Give your Child House Chores & Help Them Grow Into Responsible Adults

It is important that you get your child to contribute to the house chores, no matter how small the task may be. Children of different age should be given different kinds of responsibility. This article covers a few techniques that you can employ to get them to do chores at home.

Highlights

• Age 3-7: Young children respond to the visual representation of daily chores.

• Age 8-13: Kids in this age group can understand and take more responsibility.

• Age 14 and above: you can come up with a flexible plan as to how they want to take up daily and weekly

Most children juggle between activities, homework and play and have little time to pitch in around the house. Should they still be assigned house chores? Well, it is important that you get your child to contribute in the house chores, no matter how small the task may be. Something as inconsequential as dusting the bookcase or getting the newspaper gives your child a sense of capability and responsibility and leaves them feeling independent. Doing chores also makes them feel like a team member.

Children of different age should be given different kinds of responsibility. Here are a few techniques that you can employ to get them to do small tasks around the house.

Age 3-7

Young children respond to visual representation of daily chores. To get them to complete their chores, here’s what you can do:

• Charts with pictures of what needs to be done can be put up where they can see it

• Put a sticker or mark a star when the chore is completed

Age 8-13

Kids in this age group can understand and take on more responsibility. Put up to do lists and charts in their room and follow up with them to see if the chores are done.

There should be no need to reward a child in this age group. But completion of extra chores, like helping with Diwali cleaning or mowing the lawn, can be rewarded with an extra allowance.

Age 14 and above

Teenage is a time when you can prepare your child for the real world. Teach them the value of skills like doing laundry and food preparations. It will help them in life and make them independent. Keep the schedule more flexible, though, and let them decide how they’d like to complete daily and weekly tasks.

For more parenting tips, talk to a Jiva doctor. Dial 0129-4040404 or click on ‘Speak to a Doctor’ under the CONNECT tab in Jiva Health App.