5 Benefits Of Giving Your Kids Chores

For most children, there is a lot to fit into each day: school, homework, sports and other activities, and dinner. If you’ve resisted giving your child additional work to do around the house, you might reconsider. Chores are proven to help children build skills that are valuable in school. Need more convincing? Here are five advantages of having your child do chores:

1. They help children learn responsibility. Chores give children a job to complete outside of school and homework—and yes, that’s important. Children who complete chores are being held accountable for their contributions to maintaining the household. This helps them develop self-sufficiency and a sense of accountability, which leads to greater confidence.
2. Children become better at time management. As children grow older, it’s expected that they will be able to manage an increasing level of responsibility in school. Not only must they keep track of multiple classes with different expectations, they need to become independent outside of school as well to mature into capable young adults. Chores help with this, teaching children to get their “have-tos” finished before they enjoy free time.
3. They foster good work ethic. As the saying goes, nothing good in life comes easy. As teachers do in school, parents should stress the relationship between their children’s hard work—household chores—and positive results—a clean, orderly home and minimized stress for the family. Encouraging children to pitch in at home increases their feelings of self-worth and satisfaction that come with completing tasks.
4. Routines like chores promote positive behavior. Without question, children who embrace routines are more organized, efficient and successful. Chores serve as a model for structure, and structure teaches students to take pride in their work, be more responsible, and set and work toward goals.
5. They promote organization. What child couldn’t use a little help with organization? It’s helpful to busy parents to have their children lighten the burden of household duties, and an added benefit is that certain chores emphasize the importance of good organization. Learning how to maintain a tidy household can easily translate into the building of essential skills like keeping track of assignments, having a place for everything and managing multi-step assignments.

The next time you think it’s easier to do something yourself or that your child shouldn’t be bothered with things like laundry and cleaning dishes, remember: chores are good for your child. Research corroborates this fact: a 20-year study by the University of Minnesota found that doing chores at an early age is the best predictor for growing up into a young adult with a completed education, a career with a clear direction, and healthy personal relationships with family and friends. On top of this, chores teach indispensable life skills. So, invest in your child’s well-being and give your child the chance to develop his or her self-efficacy, prioritization skills, and diligence.

“Involving Children in Household Tasks: Is it Worth the Effort?” Marty Rossman, University of Minnesota, College of Education and Human Development

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