It's never too early to get kids to help around the house doing chores. Even very young children can help with simple tasks. Teaching kids to help out with chores by picking up after themselves, shows them the importance of taking pride in their surroundings. Also, kids like to help out! It makes them feel important and needed. The important thing to remember when your kids are helping out around the house, is that things may not get done perfectly. As a parent, you need to let these things go and praise the child for the mere act of helping.

The Hat Game

Here is a fun game that my kids, as well as their friends, absolutely LOVE to play. What's great about it, is that it gets them to help out with chores that you need done around the house. So whenever I hear the words "We're bored", I know it's time to pull out the hat!

It's very simple! Basically, you just tear up small pieces of paper that you write different activities on. Some of the activities are fun things to do, and others are chores. You fold them all up and put them in a hat. The kids take turns drawing a paper from the hat. If they get a fun activity they can choose to do it at that time, or they can put it back in and draw again. If an activity that has been put back in the hat is drawn a second time, the kids have to do the activity. If someone chooses a chore, the kids have to complete it before another activity can be drawn.

Some of the activities will require your assistance, so make sure that you put things in that you won't mind helping out with.

Here is a sample list of activities that I like to put in my hat:

Fun Activities

• Run around the house 3 times
• Draw on the driveway with chalk
• Play Memory
• Put together a puzzle
• Do a craft project
• Play Candy Land
• Watch a movie with popcorn
• Make brownies
• Do 10 Jumping Jacks
• Draw a picture of your favorite activity
• Play Zingo
• Play baseball
• Make an obstacle course and run it
• Go on a scavenger hunt
• Make cookies
• Make up a play and perform it
• Play dress up
• Play the quiet game, winner gets a prize (I love this activity when the kids have been especially wound up and loud to give myself a few minutes of peace!)

Chores

• Set the table for lunch
• Fold laundry
• Strip the sheets off beds and put clean ones on
• Vaccuum
• Dust
• Clean windows
• Put dishes away
• Help organize toys

The possibilities for both of these categories are endless! Just make sure to put age appropriate tasks in your hat. NOTE: I usually only put 2-3 chores in the hat at a time because you don't want the kids picking chore after chore, this would take the fun out of the game!

Chore Hunt

Write different chores on seperate pieces of paper and hide them around the house. Then give the kids clues on where the chores are hidden and they have to try to find them. Once they find a chore they need to complete it before they go on to the next one.

Some examples:

• Go to where you lay your head at night
• Go to where you brush your teeth
• Go to where we keep our snacks
• Search in something that keeps you warm when you're outside
• Look in something that keeps your feet dry on a rainy day

Of course these are simple ideas for small kids, but you can make them more difficult for older children.

Another variation of this same game that makes it a little more fun is to have them find a few clues, taking them from one spot to the next before they find a chore. I like to do this, having them go from downstairs to upstairs to down in the basement to outside, that way they're getting lots of exercise too. Plus, they think that it's lots of fun running from place to place and they get very excited once they find the clues!

So now go have some fun with your kids and enjoy your clean house!!