Sibling homework
Summer house chores your brood can do together
Summer is the time your young ones are most often at home. Away from school and its requirements, they make use of their time enjoying movie marathons, dabbling in cooking, and holding videogame competitions. They also have the tendency to collectively get bored – a situation usually followed by endless requests to go to the mall.
But parents often see summer as a good time to let their kids discover new things during their extended stay at home. It is also a time when the bond between or among siblings can be further strengthened through joint activities such as home chores. With children working together to accomplish different tasks, parents are able to foster values like cooperation and patience among them. Through chores, they are able to see each other’s strengths as well as areas where their brother or sister could need some help. And the best part is while you encourage them to take on responsibility, they are also able to help you accomplish things around the home. Thinking of what tasks your children can do together this summer? See if they can try their hand on these – depending on their age and capability, of course.
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•Caring for plants.
Let your kids attend to your garden or plants in the late afternoon when the heat is more bearable. Designate who gets to water the plants, remove wilted plants and flowers and weeds. Being outside will be good for your kids who are probably bent on staying indoors because of the scorching temperatures.It will also allow you to pass on gardening know how, especially if you area dept at growing your own fruits or vegetables in your backyard.
•Looking after pets.
When school is in session, your children probably only have time to give your pets some TLC during weekends. This summer, ask them to feed, bathe, and look after your furry ones. Jointly giving your pet/s a bath together teaches kids how to delegate tasks among themselves while accomplishing it as a team. Pet care will probably be one of the chores they will not mind doing because of its fun nature. With an adult around, they can take your dog for a walk. This ensures your kids get to exercise at the same time.
•Simple kitchen tasks.
While most kitchen chores require adults to be around, there are some that can be handled by your older kids. These include refilling water containers inside the fridge or refilling napkins on your holders. This way, when you run out of napkins or find half-filled containers inside your refrigerator, they will know who is responsible for what. They will be encouraged to remind their siblings of their to-dos. As a team, let your children express their creativity by encouraging them to mix different dinnerware colors on weekends. Work on meal themes that they will definitely enjoy doing together – and hopefully enjoy recalling when they are older.
•Clean a designated area.
This can be the room in your house that they frequent, like your living room or den. Let them be responsible for keeping the room organized. Sit down with your kids and work on a “chore sheet” for the room. Let them identify tasks that they can do for the room and how these can be distributed among themselves. You can also introduce the concept of rotating chores. On Mondays, someone should be incharge of arranging and fluffing the pillows on the couch. Another one is designated to clean the center table, and one child sweeps the floor of the room. By Tuesday, each sibling takes on another chore, and so on.
• Writing the grocery lists or home reminders.
Put their writing and reading skills into practice! This will make them more aware of what it entails to run a household. You can also let them note the estimated price of an item so they can help you budget. Let them write about home repairs needed so they can learn to spell new words. Or list down the schedule you want to follow next Sunday. Your older kids can practice writing and math with their siblings in the process.
•Cleaning summer projects.
Think of major chores your children can do together this summer. These can include a general tidy-up of their play room or bedrooms, or a day when they can clean all their shoes. You may also have home-improvement projects they can participate in. Continuously working on a project and knowing they accomplished a major task together will sure strengthen bonds. Summer memories will thus be about what kuya taught them to do or what ate helped them with at home.