To do or not to do chores, that is the question for a lot of parents. Do you ask children to do certain chores around the house and when is the right time to start? Can home activities really have a crucial impact on children’s development and help them be more successful later in life?
By doing various household chores, children can learn a lot from an early age. First of all, they learn to take care of themselves and their immediate environment and thus acquire the basic skills needed for daily functioning. By repeating the actions, they practice different movements and thus improve their motor skills (including their fine motor skills).
All it takes is a little patience to see how the child becomes more agile and faster, but more importantly – more confident. This is the moment when your child begins to develop emotional and mental skills crucial for a successful and happy life.
Even a simple job can make a difference
Think of a person from your environment who you would say is successful, happy, satisfied and think about what features you would list as their main personality traits. You can lay the foundations of these qualities with your children aged 2-3, but also when they’re older. Start from quite simple jobs for younger children to more complex, responsible and difficult ones, which will be a solid basis for their future success.
Here’s what kids will learn through simple housework:
- Willingness to face problems and inconveniences – the fact is that in the beginning it will not be easy and pleasant for children to do chores, later some will become boring, but they will eventually realize that the sooner they fulfill their obligations, the sooner they will free up their time for better and more fun things, develop a positive attitude, be ready to face the problems and find better ways to solve them.
- Teamwork – when you do work together with children, you have the opportunity to show them how important cooperation and harmony with others is and how much it can contribute to the end result.
- Empathy is a direct result of successful teamwork, a developed sense for others, a desire to help if you have the chance. Take the opportunity to praise your child whenever they help you by doing a certain job.
- Management and organization skills – over time, the child will begin to look for better, faster, more efficient ways to do the job, with less effort but with better quality. Inevitably, they will begin to develop a sense of better organization and ultimately find a better way to manage their time, both free time and time for doing household chores.
- Responsibility – by delegating certain tasks to the child, they become the ones responsible for doing them, which is a great way to see what it means when they don’t do what is expected of them, but also to feel success and pride when the job is well done.
- Independence – when they learn to be responsible, children will learn to be independent, they will understand that it is up to them whether, when and how they’ll do certain things.
- Work habits and work ethic – regular work will enable children to acquire work habits as well as to develop work ethic, a sense that they can achieve everything, as well as to focus, plan out their goals and develop a growth mindset.
- They develop a better and deeper relationship with your family – sharing work with children can be your special moment, a time when you focus only on them, they get to know you better, and you give them the opportunity to open up to you something that bothers them, or similar topics.
- Sense of competence – by doing work around the house, children contribute to family life and the functioning of the household, develop a sense of competence, realize that they are capable, that their work is important and has a clear purpose.
No matter if they approach housework with joy and enthusiasm or not, children will inevitably develop self-confidence, readiness to face inconveniences or problems, and it will be much easier to come up with new solutions and ideas and become more responsible. You can develop all the most important qualities that successful people have during childhood and adolescence, and predetermine your child for success in life.
You will achieve this best by gradually introducing obligations to children in accordance with their age, abilities and skills, and to help you with that, we have prepared a list of age-appropriate jobs that you can download here. Try to be their support, to praise every task they complete and to help them if they need it.
Now imagine one day in the future, some 10-15 years from today, you’re sitting with your child who is now an adult and who tells you about a job he wants to do, how he has a great idea to start a new business, how he has gathered friends and colleagues and devised a practical way to share jobs and responsibilities in order to be efficient and put their business on the right track.
Congratulations! You are responsible for that success, your support, perseverance and love made your child grow into a happy, promising and successful person.
If you like the image you have imagined, we believe you know what to do.