Creating Stronger Parent-Child Bonds Through Chores: A Guide From West Ridge Academy

Bonding with your children is a very meaningful and special experience, and like all children, the students at West Ridge Academy want to spend time forming strong bonds with their parents or guardians. When most parents think of bonding with their children, they think of playing with them in the pool or at the park. But, aside from that, did you ever realize that chores can be another means of bonding with your children?

Chores: The Next Step for Your Children

Many parents think that if they go to a playground, a kid-friendly restaurant, or another place outside of the home, their kids will be excited and happy to be there. However, academic studies have demonstrated that when children can spend a long time forming bonds with their parents, they feel happy and well-loved, regardless of the location where the bonding took place. In fact, it appeared that when children were given household chores to do, it seemed like a great adventure to them, even though they were still at home. Early on in childhood, children are too small and uncoordinated to do anything more than observe while their parents wash the dishes. But if you delegate that responsibility to your children, they will realize that their parents trust them, and the chore won't seem like work to them, but will feel like a big adventure.

Bonding Makes Chores Fun!

How can you help your children see their chores as a fun, exciting adventure, and not as a burden that they have to bear whether they like it or not? Here are three pieces of advice from West Ridge Academy to help parents add a sense of fun and excitement to their kitchen, laundry room, or any other part of the house.

1. If your children has a favorite CD, put it on in the background while they help you with the chores. Singing loudly and joyfully together while you help your children complete their chores can help your children realize, "This is more fun tha
I thought it would be!" or "Let's all do this together again tomorrow!"

2. Kids love competing with each other and with their parents, so give them a chance to compete and win. You can turn almost any household chore into a game or competition, with something your child enjoys as the prize, like a sweet treat, a trip, or a night out at the movies. For example, at West Ridge Academy the staff motivates students to finish all their chores by assigning points to kids who complete them. To make the game even more exciting, you can have a timer counting down.

3. If you're having trouble teaching kids the ins and outs of a new chore, never give up and say, "Just do it however you want." Your children might be a little overenthusiastic about doing a grownup job, and end up ignoring your instructions and making a mess, but you should try not to let it get to you. If this happens to you, take a deep breath and sit down with your kids for a relaxing cookies-and-milk break.

At the end of the day, you don't want to create too heavy a burden of responsibility for your children, if at all possible. You and your children will be happier and better off if you take this advice from the staff at West Ridge Academy: using household chores as an opportunity to spend quality time with your kids is a great way to form stronger bonds with them and get them to look forward to their chores.