all this plus learn to take care of the pets, fold and take care of laundry and even learn to vacuum and sweep floors.

Children for 10 to 13 can take on even more responsibility. They can do dishes, clean the bathrooms and even learn to cook simple meals with supervision.

Once they have reached the age of 14 consider more responsibility. Laundry can be done by older children as well as car care, preparing meals or any other chore that parents feel they are capable of doing.

Some children are more adapt at helping around the household than others. Children who want to learn to cook and clean should be encouraged. Supervising young children around the stove and other hot appliances is essential, but they should be allowed to try these things when they feel they are ready.

With the question of chores comes the question of allowance. This is a very popular subject in many a child’s mind. There are different theories as to who should get allowance, how much and what for.

Sit down and discuss with your child their responsibilities around the house. Talk to them about how much they think these chores are worth. Teach them that their time and effort is worth something, but they have to be realistic. Let them be part of the decision of allowances and what chores are parts of that.

Parents are responsible for teaching their children important life skills. Teaching them how to keep up a house and themselves should be included. Show them it is a team effort to keep the house running smoothly. Everyone pitching in to keep a comfortable, clean house will show them it is worth the effort.

Need More Help?

If you’re looking to raise more independent and self-sufficient children – plus…get yourself out of the SuperMom Trap, grab a copy of this important guide.

How To Save Your Laundry (and your money)

Buying clothes can make a huge dent in your family budget. As it is, most of the time our children grow out of clothes so fast that you’re lucky if they wear an item more than once.

Here are some tips that will lengthen the life of your laundry.

If it’s not dirty, don’t wash it. Hang it up to air out and then put it away.

Spot treat ASAP so a stain will not set. (see also Laundry Stain Removers)

Sort, sort, sort. Darks, Mediums, Whites and Sheets/Towels. Avoid washing clothes with sheets/towels to eliminate lint. (PS: to maintain the absorbency of your towels, don’t use fabric softener every time you wash them – just every 3rd or 4th time)

Don’t dry it. Heat from the dryer will fade the color and wear out the fabric. Not to mention the shrinkage factor. Use a drying rack, hangers or an old fashioned clothes line.

Don’t use more detergent than recommended. Always use the correct amount of detergent according to directions — more is not better.

Turn dark clothes inside out and wash in the coolest water possible; dry on lowest heat.

Read the label! If it says dry-clean only, dry-clean it. If it says hand-wash, then hand-wash it. (PS: I’m not a big fan of the at home dry-cleaning kits. They don’t seem to do a good job and you have to be there right away to take items out of the dryer).

Include a few tennis balls in each dryer cycle. The tennis balls not only cut drying time by 25% – 50%, but also fluff the clothes and towels. This is especially helpful when drying a bed-spread or other large item – no wet spots!