How to Make Chores More Fun for Kids

Happy girl doing chores

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As a WAHM we tend to need as much cooperation as possible from our families. Working all day from home has its perks; however, our families must realize that everyone needs to pitch in. Being a WAHM, does not mean you are sitting on the couch, watching TV, or available to do housework all day long. You have a WAHM Job! So it does take a group effort.

Regardless if you are a WAHM or you work outside of the home, it can become quite the battle to get the kids to do things as simple as picking up their toys, putting their clothes and shoes away, and doing their homework .

Making chore time a positive experience can help motivate your kids to help get their jobs done without the fuss. We want to share just a few tips with you that we have found to help us WAHMS.

Earning Privileges

It is recommended by psychologists to establish privileges in your home. You can do this by working out a chore list that allows your children to earn privileges. If your child has a love for his or her video games, or even being on their computer, you will set up the chore list where the chores must be done first. Once the chores are done, they then earn the time to play their games or go on their computers.

This can be applied to children of all ages. A younger child might like to play with certain toys after school. Once the chores are done, they then earn this time to play with their toys.

Make a Chart

The concept of earning privileges through doing chores may be made easier by creating a chart. It helps give the kids some control over what privileges they can earn and it even gives them some motivation to move forward and get their chores done before mom and dad need to tell them to do them. After all, who wants to listen to mom and dad nag all the time? And what parent really wants to nag?

Creating a chore chart for children who still are unable to read, can be done by using pictures. Create the picture of the chore to be done and a picture of the privilege that they will earn. Simply drawing a line from the chore to the privilege will make it easy for them to understand.

Another option for the older children is to use play money. Give them the opportunity to earn play money when doing their chores. In return, there will be a cost to each privilege. For example: Completing homework earns them $5. Perhaps they really want to ride their bike. Riding the bike might cost $10. Therefore, the child would need to complete $5 more in chores in order to do this.
It really does become fun this way and makes life easier for both the WAHM and the dad!

Participate

At times it's hard to justify having the kids do the chores, while you might be sitting on the couch relaxing because you had a long day at work. While you may want to get up and participate. You do not want to do your kids chores, but instead this would be the perfect opportunity to work on your own daily chores at the same time.

There will always be a time in which you'll need to walk a child through their chores, or even point out what they forgot to pick up. So if you need to, show them. Explain what might be left to do, and let them do it. Remember, these are their chores, not yours.

Games

Have you ever thought about making a chore into a game? Kids love to have fun! Making the game fun could be your answer! There are many possibilities with this. Be creative. Younger kids may enjoy pretending to be a clean-up robot while you operate the pretend remote. Getting them to move fast, slow, backwards, and forwards, well let's be honest. That sounds like fun! Make chore time a race. You will do your chores while they do theirs. See who gets done first. This is a good one in my house! No matter which way you look at it, homework isn't always fun. Let the kids earn some points for each homework assignment they complete. The list could go on and on. Have fun with it and you'll soon find that chore time will be fun in your home!

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How to Make Chores More Fun for Kids

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