How old should we start teaching our children to do the household work?

i agree that it's really cute to see them imitating us hehe in my opinion, i agree with you regarding this issue too. let them enjoy doing domestic works but of course we need to supervise them. if they enjoy and have fun doing it, they will be much more willing to do chores when they are older. my son who is now turning 6 is quite reluctant to do his chores but maybe that could partly be because i 'order' him to or he's a boy or he's just not interested. thus, i sometimes give him rewards or praise him so that he's happy and does them. and i let him know that he's being a big help to me by helping me and he's even happier. i personally started doing my chores really late because i hated it and even now still hate it. but i've got no choice but to do it. i just wanted to go into my own world and keep reading storybooks but now there's not much chance. if they can do simple chores, let them because most children, as they grow older, they become lazier as well hehe^_^

All members of a household should contribute to the running of the household. Three is a little early but if they enjoy it you need patience while they learn. I see parents doing everything for their children and they are being shortchanged because the children have no life skills and expect that there will always be someone around to step 'n' fetchit for them. Kids tend to want to do things until they are effective in doing things then they do not want to do it anymore.

Hi friends, Let me tell you what happens when you don't teach your children at a young age. You will have a 14 year old girl like I do (I love her dearly) but she will not do ANYTHING. Trying to get her to just clean up her own room is near to impossible. I totally blame myself that I always did everything for her from when she was a baby. Now I am really paying the price and it is very frustrating. I find this so particularly because she is a girl and I did expect a lot more from her than my two boys age 19 and 23. They are pretty good, especially my oldest. So for goodness sakes, it doesn't hurt them to help around the house as young as possible. Hopefully it will become second nature to them. My mistake. Cheryl

the sooner the better. seems as if your daughter has already started, good for her. boys & girls both need to learn to do them. they'll both be out on their own one of these days.

hello, doris. i have a daughter too, but she is 2 mon only. i think 3-year-old is younger to do household, if your daughter did so, i think she is so clever and lovable. if my daughter would do so, i would be so excited. i hope it.

I think 3years old should be just correct. I have a little son. He'd like to help me to do a lot of things such as sweeping the floor, wiping the table, making the room in order. Althought he couldn't do all the things to my required, i feel satisfied with that. I'm sure he will do better with his growning up.

When my children were young I taught them that they needed to put away their toys when hey were done with them. When they were 5 and in kindergarden they learned to get theri own clothes out for school the night before(of course I had to see what they chose and approve of it). They even made their beds every morning. They cleaned their own room, picking up and straightening out. They learned to wash dishes, dry and put them away when they were in the 2nd grade, just the dinner dishes. As I worked while they did this. They even took the trash out at an early age. It taught them responsibility. I gave them money for the work they did.

My daughter just turned 2. She puts her own dishes in the sink, throws things in the trash by herself, puts her dirty clothes in her laundry bag, and things like that. She also likes to help with the laundry. Aside from pouring the detergent and turning the knob she does most of it. She also likes to help sweep, mop, vacuum, and stir things when I am cooking. I don't think it is ever to early to encourage them to help out. Making them is a different story, but if they want to help I say let them at that age.

As long as they want to do it then i think any age is ok to be doing those things of course being supervised. My children are 5 and almost three both tidy up their toys throw their rubbish in the bin help get their pyjamas etc for bed and tidy their room. The 5 year old can wash the dishes but we dont make her she is still far to young to be made to do jobs like that but if she asks i allow her too because i also dont want her growing up thinking she can never have to do chores. Children deserve though to be children as long as possible and while i do expect them to tidy up their toys look after their own things etc I didnt have them to do the household chores that are mine as the adult to do.

Theres nothing wrong with what you are doing. My daughter also wanted to help at a very young age. As soon as they are old enought to walk i would teach my kids to pick up after themselves. My daughter loved vaccuming and dusting. Every saturday morning befroe cartoons were watched they had to clean their rooms. My kids are grown and out on their own now . My daughter also has her kids help wiht housework. They are better off helping with house work than they are thinking everyone should clean up after them.

When our young children help us with simple housework such as sweeping keeping their rooms tidy folding clothes we seem to feel lucky because not all children would want to do these things.They should be rewarded and praised accordingly.As long as your child is not forced to do,let them enjoy the task they can do as long as it will not hurt them or deprived them of enjoying their time as children.

