Tips for Encouraging your Kids to do Chores

If you have kids, then you will know how hard it can be to stay on top of all the household chores. You may also find it very difficult to find time in the day to get everything done as well. This is understandable, but there are things that you can do to try and get them more involved. This guide will help you to do just that.

End Distractions

If your child is not doing their chores, then it may be that they are distracted. If you can, you need to remove whatever is distracting them. More than likely, this could mean that you need to turn off their games console. You can then tell them that they cannot go on it again until all of their chores are done. If you do not know what your child’s distractions are then ask them what they intend to do after the chores are done, and then set the structure so they have the motivation to really push themselves to get the job done. If you try and appeal to their self-interest as opposed to trying to explain the concept of responsibility, then this will help your kids in more ways than one. If you know that your child is highly distractable, then it may be worth considering if they have ADHD, as this makes it very difficult to follow through on tasks. Even if your child has an easy time starting them, they may have a much more difficult time seeing it to completion. Check out this ADHD parenting podcast to learn more about that.

Set Time Limits

Time limits are a fantastic way for you to get your child to comply with chores. You can say to them that they have to get all of the dishes washed up in 20 minutes for example. If your child doesn’t get the task done during this time, then you can proceed to send them to bed earlier by however long they went over. Of course, you need to exercise judgment when you are trying to find out if they are not doing chores because they don’t want to, or if the chores are simply taking them longer to do because they aren’t used to it.

Use a Reward-based System

If you can use a rewards-based system, then this will help your child out more than you realize. You can give your child an allowance, or you can even try and create a star system. When your child gets a certain amount of stars on their chart, you can then give them a reward. This may be going to the park with their football or it may be simply going to the shop to buy some sweets. Either way, this is a great way for you to make sure that you are encouraging them and that you are not simply using bribery to get what you want done. It’s important to make sure that your child understands the system too so that they are aware of the reward.