During the colder months, or bouts with rain, or even when you just don’t feel like going outside, having certain activities that the kids can help out with can help keep boredom at bay.
Kids often like to be helpful and carry out various tasks, but getting away from the typical cleaning of their room or taking out the trash can help keep things interesting and make helping with household tasks a bit more intriguing.
Here are some of the things that we do with our four-year-old son that keeps him busy and that make him feel a part of carrying out various household duties.
Sorting Clothes/Matching Socks
Helping out with laundry might not sound like much fun to most of us adults, but it can be a good indoor activity to keep kids busy and entertained…plus, it can be educational. Just as kids play matching games, you can have them try matching up the socks from the laundry pile.
I grew up doing this for my mother. It gave me a sense of purpose, instilled work ethic, and kept me out of her hair. I do the same thing with my son now.
Setting/Clearing the Table
Certain aspects of setting or clearing the table might have to wait until a child is a little older, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that they can’t help out in certain other ways. I typically don’t let my son carry dishware or sharp utensils just yet, but setting out napkins, arranging chairs, helping with the table cloth, bringing back plastic condiment containers and similar duties can teach him about the responsibilities that come with preparing and serving home cooked meals.
Vacuuming
Depending on the size of vacuum, helping with the vacuuming duties may or may not be an option when it comes to keeping the little one entertained. Personally, our son is just big enough now to make the move from hand-held vacuum to the full upright version.
While I certainly don’t expect him to be vacuuming the entire house or taking on dangerous tasks such as vacuuming the stairs, he tends to find working the vacuum in larger, open spaces (where he won’t go bumping into too many things that could break) a fun activity. Seeing all the stuff that you can’t really see on the floor get whisked up into the vacuum container and emptied out in the trash can be a somewhat amazing process to a four-year-old.
Feeding Pets
Having the little one help care for and feed the family pets can be a great way to have them help out with household duties as well as teach them responsibility about caring for another living being.
Our son helps to feed and provide water to our cat and also has two water frogs that he feeds. I like that these sorts of indoor activities not only help keep him busy, but instill some work ethic in him and teach him that he’s not the only one on this planet who needs food, water, and attention to stay alive.
Door Men/women
I often assign the “door man” roll to my son. This can be an especially helpful role when we’re bringing in groceries or carrying in other objects. He enjoys holding the door open for us or closing it behind us to keep the heat or cold out. It’s actually quite helpful for us as well, not only keeping us from having to stop and fumble to open or close the door but to keep our son out of harms (and our) way while we’re busy trudging in and out with awkward or heavy loads..
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