How to Get Your Children to Do Chores

I have found that getting children to do chores and help out around the house is not an easy task. It is a chore in itself. I have four children, three of which are four years old and under. Getting them to do chores has never been simple, until recently.

With my ten year old, we utilize a chore book. I keep this book on my kitchen island so she can refer to it at any time. At night, I write in her chores for the following day. She gets anywhere from three to eight chores a day depending on how the previous day went. If she does all of her chores without forgetting and she doesn't have an attitude problem and behaves properly, then she gets fewer chores. If she had a bad day the day prior, she will get a few more chores added on. Some of her chores are sweeping the kitchen floor, putting clean clothes away, clearing the kitchen table after dinner and cleaning the playroom. They are all age appropriate chores. As she does her chores, she marks them off. She is also responsible for feeding the dogs on a daily basis. That has really proven to teach her responsibility in a positive way.

With my other three children, the chores are different. My three boys are ages four, almost three and 19 months old. They have age appropriate chores as well. They each know how to put their empty dinner plate in the dishwasher. My 19 month old helps to put the dirty clothes in the washer when I am doing laundry. All the boys help taking the clean clothes out of the dryer and putting on my bed to be folded. They also help with the dogs, letting them out into the fenced in backyard as well. They also can help my daughter when she is cleaning the playroom. They put their toys in the toy bins with ease. Another thing that the boys do to help out around the house is help my husband when he is doing the yard work. They help to pick up the sticks and move them and also help out with moving the outside toys to the deck when it is time to mow the lawn.

The way that I get my kids to want to help out is the reward system that I use. I have a chart on my kitchen wall with each of my kids names in the corners of the chart. Each child gets a quarter of the poster board. Each time the complete a day on a good foot, they get a sticker under their name. The rule is that they only get stickers for completing all of their chores and when they do something exceptional, such as sharing or helping their siblings without being asked. Being kind and helpful will get them a sticker too. When each of them has 50 stickers under their names, we go somewhere fun for the day, like Chuck E Cheeses. The catch is that they all have to have 50 each, not just one of them. This encourages them to help each other out. When one sees that one of the others is lacking stickers, they will help them out. This promotes them being helpful with others. They each care about each other then too. They check that board quite often to see how close they are to getting a fun day out.

So getting kids to do their chores and being helpful doesn't have to be a continuous battle. Finding a system that works is not always easily done but it is possible. Try out the reward system. It works well with my four and they aren't the easiest kids around. Getting kids involved is important and rewarding them for their actions is the best way to get them to keep it up.