Working for Fun

“But, Mom, I don’t want to clean my room!” Sound familiar? The good news is you can teach your children that doing their chores and being responsible don’t have to be drudgery. To help make life’s essential tasks more fun, why not try the following ideas?

Have a contest. How about dividing into teams to see who can finish making their dinner assignment first? If household cleaning jobs are your biggest chore, try assigning or letting each family member choose a specific task. Then have everyone move from room to room doing their jobs. The first one to clean thoroughly in all the rooms wins.

Offer incentives. Reward the team that finishes preparing their food assignment first by serving them dinner first. Maybe the quickest and best cleaner in your family gets to enjoy free time while waiting for the last person to finish.

Work together. Working with your children, you can show them how tasks are done, helping them to prepare for adult responsibilities someday. Also, use the time together to talk. Ask about your children’s lives, and tell them about yours.

When you help your children experience the satisfaction of doing a job well, you teach them one of life’s greatest skills.

Rose V. Voigt, Preston Branch, Rochester Minnesota Stake