Giving kids household chores is a great way to teach them responsibility while also keeping your home clean and organized. The only problem is that it can be tough to motivate the children to perform their chores on a regular basis. If you are struggling to convince your kids to do their assignments, then you need to make it fun and exciting for them. These are the four best ways to turn chores into a game.
Get Kid-Sized Cleaning Supplies
Small children love to follow and mimic their parents. Since they are going to be attached to your hip while you are cleaning, you might as well put them to work. Build a toddler cleaning kit filled with kid-sized supplies to give your kid everything they need to recreate the actions of mom and dad.
Create a Chore Competition Chart
A chore chart is a simple way to turn the mundane household activities into a fun competition. Maryville University explains that there’s plenty of exercise in housework, and getting the kids involved benefits everyone. Create a chart with various household chores, like making a bed, vacuuming, washing the windows, or carrying laundry up and down the stairs. Assigning time limits to speed up the chore can be fun, competitive among siblings and increase heart rates at the same time. You could also create a system in which when children complete a chore, they write their name in chore’s slot, and at the end of the week, the child with the most chores gets an extra special prize.
Do a Scavenger Hunt
Few things are more fun than solving clues and hunting down items in a scavenger hunt. Use the built-in fun of a scavenger hunt to your advantage by implementing it into your chores. After the kids solve one of the clues, they must perform a simple household chore before they can get the next clue. The kids will happily sweep the floor or take out the trash if it gets them closer to the earning the final prize of the scavenger hunt. Crafting Chicks has a couple helpful suggestions, “hiding the clues in hard to find places like right in the middle of the mess helps them actually do the chore. It’s also helpful for me to hide the clues in reverse order, or sometimes I get them mixed up, which the kids think is funny, but can disrupt the game/chore. Having something special for them at the end is important, I recommend getting a treasure chest or some other special box that the kids understand their prize is in.”
Turn Everything Into a Race
Kids love turning everything into a race. The race becomes even more important when competing against a sibling or parent. This means you can easily get them interested in doing chores by making them race against someone else in the house. Michigan Medicine cautions, “a little rivalry can be good in situations like chores, but make sure that siblings know that rivalry and competition isn’t for normal everyday life. Children who grow up in competitive homes, and who feel like they constantly need to prove something to their parents develop unhealthy mental habits that can severely alter the way they view the world.” Chore racing works best for folding laundry, cleaning bedrooms and washing dishes.
Maintaining a clean house is often quite difficult when you have children, but that does not have to be the case. Just get the kids interested in the chores by turning them into games. If they are having fun, then they will not even realize they are cleaning and organizing the house.
A great way to get started is with a chore management application. With Homey, you and your family will stay on top of their chores, and your children will be able to begin understand the basics of money management. If you need help getting started with Homey, check out our quickstart guide!