If you’re reading this, you’re probably already facing the situation described in the title.
Maybe it’s a temporary snow day, maybe it’s a long-term school closure due to some kind of massive illness or building damage, maybe you had to keep the kids at home for personal reasons.
This can be a perfect time to enlist their help with some chores around the house (once you can pull them away from video games, of course)! Everyone needs an extra set of hands with household chores now and again, and this can be a great opportunity to have your kids pitch in and learn the value of being involved with housework. (Even if they won’t admit it, this can actually really help a kid’s self-esteem and wellbeing.)
Of course, the catch is, not all chores are good for kids of all ages. Finding the perfect jobs for your kids to help with while they’re stuck home from school can help everyone feel more productive and avoid a lot of frustration from someone being tasked with a job they’re not quite ready for.
If your kids are quarantined at home and you need a little help with the chores, here’s a few tasks for kids of all ages:
Chores for Elementary School Students
Elementary school kids, even if they’re enthusiastic about helping, should start off with something a bit more on their level to help them get in the swing of things and feel more accomplished, such as:
- Making their own beds
- Putting their own clothes in their bedroom dressers (after mom or dad fold them)
- Help feed a family pet
- Bring their things inside from the car
- Organize their own personal kid sized locker in their room to help them feel like a big kid
Chores for Middle Schoolers
Middle school is the perfect age to start introducing your kids to slightly more complex chores and housework. This will both help them feel like a ‘big kid’ by getting them more involved, and teaching them some survival skills they’ll need later in life:
- Sorting and washing their own clothes
- Keep all their own stuff on entryway organizers such as shoes, coats, and backpacks
- Cooking simple meals on their own – mac & cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, fried eggs
- Good hygiene habits – using bathroom organizers (or bathroom storage racks for the older kids) to keep their own deodorant, facewash, toothbrush, and razors as needed
Chores for High Schoolers
By now, your kids should be pretty used to chores, so you don’t need to be afraid to drop some of the tougher stuff on them. This will help them feel more connected to the house and also prepare them for whatever life may have in store – remember, you won’t always be there to help them with laundry, no matter how much you’d both like that:
- Using bigger appliances such as dishwashers and laundry machines
- Mowing the lawn
- Complete laundry autonomy
- Full-room dusting, even up high on the wall shelves (physical capabilities permitting, of course)
- Help organizing the pantry or elsewhere in the kitchen (properly supervised when holding sharper utensils)
- More help with cooking
Hopefully something on this list inspires you and your kids to get together and knock out some chores while they’re stuck in the house – and, hopefully, whatever has them stuck there passes quickly!