5 Ways to Involve Kids in Home Maintenance

In addition to the important academic knowledge children acquire at school, practical skills about how to care for a home should also be part of a child’s upbringing. Teaching children these skills requires patience and consistency, but you and your child will both grow in the teaching process. Here are five tips Centurion Homes encourages parents implement as they teach their children about home maintenance:

1. Start while they’re young. While involving kids in housework and home maintenance may be time consuming and test your patience, but putting them to work early on will teach them the importance of hard work and caring for a home. Have toddlers hold a flashlight or parts. Teach older children how to replace a light bulb. Teach them about what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and why the project matters.

2. Allow them to imitate. Buy them their own child-size tools and utensils. While you work, allow them to watch you and imitate their own project nearby.

3. Communicate. As you work on home projects such as gardening, painting, repairing, cleaning, tell your child about what you’re doing. Tell them why these tasks are important. Answer their questions as you go.

4. Involve them in decorating their own rooms. A child will spend a lot of time in their room, so creating a space where they are happy and comfortable is important. Let them suggest ideas, encourage creativity, and ask them what makes them happy. You don’t have to spend big bucks–just do what you can with what you have.

5. Assign tasks that are age-appropriate. Assign toddlers tasks such as holding tools for you while you work, or wiping down countertops. As children get older, you can teach them how to flip a breaker when you lose power, turn off the water on an overflowing toilet, check smoke detector batteries, and change furnace filters.