Quarantined but still learning

House chores for children- Excellent way to holistic development

With the revolution of technology in the present era we have been dependent on it for almost everything. We have to cook- we use technology, we have to work- we use technology, we workout- we use technology, we also play using technology. In this scenario engaging kids at home without technology sounds almost impossible to all of us. We all run out of ideas. We just forget that small things in our day to life activity can not only engage our kids meaningfully but also facilitate their holistic development.

We all have been locked down in our homes now due to this pandemic. In this time it is highly essential that our kids are meaningfully engaged. I see the social media getting flooded with so many art and craft activities, however i rarely see anything which focuses on the life-skills of children. Believe me it’s the best time where we staying with our children can teach them the best of the life-skills and meaningfully engage them. And the best part is that we don’t have to look into videos to learn something and teach them, nor do we have to depend on any specific materials. The whole home environment gives them all the opportunity to learn explore and experiment. We just have to give them the opportunity.

Doing House chores is one of the best possible activities which your kids can be involved during this time along with you and believe me they can learn almost every life-skills. Finding difficult to believe….. Let’s see how house chores help:

1.Develops independence: They become confident that they don’t have to depend on anyone to do their regular requisites for home like washing clothes, doing beds, arranging room or preparing a Maggie for themselves :)

2.Respect: A lot of parents (myself included a few years ago) tend to wait until the kids are asleep/at school etc… until they get on with all the cleaning/cooking/washing etc…. around the house. One day I realized its really important thing and if children never see how much work and upkeep goes into running a house, how are they meant to learn how to do it themselves, and how are they meant to respect the house, their belongings, and you for doing it?. For all they know from the fairy tail stories to live in a dreamland and a house fairy comes along and waves a magic wand, and it just basically looks after itself! If children can see (and get involved) in how much work is involved in running a house, then they will slowly and subconsciously become more aware of what mess they leave around, and how they contribute to the work involved. And ultimately will respect the work

3.Pride and accomplishment: when they complete a task which they always seen moms doing they feel a sense of accomplishment and pride.

4. Planning and critical thinking: There is a hell lot of planning needed to do house chore. For example if there are 5 different things you have given your child to do, they start thinking that what should be done first and what should be done at end so that i save time. They start thinking critically and budgeting time. I always start with putting clothes in the washing machine so that by the time i finish other things clothes are ready to be dried up.

Infact kids start finding smart solutions to do the chores effectively with less efforts and save time

5.Team work: they start asking help of yours or sibling and start working with collaborative efforts

6. Work ethics: you can start making them understand the concept of hard work in association with monetary rewards. They will understand that mom and dad has to work hard to earn. They will know that no work is small or big. They will understand working for home is as important as going to office and working.

7. Keep them busy: They will be meaningfully be busy in a realistic scenario which will help them to grow learn, be responsible. Apart from all this you get help :)

8.Gross motor development: Have you ever thought about that children use so much of gross motor when they are seeping or mopping

9.Fine motor development: They are exposed to so many activities like peeling beans, garlic, putting clips on the cloths and loads more which are extremely helpful for their fine motor development and in turn writing readiness for kids.

10.Arithmetic readiness: they can learn numbers, sorting, addition division multiplication all while doing their kitchen work with you

11. Language development: they can talk about new chore activities which they doing, how did they do, what they are doing, stories about the house hold...

12.Organising skills: They learn to keep themselves organised while making bed, arranging kitchen, arranging toys.

13.Discipline: giving them daily routine of some responsibility of house chores develops a sense of discipline to finish the activities regularly on time.

14. Importance of cleanliness: They get to understand about the how it feels when the place is clean v/s when its dirty, hence automatically understand the importance.

Here are a few tips for you to use before you involve kids in household chores

Discuss the tasks

Talk to your child and make them understand the tasks they are expected to help you with. Asking your child what activity would interest her is the best way to get started, once you’ve pointed out the activities that need to be done to keep the house organized.

Make it an activity to make them hero and not a punishment

Explain to your child and make them understand that it is duty and responsibility to contribute to the chores and not a punishment. Make them understand that everyone in the family has to contribute to keeping the house tidy and organized. Make them understand that their contribution helps you more the most and hence every contribution they do adds so much.

Have a to-do-list

A To- do list not only keeps them focused but also lets everyone in the family know that what all they have contributed. This inspires all to contribute to the list and feels important.

Reward your child

Children need to be appreciated and praised because that makes them realize that they’ve got your attention. So reward and appreciate his efforts every time they do the task efficiently or within a time frame. But make sure you do not make it seem like a bribe. There are reward charts you can prepare and give starts or smileys when they complete the task. Always remember that the reward should be always consistent. Find below a sample chart for rewards. You can give stars, pocket money, edibles depending on the task and the age group

Have fun

That should be the ultimate motive of every activity you indulge your child in, so make even the household chores seem like a fun activity or play. For instance doing the laundry could be made into a fun game, your child has to toss the clothes into the machine before the rhyme stops, etc. Make songs and dance an essential part of doing chores. Always do the chores together with them.

In the end, make choices that work best for your family and based on your child’s interest you can make the chores challenging also.

****Some of the important things to remember****

1.    The activities should be always age appropriate.

2.    Everyone in the family should contribute.

3.    There should never be a sexual stereotype.

Does your child help you with the household chores? Tell us how you do this in the comments below.