Five Practical Ways To Get Your Kids To Do Chores

The idea that children should learn to complete chores for some abstract reason, such as duty or responsibility, sounds fine on paper, but it has very little practical application in a child's life. It just does not work as a plan.

There are, however, practical methods you can take to urge your children to do their tasks.
One of the most prevalent disagreements among families is how to get their children to do their tasks. We exclaim at our child, "Why haven't you cleaned your room yet?" as he or she sits on the couch watching YouTube, replying, "I'll do it later!" Alternatively, they may say nothing and simply ignore us.

 

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

 

The choice shouldn’t be excitement or chore. The choice should be boredom or chore.

 

However, the reason children dislike chores is the same reason adults dislike duties: household tasks are often uninteresting. And most children are not old enough to grasp that if they work fast and do their jobs, they will be rewarded by being able to return to their pleasure.

Instead, they whine, postpone, and drag their feet in order to avoid doing 20 or 30 minutes of pretty simple labour.

If you find yourself continuously nagging your children to perform their chores, here are five practical strategies you can do.

Limit The Distractions

You need to try and stop whatever is distracting your youngster if he is not doing his tasks. This almost certainly indicates that the electronics are switched off. They don't turn back on until the chores are completed.

Then speak with him about it. However, make it brief. Inquire as to what he believes is going on and what is impeding him from completing his allocated chores.

Discover what his plans are once he's finished. Motivate him to complete the assignment so that he can do what he wants to accomplish.

Appealing to a child's self-interest, rather than conveying the abstract concept of responsibility or obligation, is often far more effective for children.

Set A Timer 

Time constraints are an effective approach to motivate your youngster to accomplish his or her duties. "All right, the dishes have to be done in 20 minutes," you can say.

If she hasn't finished them in 20 minutes, your child's bedtime is moved up. Alternatively, she may lose some electronic time. This incurs a cost as a result of her dilatory behaviour.
The beauty of this technique is that you are no longer continually nagging. Instead, you're merely keeping track of time. A cooking timer with an alarm can also be used. 

 

"Let's not repeat what happened last night—remember, you didn't enjoy going to bed early," you can say.

Another scheduling approach that parents might employ is to encourage their children to compete with themselves. You could say:

 

"Let's see if you can complete it in 15 minutes tonight." But keep in mind that you must do it correctly. I'll look into it."

You may even provide her an incentive:

 

 "If you finish it in 15 minutes, you can stay up another 15 minutes." Or you can stay online for another 15 minutes."

The child will then find it more intriguing and stimulating. While your child will not suffer any consequences if she does not complete the task, she will benefit if she does.

This type of reward system is always superior to one in which the child loses anything since it is more motivating and less punitive—you are providing your child with an incentive to do better.

Use Pocket Money

If parents can afford to give their children an allowance, they should do so. In addition, parents should relate the allowance to their children's chores. For example, if your child needs to be reminded to do his tasks more than once, he will forfeit a portion of his allowance. Maybe a dollar. And he loses another dollar every time you remind him. It's also fine to give that portion of his allowance to a sibling who does the work instead. This way, you're not focusing on the duty, but on the communication process and your child's motivation.

Build A Structure 

When it comes to accomplishing domestic activities, structure is crucial. I feel that duties should be completed at a specific time. During the school year, evenings are usually the greatest time for chores because performing tasks in the morning merely adds to the stress and strain of getting to school on time. However, in the summer, I advocate performing chores first thing in the morning to get them out of the way before the day begins.

 

In general, make it a rule that your child's bed is made, his clothes are in the hamper, and his room is neat before allowing him to play video games or use devices. In this way, he's learning that his tasks must be met before he can enjoy leisure time. Again, you should never take your child away from something interesting in order to do something ordinary and boring. Rather, you want to get people to go through the monotonous and dull tasks in order to get to the interesting stuff.

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Finally, the decision should not be between thrill and drudgery. Boredom or chore should be the option. Kids must realise that they cannot have fun until their responsibilities are completed. No electronics until tasks are completed, and no socialising with friends until chores are completed. Boredom must be the alternative to doing their responsibilities.
With this kind of framework in place, most kids will eventually prefer to finish their duties before moving on to other activities. This way you may find that they reach for the mild dish soap more often than not. 

 

Finally, schedule a period when all of your children are performing their duties at the same time. So your 15-year-old may be unloading the dishwasher as your 11-year-old takes out the trash. As a result, no one feels like they're missing out or being punished for having to perform their tasks. It's just a routine. ‌

Final Words

When you allow your child to become a tyrant, getting him or her to do chores becomes a battle. If you're standing over your kids urging them to "empty the dishwasher, mow the grass, clean the kitchen," and they're sinking their heels in and still refusing, you're in a struggle. And as a parent, you must put an end to the conflict.

If you do not terminate the conflict, you will be trapped in a nagging loop. Of course, the problem with nagging is that it doesn't work. So, use the methods above to replace your nagging and put an end to the task conflict once and for all.