Kid-Friendly Chores: Ideas & Safety Tips for Washing Clothes & Dishes
From the archive. This post was first published on the original Green Eggs and Moms blog and is kept here as it was.
Chores can breed success: A research from years back found a correlation between the success of young adults who were given household chores.
Aside from responsibility, chores can teach kids discipline and planning (for older kids given multiple tasks). They also teach life-skills such as managing a household, as well as help build self-confidence and self-esteem.
Other than making the bed and picking-up toys, here are 2 areas your young kids can help you in.
Washing clothes and dishes
| Washing Clothes | Washing Dishes |
| Separating coloreds clothes from white and light colored ones | Removing left-over food or liquid from the plates or cups |
| Dumping and removing clothes in the washing machine | Soaping and rinsing the items |
| Putting detergent into the load | Drying and returning items to their “home” |
| Removing clothes from the spinner | |
| Folding (depending on age and skill level) |
Safety tips to remember
1. Heat
Be cautious when allowing younger kids to get clothes from the dryer.
Teach your children to use the cold water knob if you have hot water in the faucet, to prevent them from burning themselves.
2. (Un)Breakables
Allow younger kids to wash plastic cups, plates and utensils.
3. Detergent
Tiny hands can be sensitive to chemical-laden detergent and dishwashing soap. Why not use a product that contains all natural ingredients for the following reasons:
- No harmful ingredients such as bleach
- No need to worry if children accidentally swallow it since ingredients are edible
- Won’t dry your children’s hands – as well as yours
- Perfect for sensitive skin
- Helps the environment by sending chemical-free used water down the drain
Note: For those from Manila, Philippines, there’s a new product called D-Nee that offers (a) liquid detergent for clothes and (b) liquid cleanser for baby bottles and nipples (essentially a liquid dishwashing soap).
It fits all the bullet points above and won’t harm even the most sensitive skin. Why do we know? Because we’ve tried both products. (Click on the D-Nee link above for more information.)
Before you go
Remember to give your young ones age-appropriate tasks. Also, be patient when teaching them how to wash plates, for example.
They may not do it correctly right now, but with patience (from you) and persistence (from them), they’ll be elevated to the “super cleaner” level in no time!
What liquid detergent and dishwashing soap do you use when washing with your kids?
Photo:Creative Commons from cheetah100 Disclaimer: We were sent products samples by D-Nee which we found to be superb after using. This post was not compensated for and all opinions are ours.