Chores Can Be Fun: How to Make the Tedious Exciting

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Kids don’t like chores. To them, chores are the bane of their young lives. If given the choice, they would rather do anything than do chores. Why is that the case, though? Chores are important, and everyone should learn how to deal with it. Doing chores can actually be a very valuable learning experience that teaches children about a lot of things. Responsibility. Independence. Ingenuity.

How to Make the Tedious Exciting

But–kids do have a point, though–chores can be extremely tedious. It’s not a wonder that they often are quite resistant to it. So, how do we transform this tediousness into something that’s more conducive to productivity? How can we make chores more enjoyable for children?

Chores Can Be Fun: Make Some Games

Do chores into games. Kids love games. They can’t get enough of them. If you leave them be, they’ll be playing games for hours! So, if you want your kids to be committed to the task, you can try setting up a timer and telling them to finish the task in a few minutes or so. And when they do, give them a reward. If you have more than one kid, you could even make it into a competition and see who can finish their chores the fastest.

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Maybe you could even do chore bingo. Every time that they finish a task, you stamp out a circle or a square and when they get bingo, there’s a big reward at the end! Doubled prizes if they finish it within a week or something.

There’s a lot of ways to gamify chores. Doing this helps kids divert their endless energy into more productive work while making it enjoyable.

Chores Can Be Fun: Let’s Be Creative

Chores can feel a lot less tedious if you make it more personal. If you notice the immediate benefits that doing them has for you, you’re bound to be more serious about it. What does that mean? It means that you should let your kids get more involved. For example, when you’re preparing your cleaning products, it might be a great idea to let them help you. One, this lets them know the hard work that comes with cleaning. Two, it’s a wonderful opportunity to teach them about chemicals and whatever.

Another idea is to ask them for input when it comes to moving things around the house. This is especially helpful when it concerns their rooms. Encourage them to consider where things should be placed, from posters to furniture, etc. If you have a garden, you can make it fun by teaching them more about plants and stuff. Of course, don’t forget to give them a reward at the end of it!

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Chores Can Be Fun: Involve Their Decisions

When I remember being a kid, the most annoying part about chores was that my parents just dropped them onto me without warning. They didn’t even ask if I had some time to do it! I could’ve been working on homework or something. So, one way of leading them to enjoy chores is to simply ask for their opinion. Tell them there are a lot of things to do at home and have them choose what they can do. This way gives them a sense of responsibility and engages with their autonomy.

Make the Tedious Exciting with Rewards

To really give your kids a goal, it’s best to give them a reward. You can signal this to them by creating a chore chart. We’re all visual creatures, and children are even more so. As they complete a task, they earn stickers, stars, or points. With that in mind, you can even create a system for them to redeem their points for rewards like ice cream, toys, or whatever.

And, of course, don’t forget the best reward: praise! If they do something good, it’s logical to tell them that they did and give them praise. Positive reinforcement goes a long way with helping them associate chores with good and rewarding work.

By involving games, creativity, education, personal responsibility and whatever else to chores, you remove the stigma and the hatred of chores and turn them into something that really speaks to kids. For more fun lessons on chores (and maybe get to know some odd monsters), The Dinglehopper Blueberry Belly-Button Snooter from author Chris Cochrane will have your kids wide-eyed and excited for chores!

Click here to learn how to get a copy now!