I believve that when it comes to teaching children to help out around the home that you should start from an early age.

I have three children. A daughter who is 6 and two boys 4 & 2. All of them help around the house.

Young children are always willing to try new things & we as parents, should encourage them to do so. It's all part of their learning process.

For young children such as a 2 year old, it's good to start with the little things that they want to do such as, vacuuming the floor (they usually only vacuum in one spot, but are just learning & they are helping in their own way). Another good chore is to give them a dustpan and broom and let them sweep up the mess on the floor in the kitchen. My son loves the broom, so I bought a new one with a wooden handle & cut the handle down to kiddie size for hime to use.

Young children also love to pull out their plastic shovels & wheelbarrows and help you in the garden! We have a large yard with a lot of gardens, and we are always out mulching, pruning, planting and weeding.
My sons love to get their wheelbarrows & help by filling them up with weeds & dumping them into the bin or filling them up with dirt or mulch and dumping them in little piles around the yard.
My two year old works harder than a lot of teenagers these days! You wouldn't believe how many times he has gotten outside with his dad & I & worked nearly all day with us, just shifting sand & mulch in his tiny wheelbarrow. He even tells us off when we stop for a break!

Other things your children can do are:

1. washing & drying the dishes (just remove any sharp knives & objects first)& let them do the rest.

2. Packing away their own toys & cleaning their room.

3. Packing away their toys in the backyard.

4. Helping you to load the washing machine or dishwasher.

5. wipe down the dining table after a meal.

6. Doing their home work!

7. Helping you to do the shopping.

It's important to reward your child for the things that they have done also. Make a reward chart with their names on it. Write the list of chores at the top. For every chore that they do, they recieve a sticker & at the end of the week they receive a reward. Change it to keep it interesting & don't always make it money as they grow up expecting you to pay them for every little thing that you want them to do around the house! Encourage them with an outing, such as the movies, or to the swimming pools or going out for icecream.
Let them put the stickers onto their charts themselves as they love to do this & it's more exciting.

Within no time, your kiddies will be helping you around the house & it will be making your life a whole lot easier. After-all, we are parents, not House maids!

Learn more about this author, Beverley Thompson.
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