How to Convince Your Kids to Do Their Chores

Posted on 13/04/2023

Simple Tricks to Get Your Kids to Do Their Chores

Children and a clean home usually don’t go well together. Whatever you do, you cannot keep your house tidy for more than a day. No matter how overwhelming domestic cleaning can be, it’s easier to tackle it alone than involve your kids. It seems nearly impossible to get your children excited about the household chores. You need to understand that teaching kids to help out around the house is essential part of parenting. This will not only make your family life run smoother, but is also beneficial for your children’s development and confidence.

You may be surprised but kids want to assist and will feel great satisfaction and pride when completing a task. So, why it is so hard for them to keep up with their regular duties? No matter how perfect your chore chart system is, it will be futile with the wrong approach.  Don’t worry the battle is not yet lost. You can make your chore chart system more effective with just a couple of tips.

Create a System with Your Kids
Often parents have some idea how a chore chart system should look and that vision has nothing to do with their children. If you really want to get your kids involved, you should take into account their opinion. Discuss the deadline to complete a task and how the system should work? Where the chore chart will be placed? When you allow them to have even the smallest input, they will feel that the chart belongs to them as well.

Use Reinforcements
Tie the domestic duties to some kind of incentive.  If there are no consequences for completing or not completing the job, your child will not feel motivated. Using positive and negative reinforcements may be an old trick, but it’s absolutely effective.

Provide a Training Period
Children may feel discouraged to do a task simply because it is hard or they don’t know how to do it. Before assigning their duties, be sure they know how to complete a job. Offer them a training period. During this time you can show them how to manage each cleaning chore and assist them if needed. Spending time to teach you kids how to tackle basic tasks will ensure better results and will provide your children with essential life-long skills.

Assign Tasks Properly
If you child feels overwhelmed by a task, they will not complete it or will do it poorly. Ask yourself whether you want them to do the impossible. Distribute the domestic cleaning tasks according to age and ability, to ensure that everyone is doing a fair amount of work. Otherwise, your kids will start perceiving household duties as a burden and not as a normal part of their routine.

Make It Fun
The key to keeping your children’s interest is by making house cleaning fun. Decorate the chore chart with stickers, bright colours or cartoon characters. Turn the tasks into a game or competition.

Add a Surprise Element
Replace the regular note like “mop the floor” with something unexpected like “watch TV for half an hour.”  This will spice up the dull routine and will make your kids check the chart more often.

Be Flexible
If you are children are too reluctant to do a certain task, give them other options. Offer them a choice between two tasks. A little freedom goes a long way.

Start Young
The earlier you start teaching your kids domestic chores, the bigger chances you have to convince them to tackle the household work later.