Schools are closed, and stay-at-home orders are still in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, our kids are now spending more time at home than ever before.
While it’s always a good thing to have them around for the better part of every day, kids will likely be bored being cooped up at home. Sure, they can spend most of their days in front of screens, but they need physical activity, what with all the pent-up energy young people typically possess.
As a parent, it’s your responsibility to get them to do something other than play games on their devices. Exercises and games in the backyard are good, but you can also get them to do chores as part of their daily physical activity. To motivate our kids to perform the tasks listed in your chores app for kids, you could offer them rewards.
If you’re open to giving your kids incentives for doing chores, here are some ideas for rewards that your kids will likely appreciate.
An Allowance
There is an ongoing debate about the wisdom of giving allowances for doing chores.
Some are against it, saying it is their children’s duty to help around the house, that it’s the right thing to do and, therefore, don’t have to be paid for it.
Many parents, however, argue that kids should earn money for their chores because it helps them learn the relationship between work and pay at an early age. It will teach them the value of hard work and earning money, which will serve them well when they become adults.
Praise
At the other end of the spectrum is praise, which won’t cost you anything at all!
Of course, showering your kid with praise will work best if your son or daughter is still below 10. Young children’s efforts to pick up their toys, put their laundry in the basket, or do any age-appropriate task deserve constant praise. It will make them feel good about having achieved something and motivate them to keep up the good work.
Sweets
Most kids like sweets, but we all know we shouldn’t give them too much of it. For the sake of your family’s overall health, sweets should only be an occasional thing.
If your household has a limit on sweets in place, that will make candy, chocolate, ice cream, cake, and other sweet stuff something of a rarity. How about turning them into a reward for helping out with the chores? Kids will always be kids, and they will be looking forward to the promise of an ice cream party after, say, a month of helping with the chores.
Screen Time
Kids these days already spend a lot of their time in front of the computer, tablet, smartphone, and TV. It is your responsibility to manage their screen time, and giving them chores will surely cut into it.
In all likelihood, your kid won’t like sacrificing their screen time to wash the dishes or mow the lawn. However, if you make additional screen time an incentive for doing chores, your child will come to understand that it’s something they have to earn. Considering how important screen time is to kids today, the chance to earn more of it will give them all the motivation they need to finish their tasks.
Staying Up Past Bedtime
Another reward for doing chores that won’t cost you a penny is allowing your kids to stay up past their bedtime. It may not seem much, but getting the chance to stay up late means a lot to most young children. If you allow them to stay up 30 minutes past their bedtime, for example, that half-hour will give them the chance to play some more, or get a few more bedtime stories out of you.
If you’re thinking about taking this approach, it’s best to make it a weekend thing, like on a Friday or Saturday night. Offer them those extra 30 minutes (or even more, if you want) if they promise to do age-appropriate chores the entire week.
Fun Coupons For Random Incentives
Coupons are yet another cost-free reward your kids will enjoy receiving after doing chores.
You can make them work to receive a coupon that gives them the power to choose what to have for dinner on a given night. If you’re feeling generous, maybe you can make a coupon that entitles him or her to a chore-free weekend.
Chances are, your kid will collect those coupons, then use them whenever they want. As long as it’s within reason, you should allow that to happen.
The Benefits of Making Your Kids Do Chores
The benefits of doing chores aren’t limited to the rewards your kids get for accomplishing tasks you give them. If anything, the rewards listed above are for the short-term. It’s the long-term benefit of doing chores as a kid that matters most.
The life skills they learn are by themselves a remarkable benefit of doing chores during their childhood. Doing the dishes and laundry, cleaning their room, and preparing meals are some of the skills they learn as a child that will make their adult, independent lives easier.
Making your children perform household tasks also teaches them responsibility and helps them build a strong work ethic. They can apply everything they learned about responsibility and working hard into their lives when they grow up and enter the real world.
There are also scientific studies that highlight the value of getting kids to do chores. A 20-year study conducted by the University of Minnesota, for example, says doing chores from as early as the age of three is the best predictor of their success when they hit their mid-20s.
Whether or not you reward your kids for doing chores is entirely up to you. But if giving them incentives is what it would take to make them do chores, don’t shy away from doing it. At least you get them to help around the house, and that, in the long run, is the most important thing for your kids’ sake.
