How To Get Children To Do Their Chores

Sometimes getting children to do their weekly chores is not the easiest thing in the world, let alone getting them to help you out once in a while.  Kids like to have fun and play games and doing chores is in no way fun or exciting.

Every parent wants their children to have fun and do the things that all kids should be doing, however everyone has certain responsibilities and things that just need to be done including our children. 

You would like things to be done without fighting with them and making endless threats that don’t mean anything.  When you ask then to clean their room or wash the dishes, you want it done now, not after their favorite TV show or when they are finished playing video games.

I have found that giving my kids time limits and choices of what they want to do first. If the laundry needs to be folded and the dishes need to be washed and the floors need to be vacuumed all at the same time, give them the choice of what to do. 

Ask them to do it and then when they are finished with that give them another choice.  Don’t throw everything at them at once.  You don’t like to be overwhelmed and pushed to do something, so why would your kids? 

Time limits are good too.  Tell them when you want it done by, don’t say you want it done now. Tell them a time limit like this needs to be done in twenty minutes and give them consequences if it is not done.  When you say “now”, that to a kid could mean whenever. 

Give them a time to beat and if it is not done, take something that they want to like to do away.  Usually if you tell them that you are going to do this they will get the chore done.  This would probably work better on the older children.  As well as giving them consequences, give them some rewards for what they do and especially if they do something extra. 

If you don’t want to give them an allowance then take them to the store and let them pick out something, or take them out for ice cream or to a movie or something.  Let them know that they are being appreciated for doing something good.

Don’t we all like to be appreciated and praised for a job well done?  Let them do the chore first before you mention anything about a reward.  If you tell them that will get something first that will seem like you are giving them a bribe and they might expect that all the time.