Getting children to do chores is the worst. Toddlers may start happily helping you clean the house, but somewhere along the way, this will end, and you will have to come up with some new ways to get your kids to do their share of the housework.
Trying to get kids to clean up after themselves can, for some families, be one of the most contentious issues that parents and kids have to deal with. Everyone is busy, and for most people, there are probably a million things that you would rather be doing than doing chores. But unfortunately, someone has to do it, and there are some surprising benefits when your kids learn necessary domestic skills.
You may have already tried numerous approaches to getting kids to help clean up with minimal success. Everyone has a different approach to cleaning with kids, and there are quite a lot of conflicting theories out there. So we’ve rounded up some of the best advice and show you some cool apps that might help you along the way.
Why you should Make Kids do Chores
They make most of the mess.
It stinks living with people who don’t clean up after themselves. So if you want to save your kids a whole lot of trouble later in their lives (from angry spouses and partners), you need to teach them how to live with people.
It helps relieve some of the burdens from exhausted parents. No adult is going to react too well after putting in a long day at the office to have to come home and watch your kids playing their fourth hour of Minecraft while you rush to do the dinner, dishes, cleaning up, laundry, etc. So for the sake of your own sanity, it is worth a bit of effort.
It will make them successful adults. Depressingly, there is a study by Marty Rossman, a professor at the University of Minnesota, which has shown that one of the best predictors of young adults’ success in their mid-20s was whether that person started regular household chores when they were three or four.
Not to worry if you didn’t happen to have your kids making dinner and doing your ironing before they have learned to bend over without falling because it isn’t too late.
Essential Ways to Get Kids to Do Their Chores
In an ideal world, kids would happily take responsibility for doing their chores and duties that need to be done. They will do this because it helps the family as a whole. We all know that this lofty idea doesn’t translate well into reality. Chores are tedious, and most kids don’t want to do them unless there is something in it for them. There is a plethora of articles and sites that can give you advice on how to get your kids to do their chores that can be boiled down to these simple points:
Start them early This is important because it shows them that they have an essential role to play that can help the family and that tidying up is an essential and regular part of their day. It takes time to show small children how to do things, and they won’t do the best job in the beginning, but remember you are working for the long term.
Be consistent. This helps to establish routine, and they will learn that the work has to be done regularly if you aren’t clear on what needs to be done and when your kids will put off what they are expected to do, hoping that the job will be completed by someone else.
Be specific with instructions. You need to tell your children exactly what you want them to do and be sure that they understand what you are telling them. If you tell them, “Clean your room, your idea of what a clean room is will probably be very different than your child’s idea of what a clean room is. Break it down into smaller manageable tasks: Put your laundry away, make your bed, put your books on the bookshelf, etc.
Set a good example. And if you want kids to learn to clean up after themselves, you’ve got to show them how to do it. A lot of people say that you need to show kids the joy of cleaning up and keeping a tidy house. If you are always grumbling about doing the laundry, you are going to have a hard time convincing kids that doing laundry is something they should do.
Don’t nag. Your kids will hate hearing it, and you will hate doing it. I think we can probably all agree that nagging rarely works. What you should do instead is us “When/Then” technique that was made popular by Amy McCready, the author of If I Have to Tell You One More Time… Which means that you start with a WHEN and end with a THEN. “WHEN you finish cleaning up your toys, THEN you can go and play.”
Show them you appreciate their efforts. Everyone likes to be appreciated for the work they have done, and kids are no different. If you want to keep them motivated and happy to help you, then show them you appreciate what they have done to help the household (even if they don’t do the best job).
There is a good breakdown of age-appropriate chores that you can print out. It says what kids of each age range are capable of doing.
Cleaning and Chore Apps and Websites for Kids
If you have done the above tips and nothing is helping, you should consider a reward system. This is generally a bit of a contentious issue with people. Some people love reward systems with kids; some don’t think kids should be rewarded for chores. If you are thinking of using a reward system, there are a couple of apps that you should check out. ChoreMonster uses a point system to log chores that kids have completed. Parents can add rewards when the kids have completed a set amount of tasks or acquired the right amount of points.
If you have an app crazy toddler, you could try out the app TidyUp! clean the room & house. This app is a puzzle that shows kids how to put objects in a room into their proper place.
You could also try Chore Wars. This is a site that also uses a point system to encourage kids to get their chores done.
Teaching your kids to do the housework is hard, and it takes time, but it’s better than the alternative, which is getting stuck doing all the cleaning yourself. You can expect some arguments and resistance, but with a bit of praise, encouragement and some rewards (if that is your thing) your kids will eventually figure out how to clean things up without being told and will learn some super useful domestic skills that will serve them well for their whole lives
Some kids seem to be born for the stage. If you have a child with a flair for the dramatic, you may have been wondering how to help encourage or develop their love of acting. The best way to get kids into acting is by getting them into a drama class, but if you don’t happen to have any in your area, or the cost of lessons is outside your budget, no need to worry. There is actually quite a lot you can do to help your child learn about drama, theatre and acting at home.
Learning how to act for the stage can be very beneficial for kids. Theatre teaches children skills like public speaking, teamwork, and self-discipline (just to name a few), which can have a significant impact on how successful they are as adults. It is also super fun, and kids love it.
So if you are looking for some ideas to help your young actor, then read on because there are lots of cool stuff parents can do in the comfort of their living room.
Why is Theatre Acting so Great for Kids
There are many reasons to encourage your children’s love of drama or acting; some studies have shown a correlation with drama involvement and high academic achievement. More specifically, kids involved in theatre arts have higher standardized test scores, stronger reading comprehension skills, and better communication skills.
