Follow these simple tips for teaching your kids to help out around the house. There’s simple chores that little ones can do to start them early with helping out with cleaning.
This post was sponsored by P&G as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central. I received complimentary products to facilitate my review.
Teaching Your Kids to Help Around the House
What’s the right age to start chores?
For as long as I can remember, my siblings and I had chores we were responsible for at home. I can remember having a chore chart at a very young age and being so excited to get little stars placed on my chore chart whenever I completed one of my chores. Heck, here I am over 30 years later and I’m still given a list of chores when I go home to visit.
In my family, doing chores was never seen as work. Chores are simply the way you contribute to the family and create a nice home. Sure, we received special perks when all of our chores were completed, and as we grew older we would receive an allowance based on completing our assigned chores. But, the chores were just a part of life and instilled a sense of ownership among each of us.
Now that I have children I want to instill the same values in them. I believe that every child should have a list of chores that they are responsible for. Even my almost 2 year old has her chores….now, Miss Jellybean isn’t unloading the dishwasher or doing her own laundry….but I have taught her how to do some basic chores around the house.
Her chores at this age primarily consists of picking up the toys and putting them in the toy bins. Most recently I’ve taught her feed the kitties– she’s learned quite well that they only get ONE scoop of food…and that scoop doesn’t go in their water bowl. Seriously…there were a few days that the cat almost got kitty food soup. 😉
And, Little Man actually LOVES doing his chores, believe it or not! Helping out with the chores gives him a taste of autonomy because he now gets to choose some of his chores and a sense of accomplishment once he sees the results.
In fact, Little Man has REALLY gotten into dusting and sweeping…luckily I can stock up on all of his P&G Household Needs at Costco! Seriously, this kid is so addicted to the Swiffer Dusters and Swiffer Sweepers that I’m so happy Costco carries the BIG refills!
Not to mention that I love the fact that when he haphazardly dusts off the shelves with the Swiffer Dusters I never have to go back and clean again. The fluffy fibers catch all of the dust and dirt with ease!
And sweeping is oh so simple for Little Man with the Swiffer Sweeper Refills. We took our Swiffer Sweeper and shortened the handle by removing 2 of the bars and now it’s the perfect length for Little Man. The dry pads are perfect for quickly getting up all of the cat hair and dust particles on our wood floors…can you believe Little Man begs for this job?! Yep….TOTAL Super Mom moment happening over here!!
Personally I’m all about the Bounty Advanced Select-a-Size paper towels! I swear, with two young children I feel like I go through paper towels like….well….paper towels. We go through a LOT of paper towels around here because there’s always spills and accidents happening.
Bounty Advanced paper towels are my #1 choice because they’re super absorbent and durable…plus I only use however much I need.
Buying P&G Household Need Products at Costco saves us because I never run out and always have a great stash in the pantry.
Tips for Teaching Your Kids to Help Out Around the House
- Divide chores up as a family.
- After dinner one night talk about how nice it is to live in such a clean home. Discuss the importance of working together as a family to keep things tidy and let your kids choose their chores.
- Go around the table and assign/choose one chore to each person (parents included) until everyone has 3-4 chores. For very young children I suggest giving them the number of chores that match their age.
- Create a sense of ownership around the chores.
- Little Man has his own stash of cleaning supplies to complete his chores. He knows where to find them and if he notices his job needs to be done he’s on it.
- Track Progress
- A chore chart with fun stickers is a great way to chart every time your child does one of their chores. Click below for your copy of a free printable chore chart.
- Celebrate Successes Individually
- Instead of requiring the kids to complete all of their chores before being rewarded I create small rewards throughout the week. Whenever Little Man collects 10 stickers on his chore chart he gets a “prize”.
- Keep “prizes” simple. Some ideas…extra 15 minutes of tablet play, staying up 15 minutes past bedtime, an extra bedtime story, etc.
- Celebrate Success as a Family
- Every week we tally up the results from the chore charts and celebrate a great week as a family. Family movie nights are a favorite with the kids right now!
You don’t have to offer money or gifts to get your kids excited about helping out around the house. Kids respond to attention and validation. I hope these tips help with getting your kids on board with helping out too!
For Additional Resources about P&G Household Brands at Costco Visit: