If you have children, you know the deep, abiding bond that develops between parents and kids. Because you love them, you want them to be happy. A parenting conundrum that often arises in light of this is whether to assign jobs around the house to your kids.
Most child and family experts believe that requiring your children to do chores is beneficial to both of you, as long as tasks are age-appropriate and not too physically challenging.
How are chores beneficial to your kids?
Top 10 Benefits of Chores:
- Facilitate physical development. Having chores from a young age helps to develop gross and fine motor skills and coordination.
- Provide learning experiences. Kids learn something when they perform household tasks. Whether it’s why the chore needs to be done or how it’s carried out, knowledge will be gained and retained.
- Help kids feel they belong. Chores help kids feel like an important part of the family. It’s especially helpful when you and your other family members take notice and positively comment when children complete their tasks.
- Keep kids busy and out of trouble. There’s some truth to the idea that when kids are doing a household task, you know they’re engaged in a positive behavior that could benefit them in the future.
- Kids contribute to the home. Doing chores provides kids with ways to contribute to the household. As children feel like they’re contributing in some way, they begin to develop and build pride. “I can dust the tables all by myself” is a powerful message for a 7-year-old.
- Build self-esteem. Consistently giving chores to kids builds their sense of their own abilities. After all, think of all the things they’ve learned how to do over the years. From cleaning up after themselves to making their beds and sweeping the floors, chores assigned by parents greatly contribute to children’s positive self-esteem.
- Demonstrate the importance of taking care of personal items and one’s home. The best way to show a child how important it is to take care of his own property and the house is to assign him chores. This way, your child observes and experiences how life is lived and discovers first-hand the necessities of doing certain chores.
- Teach kids responsibility. When a child is solely responsible for a job getting done in the home, he learns to take responsibility for that task. As they mature, children learn that people in the home depend on them to complete their chores properly and in a timely fashion.
- Children discover the value of cooperation. When large chores, like raking leaves, are shared by the whole family, kids see how integral it is to cooperate with one another. For example, two people can rake the leaves and then help each other with bagging them. Then, a third family member can move the bags to the curb. Taking part in these “live-action teaching moments” impresses on your kids the value of working cheerfully with one another. Also, it instills the idea that in many instances, cooperation is vital to getting the job done.
- Introduce children to the world of work. Assigning chores in your home will be your children’s first introduction to working. One of the most important things you can do for your kids is to teach them about what it’s like to have a job and have people counting on them to carry it through. Plus, children will learn how to enjoy and look forward to working.
Giving chores to your kids will teach them crucial lessons about life, cooperation, and work. Commit today to consistently assign chores to your children and watch as they reap the benefits now and later.