Make chores a game and kids will enjoy them
Web-posted Jun 3, 2004
By JAMES WINDELL
Special To The Daily Oakland Press
Good parents, just like good classroom teachers, know how to turn chores into fun tasks. For example, some teachers have children pretend to be riding on a train when they have to line up to go down the hallway. Some might even blow a train whistle which immediately reminds kids that they are to "Get on board" for the train trip to the cafeteria.
Other teachers use songs to teach lessons. Some use puppets to keep young student's attention while the teacher is imparting a lesson that doesn't feel like learning to the children. Others act out stories or get very dramatic, compelling kids to become involved in the reading.
One teacher I know turns her classroom into a store, and children, caught up in the excitement of "shopping," are not even aware of how much they learn by using play money and adding up their purchases.
Whenever you're having difficulties getting your child to comply with a request or to complete a chore, consider how you could turn a mundane task into an exciting game.
One of the toughest things to teach toddlers is how to pick up the toys when they're done playing. Often, as a busy parent, you might feel exasperated when the family room or the child's bedroom seems knee-deep in toys and you'd like your child to learn how to clean up after himself.
The simple answer is that often it's easy when you make a game of it. If you can transform a job that may seem overwhelming to a young child into a fun game, they will look at the chore as play while you get your desires met as well.
One way to encourage picking up toys or cleaning up a bedroom for preschool children is to encourage them to pretend to be a vacuum cleaner. As a vacuum cleaner, they get to make a loud motor sound while going throughout the house scooping up all those items on the floor that need to go in other places.
It also works for many younger children to make a competition out of clean-up time. When you say, "I'll bet I can pick up more toys than you do," kids often can't resist the challenge. Another way of setting up a contest is to use the toy box as the target and see how many toys can be successfully tossed in the toy box.
If it's night time and you want an area cleared of toys, try turning out the lights and announcing that you and she will be playing "Spotlight." You turn on a flashlight and say that you're going to shine a light on a toy and that she has to pick up whatever item is in the spotlight.
Another play technique that works well for some parents is to organize a scavenger hunt. By giving your child a brightly colored pail and outlining the rules of the scavenger hunt, you can prompt him to travel throughout the house looking for the "treasures" that will go in the pail - later to be dumped in the toy box or put away on shelves. If you provide a time limit and prizes, it may become a very popular game at your house.
No matter what games you make up, the beauty of most such games is that you avoid discipline problems and you have the distinct pleasure of feeling like the best parent in the neighborhood because you got him to clean up his toys - and you never yelled once.
James Windell is a Bloomfield Hills psychologist. Write to him at: The Daily Oakland Press, 48 W. Huron, Pontiac 48342; or e-mail jwind27961@aol.com.