How to Make Chores Fun For Kids PART 1

Picture This.

Pretzels and Egg Crumbles under the table from breakfast and snack
Dirty Dishes from last night's dinner
Legos sprawled across the floor
dirt spilled from houseplants that were knocked over
wet bathing suits thrown on the carpeted floor
wet towels on the wooden floor (i still cringe at that one)
cushions off the couch
crumbs in the sofa. everywhere.
Toilet paper unrolled in the bathroom
Pee on the toilet seat (maybe even smeared poop)
bikes, trikes, scooters, helmets strewn in the yard
socks hanging from the trees (yes, socks--my boys used to throw socks)
every possible toy in the playroom dumped out and non-organized
You get the point...we could go on and on....


How to go from this: 

to This:







If you want to know, keep reading.

The reality is, kids want to play. Their brains are programmed to play, and in most cases, children are able to filter out normal clutter and mess. (we are not talking about mess created by hoarders). Their minds are designed for play, imagination, creativity, learning, growth; and, well, that takes dumping out every single crayon in the crayon box to get to that one color that we need. (and then leaving all the dumped crayons on the floor because our focus is finishing that picture with that special crayon color.) This is perfectly normal when we have children. Boys tend to be worse. However, there is a way to successfully train your children to be domesticated without the fighting, whining, and crying that is normally associated with cleaning up and chores.

My secret to having little housekeepers and chefs: Make it simple, keep it fun! On this blog, I will give all my secrets to how I keep my two little boys in line while I hold a baby most of the day. Don't get me wrong: we have messy days still. All the time. However, I can quickly recover from those days by using my strategies that I have truly sat down, thought about, researched, implemented, and changed to see success. And I will share all those strategies with you through my blog.

My children, who are 8 & 4:
vacuum
sweep
pick up legos
clean their room
throw laundry in the wash
pick up clothes off the floor
put away their dishes and throw out their trash
feed the cats
get dressed without any assistance from head to toe
brush their teeth regularly
AND get this....
without being asked about 80% of the time.

They also participate regularly in chores such as:
helping to clean out my car
sweeping up crumb piles
taking their sheets to the laundry
dusting
spraying and wiping the table and windows

Most of the time, I do not use threats, grounding, and discipline to get them to clean up. Instead, I use fun and games. Use tactics that click with the natural programming inside a child's mind, and you will be on a roll. As they grow, you can adapt other methods, but stick to having fun when it comes to children and chores.