Should children do chores? Research says yes!
Involving your children in household chores is ideal for many parents who dream of seeing their children spontaneously clean their plates, make their beds, or put away their toys. It doesn’t happen all at once, or even overnight. Building skills like these takes time, but the effort is well worth it! Children’s participation in daily household chores is beneficial not only for our sanity as parents, but their development.
Chores help children develop essential life skills.
How do we get started? Involving everyone in the household in chores strengthens the child’s sense of belonging and spirit of collaboration. It helps the child understand that it is everyone’s obligation to contribute towards a common goal of maintaining a happy and healthy house. Having them take the lead in finding what they would like to help with encourages them to be intrinsically motivated to get the task done rather than just completing the task to please someone else. This is crucial for their long-term development as a person in society. Not just doing things to please or placate someone else, but doing it because they want to, or because it makes them feel good/better as an individual. Assigning household responsibility that your child can’t decline or hand off to someone else helps them acquire a sense of the effort and discipline that will serve them well later. It also allows them to understand that tasks are a part of the daily life of both adults and children. Lead by example, try to do chores during their wake hours if possible so they can see you also putting in the work and taking responsibility for messes. As our lives get busier, a lot of cleaning tasks must wait until the kids are in bed but try to set some smaller things aside for them to see you taking care of. Talk about what you’re doing and why it needs to be done. Having them see that you feel better or rewarded by the completion of a task will motivate them to do the same.
Always take their age into account when
handing out tasks. Is this job too big for
them? Do they understand what needs to be done? Can the task be made into something fun or a game? How does the task benefit the child directly? Below is a chart to give you some ideas of age-appropriate chores. Fortunately, from an early age, children are interested in play that imitates adult life: kitchen, caring for a baby doll, DIY toys, and so on. They want to be just like mom and dad, and do what grown ups do, so let them! How can they safely and appropriately participate in those activities that interest them. Take advantage of that interest and see where it leads you both.
Researchers have found that kids who perform household tasks tend to show less antisocial behavior (text of the research study here). Starting around age 2, children start to become aggressively independent sometimes. Completing chores also promotes independence and confidence. Taking pride in the work that they are doing and seeing a job successfully completed boosts their confidence and self-esteem.
Making this a fun experience overall will help create a more successful outcome that the whole family will benefit from. Creating a chore chart where their tasks can be easily tracked and marked off, and put up somewhere the whole family can see will help everyone keep each other accountable.
Local Events
Kirkland Urban Farmer’s Market – Every Saturday Starting 11/25 from 10am-2pm, Central Way
Featuring artisanal makers, growers, purveyors, crafters and producers, these markets highlight the best of the fall and winter season. With a focus on gifting, the winter markets are the perfect place to shop for holiday gifts the entire family will love, from crafts to food, and everything in between.
Seattle Christmas Market – Open 11/24-12/24 at the Seattle Center
Seattle welcomes a new winter holiday attraction! See the Seattle center transformed into a winter wonderland. Sip, savor, and celebrate the holiday season in this European themed market. Enjoy craft beers, bratwurst, soft pretzels, hot cocoa and so much more! There’s plenty of food and drink vendors to choose from, as well as many vendor booths to do some last minute gift shopping. A fun scavenger event for the kids, Christmas trivia, a carousel, and beautiful lights and decorations everywhere you look will keep the whole family entertained. Tickets do need to be purchased ahead of time for admission. Check out what else they have by visiting their website.
5th Annual Snohomish Holiday Market – Saturday 11/11 from 10am-2pm
It’s the BIG ONE! The biggest local holiday event is back for our 5th year!
Come shop for Thanksgiving and the upcoming holidays from your favorite farmers, food makers, artisans and crafters! We’ll have food trucks and coffee too – so you can stay fueled up for a fun time! There will be 150+ vendors to shop from during our one-day event. Remember to bring your shopping list, and your reusable totes to carry all your goodies. We are thrilled to partner with the Snohomish Food Bank again and we’ll be accepting donations of non-
perishable items as well as CASH/Venmo. All donations will be matched up to $1000 so we can ensure our neighbors in need are taken care of this season. We’re excited to be back where it all started – at Snohomish High School. We’ll have vendors indoors – taking up the Main & Auxiliary gyms as well as the Commons area. There will be plenty of food & goodies outside too. We’ll have tables set up so you can enjoy a break with a tasty beverage or a hot meal and enjoy LIVE music while you do!
FREE Parking and FREE admission – please do not fall for any spam/scams in the comments selling tickets. There are NO tickets required.
Food Trucks, Coffee, Chai Tea & more will be on site as well as indoor seating & SANTA visits too!
Important Dates
November 10 – No School, Veterans Day
November 15 – SCC Parent Ed. Presentation, 7-8pm
November 16 – WFP Board Meeting, 7-9pm
November 22-24 – No School, Thanksgiving Holiday