The Playful Parent: 7 ways to happier, calmer, more creative days with your under-fives. Julia Deering

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involve your child in every chore.

      

Don’t expect perfection.

      

Always supervise.

      

Use green (and safe) cleaning products around children.

      

Be encouraging.

      

Show how pleased you are every time a chore is completed (even if it is not done perfectly).

      

Always say thank you for helping.

      The most common question that parents ask is what exactly is the appropriate age to a) introduce chores, and b) what kinds of chores should children actually be able to complete at specific ages.

      If you think of chores as a way to play then you can introduce them from as early an age as you like. As for the actual complexity of the chore, well, of course that will depend on the age of your child, their specific abilities, their dexterity, their maturity and the set up of your home. But by making a job a game, in fact all areas of chore-work can be happily accessed by children as young as two. In some cases they will, of course, simply be playing alongside you while you complete the task, but on occasion they may be able to contribute to the actual outcome in some way. The point is, by making chores fun the domestic tasks get done, your child is happily involved, they don’t learn that chores are tedious and something to avoid at all costs, they practise important life skills and numerous other skills with you through playful activity and you get some quality time together.

      Below, I’ve listed the main household chores. I’ve grouped them according to how frequently they might need to be carried out, but, of course, this varies in every home.

      Everyday – or most frequent – chores:

      Laundry

Dusting Vacuuming Sweeping Washing up Dishwasher loading/unloading Setting and clearing the table Making beds Changing sheets Cleaning the bathroom Tidying up Putting rubbish in the bin Picking up after oneself Putting groceries away Cooking

      Less-frequent chores:

      Cleaning the car

Defrosting the freezer Washing windows Garden upkeep Sorting out clothes – outgrown and worn-out

      The Mary Poppins Approach

      What better way to explain chores as a way to play than to refer to the wonderful cleaning queen and playful governess, Mary Poppins. Her take on how to get the chores done is brilliantly illustrated in the song ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’ in which she tells us, ‘In every job that must be done, there’s an element of fun. You find the fun and – SNAP – the job’s a game. And every task you undertake becomes a piece of cake, a lark and a spree.’

      So here are some adult-led spoonfuls of sugar – or rather, playful ideas – to help any household chore become a way to play for you and your little one. Remember to change the nature of the game or challenge every so often to keep it fresh for you and irresistible to your child. Of course, this is not a finite list – I hope these ideas will inspire you to think up your own playful ways to make chores less of a bore.

      Laundry

      

Complete the laundry chores, with your child helping as best they can alongside, in the manner of robots or fairies, magicians or spies.

      

Make a game of dividing the laundry into piles of different types – colourful, whites and pales – ready for the machine.

      

Play the colour game – as you sort the laundry, give your child one particular colour to search for and collect.

      

Set playful challenges for you and your child – how fast can we sort the washing or load the machine? Can we do it faster than last time?

      

Play ‘What am I?’ – a great describing game as you sort, hang out or fold the clean laundry. ‘I am blue. I have buttons. I have long sleeves. I have cuffs. I belong to Daddy. What am I?’

      

Try the match the socks game. You could add to the challenge by seeing how quickly your child can complete the task, or by playing a song from a favourite CD or listening to a song on the radio to see how many clean and dry socks they can match before it finishes.

      

Sing a laundry-themed song to ‘move the job along’ like Mary Poppins does. You could sing ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’, but here are a couple of other suggestions to get you started and add some variety!

      On a cold and frosty morning

      (To the tune of Here we go round the Mulberry Bush)

This is the way we sort the clothes, sort the clothes, sort the clothes*

      This is the way we sort the clothes

      On a cold and frosty morning.

      See them go round in the washing machine, the washing machine, the washing machine

      See them go round in the washing machine

      On a cold and frosty morning.

      To be washed

      Mummy’s

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