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Let Me Help! What Children Learn From Household Chores

By Kim Koin, Lead Educator and Developer, Visual Arts, Chicago Children's Museum

Growing up in Chicago, I knew spring had truly arrived when my family would don grubby clothes and head out to the backyard garden. My brother shoveled mulch into a small wheelbarrow so I could maneuver it to where my parents were turning the earth. It was a time to marvel at how last summer’s grass clippings had transformed into this spring’s mulch. For me, it was an especially meaningful opportunity to spend time with my dad, who typically worked nights and came home after I was asleep.

Looking back at my warmest childhood memories, I realize that a lot of them are about being a contributing member of my family. I remember washing dishes with my brother—negotiating who would wash and who would dry—and sorting freshly laundered socks while trying (but not too hard) to keep our dog from stealing a sock for himself. I remember my dad teaching me how to make homemade salad dressing, through lots of guesswork, taste-testing and experimentation.

Of course, I often balked at having to help with chores when my favorite cartoon was on. In today’s busy families, parents’ hectic work schedules, after-school sports practice, TV and homework often make it seem simpler to exclude children from household chores. However, chores are a great way to spend time together, while providing children an opportunity to participate in meaningful work. It’s no small thing to feel that you have made a contribution to your family’s well being.

Chores also contribute to children’s development. When children help write a shopping list or read packaging at the grocery store, they are practicing basic literacy skills. Helping fold laundry, dust, and wash dishes help develop motor skills. Chores are valuable for learning time management and responsibility: “If I don’t do the laundry today, I can’t wear my favorite sweater to school tomorrow.” By taking part in decision making, children learn to consider the needs of others: “I’d like to take peanut butter sandwiches on the picnic, but my little sister Kate can’t have nuts yet.”

Here are some tips to ensure that including children in chores doesn’t become a chore in itself:

Encourage interest: Build on children’s hobbies. Perhaps your child has a knack for organizing, an interest in plants, or aspires to be the next Iron Chef. A child who resists dusting may have a passion for cooking and might enjoy picking a recipe, creating a shopping list, and chopping vegetables.

Match chores to children’s abilities: A two-year-old cannot dust the knick-knacks, but given a wet rag can successfully clean the coffee table. Working in the museum’s art studio, I’ve seen older children beam with pride after showing a younger child how to take care of a printing screen.
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Real Work: Children feel a sense of purpose when they know they are truly contributing. Make sure your child’s chores are valued and respected. If your child is in charge of the window herb garden, use the basil grown there in family meals.

Schedule Time Together: The job is more fun and is accomplished more quickly when everyone’s involved. Many children love to pitch in when a room is being painted. Doing chores side by side presents opportunities to teach children valuable skills—or simply catch up on what’s happening in each others’ lives.

Keep a Playful Outlook: Chores can be fun and creative! A trip to the grocery store can become a game of I-Spy: “I spy a red box of crackers that starts with the letter ‘R’.” Mopping the floor can become a slow, sudsy dance party. Tidying the living room can become a 10-minute speed race. Taking out the garbage can become a lesson in recycling: “How little did we manage to throw out this week?”

Everyone, no matter how young, needs to feel productive, and including children in household work is a wonderful to way to help them recognize their important role in the family. The self-esteem that comes from feeling needed, instead of feeling needy, can be achieved through small tasks. The next time there’s a job be done, be sure to involve the kids!

© 2007 Chicago Children's Museum

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