Helping Children Learn through Big Jobs

Big jobs offer a great learning opportunity for your child.

Big jobs are the ones your child asks to help with, that they do with another family member. This is different than chores because they are not assigned. It may take longer to do a big job with your child’s help, but they are learning: 

1. How to work with other people
2. How to compromise
3. How to solve problems
4. How to contribute to the family

Big Jobs kids can help with

Cooking and Baking

1. Washing and peeling veggies
2. Stirring batter
3. Tearing lettuce leaves to make a salad

Gardening

1. Digging holes
2. Planting seeds
3. Raking leaves
4. Weeding
5. Watering plants

Laundry

1. Carrying the laundry basket
2. Sorting
3. Folding
4. Putting away clean clothes

Caring for pets

1. Feeding
2. Brushing
3. Walking
4. Cleaning up after

Cleaning

1. Rinsing dishes
2. Dusting
3. Emptying garbage

Tips for doing big jobs at home

1. Keep your child safe. Talk about safety, and stick around while is their turn.
2. Find child sized tools
3. Have fun! Remember- your child chose to help out, you want to keep a happy positive atmosphere so he/she wants to keep helping out.
4. Talk together while you work- about the job and anything else the two of you want to talk about.
5. Show your appreciation for their help. Point out specific things they did well.

Including my children in my work is a huge priority for me. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s easy. Including them sometimes means going slower or having the end result look less perfect. For myself, I have found a few things that help make it easier to include them. First off, I give myself more time. Second, I practice grounding practices such as taking deep breathes to remember my bigger goals. And third, I give myself a lot of grace as I am learning this new skill of including my children.