* When packing away toys and cleaning up
- Sing a song you all know or make up a tune as you go "everybody packing up"
- Have races to see who can pack away their toys the fastest
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Nominate colours for each persons to pack away- so the child may pack away blue and red toys, the adult yellow and green toys, etc....
Reward chart
* Have reward charts with fun stickers and exciting rewards that they will want to work towards
* Do chores as a family, when you all work together, time goes faster and you can chat along the way
* Allocate a simple chore to each family member and make sure you rotate these for change
* Have races & competitions to see who can do the most or in the fastest time (winner can choose whats for lunch or choose a weekend activity)
One of the simplest ways to make packing away toys, cleaning up rooms and completing household chores easy for the whole family, is to start with small tasks at a young age.
When my first child turned one, once we finished playing with toys, I would start singing my own made up tune saying "packing up, packing up, lets do some packing up" and then I would place all the toys into our baskets/tubs and encourage my little one to help mummy.
This was not intentional to make "them pack up" but to help me so it was faster and also this was still playing and interacting with each other. We would giggle and smile while singing and race each other to the baskets to put toys away. It was fun and before I knew it, everything was packed up and we had just had a great time together while doing it.
So this become the norm and we have rarely had an issue with our kids packing things up as they have done it for as long as they can remember and we never made it a big deal, it was just what we did at the end of play or before the end of the day. Most importantly, my husband and I always help too and we usually sing or make a little game out of it. Make it fun and it will not be a chore for your little one.
If your child is a little older or it doesn't work as simple as it sounds, try the points listed above as there is still ways you can get your child to begin helping you around the home if you haven't started them young or they don't want to co operate on their own, (yes of course bribery is an option and often will work, but here are some other ideas as well).
So try:
- Have reward charts with fun stickers and exciting rewards that they will want to work towards, make your own or check out the reward chart pictured above. I love these because they are so easy to use and a 52 page tear off pad, so one for every week of the year.
- Do chores as a family, when you all work together, time goes faster and you can chat along the way. PUMP UP THE MUSIC, it will keep you motivated to move.
- Allocate a simple chore to each family member and make sure you rotate these for change. This works better for families with older children for serious cleaning, but you can definitely make it age appropriate if you have children under 5 Click here to see the post "Chores for kids under 5"
- Have races & competitions to see who can do the most or in the fastest time. Make a fun prize like, the winner can choose whats for lunch or can choose what activity to do for the afternoon play.
