Children can contribute their time and effort in helping the family by doing household chores. Teaching your children at an early age that each family member is important and needs to pitch in will help them feel needed and empowered. Even a toddler can help by putting toys away at the end of a play period. Pre-school aged children can help set a dinner table, starting with placement of napkins, cutlery, and unbreakable dinnerware. Save the breakable pieces until they mature a bit. If you catch children early on and praise them for their involvement, they are usually happy and eager to help. This builds their sense of importance and increases their self-esteem. As they grow, the chores can be expanded to caring for their own bedroom, making the bed and tidying the room, and gradually helping with other chores inside and outside of the home.
Children thrive when they have structure, routine, and clear expectations. Their confidence grows when their parents acknowledge and praise them for helping with household tasks. You might think that it is oftentimes more expedient to do the task yourself rather than remind your child, but in the long run having your child involved actually improves your family’s life. You are helping them to develop time management ability. Caring and being productive in their home gradually expands into caring and being productive in their school and community. These life skills will serve them well as they grow into adulthood.
All Blogs are written by Professionals in the fields of Nutrition, Human Development and Diabetes.