Toddlers and Pre-schoolers can Learn To Work Too!

My two year old and four year old love to help me with the laundry.
They fight for the best spot on their bar-stools and then peer into
the water as if searching for treasures. I hand them items of clothing
one at a time and they proudly hold each item up and exclaim who it
belongs to as they drop it in the water: "This is Mommy's shirt! These
are my pants!" You can imagine how long it takes to do this simple task
with their "help!"

True, I can do the work much faster myself, but letting my children
help me teaches them how to work and also shows them that everyone
needs to pitch in in order to help a family run more smoothly. When
we do laundry together, I exclaim, "Wow! You are so good at putting
the clothes in the washer!" What a good little helper you are! Thank
you so much for helping me do the laundry!"

Of course they absolutely beam at the praise and it also gives us a
chance to spend time together in a positive way. When I wash the counters,
I give each of them a little wet wash cloth and they go around washing
everything in sight!

Toddlers and Pre-schoolers are not too young to start helping with simple
tasks around the house. They can do things like: pick up their toys when
they are done playing with them, put their dirty clothes in the laundry,
put their dishes in the sink (with help) and so forth.

Children should learn that work is not only necessary, but can also be fun!
At this age, parents can work along with their children and can make the
jobs fun by singing or playing little "clean-up" games. This can be as
simple as singing fun little songs, like one from Barney: "Clean up, clean
up, everybody everywhere, clean up, clean up, everybody do your share!"

Sometimes we have a "60 second pick up" where we set the timer and scurry
around to see how many toys we can get picked up in 60 seconds. Or I will
count and see how long it takes them to pick up their toys.

Children love to try and see how fast they can go, which is one of the
reasons that "Children's Miracle Music" works so well. With this program,
kids have a song for each item they need to accomplish and they hurry to
finish before the songs do. There are even announcements on the CD such
as "only one song left to finish your breakfast!" So we as parents don't
have to keep giving reminders since the music does it for us!

When my pre-schooler listens to the CD and hears, "Time to get dressed
and put your pajamas away!" she hurries upstairs to do it before the songs
end, in order to earn her points. If you would like more information on
"Children's Miracle Music," you can check out their web-site right here



Another tip I use to help get my kids excited about picking up their things,
is by choosing a "magic item" among the things that need to be put away.
The kids don't know which item is the "magic" one and they don't find out
until everything is put away. Whoever put away the "magic item" gets a
little surprise. I will often choose a few "magic items" so that everyone
who helped can get a little reward.

There is always so much work to be done around the house and sometimes it
is tempting just to do the work ourselves, since we can usually do it faster
and better, but it is so important to teach children the important skills of
learning how to work. It will help us in the long run and children can gain
confidence in a job well done and build a strong work ethic that they can
carry with them throughout their entire lives.

True, my children's "help" with the laundry slows me down now, but in a few
short years (and everyone keeps reminding me how fast the years go) they
will be able to do their own laundry -- which will definitely be a help! A
few years after that, they will move away and I won't have any giggling mouths
or chubby little fingers dropping dirty socks one by one into the washing
machine. So for now I will embrace the help and maybe one day a little grand-
child will sit perched on a bar-stool nearby and ask the beloved question,
"Can I help?"

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