I think 3 years old is till too young to do some serious household chores. I started doing serious household chores when I was seven years old. My mom would ask me to wash the dishes, make my bed, clean my room and sometimes water the plants. But you can still ask your 3-year old to do simple tasks such as keeping her toys when she's done. And if she's really interested in helping out around the house, then let her help. It's a good training for her. At that age, little girls tend to mimick the actions of the older people around her, so she may be imitating you. If she volunteers, let her help because it is also a way for her to discover things that she can now do as a toddler. It will also boost her self-confidence and make her feel independent. I have an officemate whose daughter is about the same age as yours and based from her stories, it seems that your daughters are in the exact same phase of growing. Her 3-year old always volunteers to help her out in cooking and other tasks around the house and would even be disappointed when her mom wouldn't let her. So, that is quite normal, I think.

At three years she is more than old enough to play the cleanup game and pick up her own toys and put them away. That's plenty at that age. It is also a way for her to develop a good habit of keeping her room neat. There are lots of little things kids can do and at that age they actually want to help. My nephew like sweeping so much at that age my aunt bought him his own child sized broom. He loved to go sweep off the front porch. Of course now he's a teenager...

Maybe teacher her to pick up after herself I wouldnt be giving her the vaccum cleaner and duster and setting her free on the living room just yet.

See I feel, it is a natural process. You need not teach her. See, already she has started picking up the thing. So, the process will continue. You just start giving instructions on how to do the jobs efficiently -- I mean with less physical effort and more accuracy. Never ask her to do any job, just praise her. Let her do whatever she likes to do. She will automatically pick up in her own speed.

I think you are doing a good job letting your little girl do some simple chores with you. Not only is she a help to you but you also get to bond as you spend time doing chores together. It's good that she has a positive outlook about doing house chores, I think she will less likely dread doing chores when she is a lot older since she has lots of wonderful memories of doing them with you.

Hmm... My eldest son started to fix his bed at the age of 2. Little by little I let him help me doing things very lightly as if we are just playing. I do not let him do things that he does not want at first but I will let him see that it is fun doing household chores. We tend to sing while doing things. As you said, it is but ok to let kids to be exposed to household chores as early as possible for them to appreciate things that you are doing for them. To let the place neat and tidy so they can play in a nice and safe place. Always give reasons why you are doing things for them or with them, :-) Just to not over do things, if they will insist to make things that you find it difficult for them, just tell them that, "this is not the right time for you to do this things that Mom can. Just wait for the time that you can do these things at your right age. For the mean time, this and that is the only thing you can do with me at this time." My mom used to say, there are things that an adult can do that kids cannot do, like picking up heavy things, going to work, etc. But make an emphasis that there also things that we adults cannot do, like: going to school, playing baby's toys, etc. So they will learn to wait and see the difference of what they can do and they cannot do at the given time. Have a great day!

You mean my 1 year old shouldn't be cleaning the floor with one of her wipes lol. My kids are still too young ages 3 and 1 to assign real things to them to do. They think its fun. So I let them do what they think is help and then they get bored with it and run off to do something else. When they turn 5 I will start giving them things that they will have to do everyday on their own. Picking up their clothes after I have folded them, cleaning their rooms, picking up their dishes after they finish eating, putting their clothes in the laundry basket. I will still get them to help me with other things just so they can learn. Sometimes it does drive me crazy when i am trying to do something and they do exactly what I asked them not to do. Like climbing in the dryer or throwing the clothes on the floor, grabbing glasses out of the dishwasher but how else will they learn.

Hello dorisday. Small kids sometimes do love to imitate their parents doing some household chores. My son used to mop the floor every day when he was not so busy with his study, but now he is very busy almost all day in the school for his intense study. He still does some household like doing some cooking for lunch and dinner when his mother is busy. I am glad that my son is capable of dealing with some household and can take care of himself now.

I had the problem of asking my son to do the household work. It should be one of the skills children need to learn, whether for boys or for girls. Parents often focus on their studies, reluctant to spare any of their time for home chores. Actually, the skills is what they need other than the studies. Time is never enough, still is available if well managed. They can be taught from easy to difficult as early as you wish. It is the concept, not the actual labor, that matters. As long as we do not fear the supposed disturbing of their study, children are happy to accept the jobs as game or play, say wash a little towel, or socks, clean table and chair. Three or four are old enough to start. One of my relatives had two children, who shares a lot of their home chores, but still kept good shooling. When the boy was studying overseas, he saved his daily expenses by doing cooking for his roommates, while the taiwanese paid for food, the singapore paid the rent, and the hong kong guy drove the car. They had very good sharing of the cost and fun, as well. Good topic for discussion, more important to set out doing.