Let Them Serve Themselves
Marie at Make and Takes posted last week about ways that she encourages independence in her kids. I’ll admit that I sometimes have to let go of my clean-house-hangups, but I try to give my little ones age-appropriate opportunities to serve themselves rather than continuing to depend on me for, well, everything! As they’ve gotten older and had practice with the tasks I provide we’ve had fewer messes, less spillage, and, honestly, a bit less work for me! A few of my favorites:
- I keep a portion of milk in pint-sized plastic bottle
that the kids can easily get out of the fridge themselves. They can pour a cup or add it to cereal without risk of spilling (too much).
- Our set of condiment cups
has come in handy for allowing the kids to serve themselves, well, condiments! Enough brown sugar or raisins fits perfectly and the children can add it to their oatmeal without contaminating the entire jar. They’re also handy for enough peanut butter to spread on crackers, or ketchup for a few fries.
- Daisy loves to help in the kitchen and I give her whatever tasks she can handle. She uses her little chopper
to help cut veggies for stew or fruit for salad, and is great at measuring. It may not all make it in the bowl, but in another couple of years she’ll be well-prepared to cook with just a bit of supervision.
- We all have jobs in the house, and each ‘older’ child is responsible for putting the childrens’ dishes away, putting their own dishes in the sink after meals, and bringing their laundry basket to the laundry area. Oh, and they love to clean the toilet (it’s right at their level!).
How do you encourage your children’s independence? Do you have specific chores that they’re required to help with? (I can always use a bit more help around the house 
I have found that by allowing my girls to pick their chores gives them ownership.s My 7 year old currently puts the silverware away, and is supposed to make her bed (we are still working on this).s My 8 year old feeds the cat, and makes her bed (she has her own system).s They both like to help in the kitchen - it slows down the process so I have to remind myself that my goal is to teach them to be responsible people - which has to supersede my goal of getting dinner done quickly.s I lose site of this when it comes to their favorite event - mopping - I usually let them mops the pollen off the screened in porch - they can’t hurt much there.
s
http://inthemicro.blogspot.com/
My kids are just 2 and 3 but I find there are tons of things they can do! Nearly everything, in fact, if I don’t mind it not being done “correctly.” They love to do the vacuuming, mopping, dishes, folding clothes, putting clothes in the washer and then transferring them to the dryer. They really like to help in the kitchen but that is the one area I help them a bit more because when something calls for 1 cup of flour, I really like to have the whole cup in the bowl. Give them a wet rag though and they’ll clean up any surface!! I love it and so do they!
http://thetraintocrazy.typepad.com
I just wrote a post about this on my blog, too:
s
http://thriftycraftmama.blogspot.com/2009/02/cinderella-kids-and-cleaning.html
s
My oldest just turned three and we’re just starting on chores, so I love hearing how other mothersslet their kids help around the house. I love your idea of putting some milk in a smaller container so your kids can pour their own. I’m not quite ready to let my barely-three-year-old do this, but I’ll definitely keep it in mind for the future. My 14mo would LOVE to clean the toilet…
I love the idea of giving the kids options, since I can certainly agree that when children are invested in something they do a far better job following through :)s Interestingly, my kids love to mop too, but argh, it’s something I really resist letting them do since they can just be so….messy!
s
love the pictures, too
Great ideas!s I agree that you kind of have to let go of your ideas about how you want things done, since if you’re going for perfect, even my six year old can’t fold up to my (admittedly low) standards.s Thanks!
It’s a funny thing about the toilet cleaning–a childhood friend was the youngest in a big family and EVERYONE had jobs to do from the time they were quite small.s Since she was the smallest, she got the lowest (to the ground) job to do and it suited her quite well!s Honestly, I thought that it was brilliant!
I love the idea for the Chopper. I have one but it never gets used. Now I’ll let my son chop up stuff for dinner. Great idea. And, thanks for linking to me.
Of course! I had no idea what to do with my chopper either–I like that it
takes two hands’ strength to press down and it’s not especially sharp
My boys are older…so now I am in Little Helper heaven!
Wonderful tips.s I’m going to try a few out with my four year old.s Thanks for sharing and stopping by my place.s
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