What are your favorite ways to involve your toddler-aged kids in household chores?

For me this question is an important one. I remember being told long ago that as a mother you should “work yourself out of a job” – meaning that you should train your kids to take over the household maintenance. Great idea, but how do you implement that in practice, and at such a young age? I’d say my 2 year old is the least helpful person in the house when it comes to cleaning – not because of a lack of willingness to “do it herself” but because when left to her own devices she CREATES more messes! So how do you harness that toddler willingness to help while also managing their mess-making abilities and impulsive natures?

MAKE IT A DAILY ROUTINE

One thing I have done with my 4 year old and 2 year old is incorporating “chores” into our daily routine – so it’s something they are used to doing every morning. After breakfast they help me in some fashion with 3 simple tasks: dishes, laundry and getting dressed. Here’s what it looks like for each age:

Mr. Four: He can sort the silverware on his own and put the tray back into the dishwasher. He can also hand me clean items from the dishwasher for me to put away in the cupboard (except for the knives). He is able to roll his own clothes up (that’s our preferred folding method) and also can put them away on his own into his dresser drawer. Mr. Four also picks out his own outfit and with some minor assistance with buttons he can get his clothes on for the day and put dirty items into the laundry basket.

Miss Two: She needs step by step assistance with most everything or she gets distracted. I sometimes make the silverware into a game by counting each item or sorting by color. Or I will put her at the sink and have her rinse off dirty breakfast dishes (really she’s just playing in the water, which she loves). As for getting dressed, she is in charge of throwing her dirty diaper into the trash and also gets to pick out her own clothes but I help her getting these items on. She is also able to put her own clothes into her dresser – she likes to put them into her toy stroller and roll them into her room and then unload.

We aren’t perfect at doing this every day but we are trying!

MOTIVATION

At first my kids were super excited to be helping with these things but after a while it gets old (for me too haha!). So to keep them motivated at different times I have used stickers and a little chart as an incentive, and for my older four year old he receives a weekly allowance if he does his daily chores. This is a way I’ve been able to start teaching him about basic personal finance principles (the value of money, the principle of working toward something he wants, and separating income into spending, savings and tithing/giving). So when he is lacking motivation on these morning chores usually all I need to do is gently remind him that if he does his job he will earn his money for the week – and be able to get something of his choice at the dollar store when he has enough coins. I’ve taken him once a month or so and he absolutely loves being able to pick out an item and pay for it himself.

CLEANING IS A PART OF COOKING!

The other principle I’ve tried to incorporate with all of our recipes is to teach the kids that cleaning up is a part of the cooking process. So when it’s super messy at the end having them wipe down the surface (or try to haha!), or help me vacuum the crumbs, or rinse off the dishes… It doesn’t always happen but I am trying to be consistent.

Here is some more wisdom on involving toddlers in chores from our readers!

SPRAYING IS FUN FOR TODDLERS

“My little guy loves to spray just about anything, so I use it as an incentive. “Let’s sort this laundry and then we can spray stains” or “Let’s clear the table, so we can spray it down” stuff like that. I use a similar approach with vacuuming as an incentive too. I like how involving them in this way also helps them to understand the steps involved in the cleaning process. Maybe one day that knowledge will help them to be more conscientious and less messy. That is my hope anyway.” – Cherise L.

“My 2 year old loves to spray things with a cleaner bottle. I use homemade cleaners so they are safe for her to use. Give her a rag and a spot to spray and she is happy. She can clean windows too.” -Mary M. 

PS. Mary uses lemon juice, vinegar and essential oils in her homemade cleaning spray.

TODDLERS CAN WIPE, HELP WITH DISHES, and OTHER SMALL TASKS

“My little ones love helping wipe the walls with cleaning wipes or often they will help load the dishwasher, especially silverware. I also give them small specific tasks to help when we are cleaning up a room.” -Ida S.

DRYING DISHES, and the PERKS OF MINIMIZING TOYS

“My boys help dry all of the dishes and put them away. I stack the wet plastic ones on their little table so they can dry them one by one. If they get through their dishes, I carefully hand them silverware or something I’m not worried about them breaking. I also recently donated about 60% of their toys 😱 Now they have a small amount of toys that they can clean up on their own instead of feeling overwhelmed by a big mess and needing my help. It’s been amazing! PS. I can’t believe how much of a difference it’s been having LESS toys! They play together better and can easily clean up. 🙌🏻” -Shelby H.

Thank you to our readers for submitting their ideas! I hope this toddler idea box will be a great resource for all of you out there in the trenches working with toddlers! Stay tuned for the next question & answer 🙂