Teaching kids to do chores WITHOUT nagging them

I am excited to write this post, sponsored by a company that has a genius product – QuickZip.

I want our kids to want to help.   That’s all there is to it.  I want them to do chores WITHOUT nagging them constantly to do them.  I don’t want to have to keep up with chore charts.   I don’t want to have to remind them every day.    These tips will help to give you and your children a more normal routine and positive outlook on everyday chores.

 1.  Be happy with what they do- don’t expect perfection.   You are not perfect and neither are your kids.  Set your bar high (a sheet thrown on the bed in a ball is not “making the bed” but don’t expect perfection.   If you do, you will have a struggle on your hands for years to come.  I use the QuickZip Sheets for this because it literally makes it SO EASY for them!  The “fitted part” of the sheet stays on & you just unzip the top part & change it out.   I love the waterproof pad, too, to protect the mattress from night-wetting!  If you don’t have these QuickZip sheets in your house, I highly recommend them.   Seriously- I tell all of my friends about them.

2- Start when they are young.  Your toddlers can help with chores and they will learn how to do things.  When they are preschoolers, they do more.  When they are in grade school, their responsibilities increase again.    They can put away their own clothes (or at least carry it to their room).   They can help you match socks.  They can take their dish to the sink after dinner.  We need to lead by example from an early age.

3- Be consistent!   If you kids aren’t expected to do their chores and no one is following through to be sure that they are done, they will just ‘ignore’ the chore until someone else (Mom or dad) does it for them.   

4- Tell them that you appreciate it. lGiving your child praise WHILE they are doing their chore will encourage them to keep the good work!   Even if they aren’t doing it perfectly, I like to say “Oh!  I love how you are working really hard to do a great job.  Thank you.”  If they weren’t doing a good job before, they will because they know that you are watching and appreciative.

5- Teach them.  I sit down with each of our kids and teach them to do chores.  I will show them how to use the Quick Zip sheet that I mentioned earlier.

Because it is so easy to understand  they can do it and they can do it well.   So, instead of saying “change your sheets” or “make your bed”  I just show them exactly what to do (like this video):

Ps- I use this on our son’s bunk beds because it  used to be so hard to change his sheets (I have his bed pushed up against the wall) and now it is SO EASY!   I have the twin sheets for his room.   (I found it on the Today show on their “must haves” for a kids room.

6- Supervise the chores at first. Before I give our kids their chores, I walk them through them.  I do a few WITH them (they are doing them while I am supervising).  I just want to be sure that I don’t have to go back over the chores and re-do them.   They need to be done correctly to save everyone time, so we will have more time to play!  ( This is what I call the “when-then” technique… “WHEN you finish your chore, THEN we can go to the park!”)

7- Go easy with reminders and deadlines. You want the chore to get done without you micromanaging it. Pantley recommends the “when/then” technique. For example, say, “When the pets are fed, then you may have your dinner.”

Here are some examples of chores: 

Chores for children ages 2 to 3

• Clean up toys – here is how we keep ours organized.  I let our kids pick them up by throwing them into a toy shopping cart and then after the toys are picked up, they “deliver” them to the right spot.
• Feed the pet.   Our 2 year old LOVES to give our puppy his food every morning!
• Put shoes away in the right basket of the mudroom bench.
• Put clothes away or into the hamper
• Clear their things from the table after a meal
• Make their bed  (even our 2 year old un-zips and re-zips the QuickZip sheet for me.
• Dust the dressers and baseboards with a feather duster.

Chores for children ages 4 to 5

• Make their bed (change the QuickZip sheets and put on their comforter).  I don’t help them with the QuickZip for this one, because they love to do it themselves.  Trust me… I’ve tried to help! haha!
• Collect the garbage
• Bring up the garbage cans (empty) after the garbage truck comes.   Even our 4 year old does this and loves to help with this job.
• Pull the weeds around our play set.
• Sweep the kitchen floors
• Help empty the dishwasher (we all help do this together)
• Water our plants with the watering can that I fill.
• Get his own meals (after asking permission).  This is a little trick that I use to help him be independent for this task.
• Put laundry away in the right drawers.

Chores for children ages 6 to 7

They can do any of the chores listed above, plus the ones below:

• Help with laundry (this is a great age to help fold laundry)
• Set the table
• Help with meal planning and prepping
• Help with yard work (pick up sticks, rake the yard, pull weeds)
• Clean their room without being asked.   If they forget, try this rule for Teaching a child to keep their room clean.  It works wonders!
• Carry groceries in from the car

Chores for children ages 8 to 10

They can do any of the chores listed above, plus the ones below:

• Fill the dishwasher with the dirty dishes from the sink.
• Put away groceries that they have carried in
• Vacuum  (we use a robot vacuum, but they do the steps with a small vacuum)
• Prep their own lunches & snacks.
• Help clear the full table after meals, not just their things.
• Hang up laundry that needs to go on hangers.
• Wash/Mop floors
• Wash the carWhat I do is put each of their chores into a basket and they can pick which one they get.  We don’t use chore charts at all – it was more work for me.
  ..
   See how it works here:
  Here is our reward chart:
  
  Here is a fun way to spice up the everyday chore… 
  

 ps- You can print the CHORES BY AGE here