Not only is acting good for kids academically, but it can also help build social skills like self-esteem, confidence, and it lets children learn to express themselves creatively.
Learning to act isn’t just beneficial for outgoing children; it can also be helpful for children who are shy or are lacking confidence. Theatre can help improve confidence by giving kids experience being in front of a crowd as an ensemble player in a safe environment, while also letting them practice their public speaking skills. For a shy child, the advantages of an activity that can help them overcome the fear of public speaking is a huge plus.
Easy Things you can do at Home
When kids are small, they are natural actors, taking on roles and different characters through dramatic play. As they get older they start to grow out of this type of play, so to help bring it back you can use:
Props You probably already have a house full of Halloween costumes, puppets, dolls, masks, and action figures collecting dust. Pull them out and dust them off, because these can all be used as a great starting point to helping kids use their imaginations to portray whatever crazy fun stuff they might come up with.
Drama Games For small children, a wonderful way to help them learn about acting is through games. There are hundreds of games that you can use. (Check our website and book recommendations below to learn more). You can find games that are suitable for all different ages. Using drama games to help kids learn is not only fun, but it helps focus and concentrate their energies and it allows them to learn by doing.
Puppet Plays Hand Puppets are a natural and fun extension of the pretend play for kids. If a child puts a puppet on their hands most can’t resist launching into a silly voice or taking on a new character for the puppet. It gives kids the freedom to express their ideas and feelings while trying on new personalities in a safe and non-threatening way.
Readers Theatre is a style of theater in which the actors do or do not memorize their lines. Actors use only vocal expression to help the audience understand the story rather than visual storytelling such as sets and costumes. If your children are able to read, then you can make it a fun activity by reading with them and each reader can take on the personality of the character they are reading. You and your child can make the characters come alive through dialogue, facial expressions, and hand gestures. This is a simple way to develop acting skills without having to put much preparation on effort into doing it. It’s also a pretty fun way to read a book.
Best Drama and Acting Books for Kids
Most of the books for younger kids contain acting games not really much on theory. Kids often learn better when having fun and this is especially true with acting. Here are four books that we recommend for younger kids:
On Stage is probably my favorite book of theatre activities for kids. It has more than 125 theater games that introduce basic theatre concepts, ideas, techniques, and everything kids need to know by learning by playing the ‘games’. It is quite a big book (224 pages) that is full of cute illustrations and lots of easy to read instructions on how to do the games that are suggested. The games are broken down into Getting onstage (games about blocking and stage direction), twisting your tongue and warming up, anytime theatre games, games that are played in a circle, Ideas for funny scenes, creating characters, improvisation, using and becoming objects, and creative drama. The book is laid out in a way that you can just pick it up and easily find a fun game that you can do with your child. The instructions are clear, brief and very reader-friendly, and each of the games says what it is that you will be learning from the game (but not in a heavy-handed way).
Kids Take the Stageis a book that has been written for parents and teachers who work with kids ages 8-18. It has basic lessons in acting, sample scenes, relation techniques, trust-building exercises, games, improvisations, and building from the rehearsal process through to a final show. This book isn’t as readable as On Stage but there is lots of great information in it if you are looking for practical information on how to get a show going.
Drama Start!is a collection of drama activities. It includes games, role-playing ideas, action poems, plays, and monologues, suitable for children between the ages of 3 and 8. This book is accessible and easy to follow. It is divided into three parts – Drama Games, Plays, and Monologues. Each section provides the reader with a variety of creative and imaginative ideas for stimulating drama activities in many different settings. The activities are simple but on point with the lessons and detailed descriptions.
101 Drama Games for Children is a straight-up drama gamebook. The games in this book are non-competitive and include introduction games, sensory games, pantomime, story games, sound, and games with masks and costumes. Each game contains an age guideline, an estimated time of play, and suggestions for the most appropriate type of music. It also has some interesting information on how to link drama games to play, as well as why it is important to use drama games and some helpful tips. If you are going to be leading a group that will be performing the games, it gives some information on things to keep in mind.
Online Drama and Acting Lessons
There are lots of free online videos for adults who are looking for acting lessons, but very little for kids. (If you know of any good free online acting lessons for kids, let me know I’d love to add them to the list). I did find a couple of lessons that are aimed at kids, check them out below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t-7fDMa_dQ
Websites
Beat By Beat Press is a team of writers and arts educators in New York City and San Francisco who are passionate about inspiring kids through musical theatre. They publish original, high-quality plays for kids to perform and this site has a great list of drama games.
Drama Resource has all sorts of information for young actors, parents, and teachers. It also has a really good list of games that can be used at home to help kids develop their acting skills.
Drama Notebook has over 40 free drama games that make great activities for drama teachers.
Hopefully, you found something that might be useful to help your young performers develop their acting skills in a fun way. If you have any great resources, please let us know so we can share them with other parents.
Hopefully, spring will arrive soon and put an end to this awful winter. Spring is the perfect time to start thinking about creating a garden with your kids.
Gardening is an excellent activity for children; they can make a mess, they learn about nature and food, and it’s a fun, healthy activity. There are even some studies that suggest kids who garden eat more fruits and vegetables than kids who don’t, so anything that will get kids eating their vegetables has got to be a good thing.
Since there are so many great reasons to give your kids a little patch of land or a few gardening containers and see what they will do with it, we have created a gardening guide for parents and kids featuring everything you need to know to become the best gardeners in the world. Well, not the best gardeners in the world, but we have found lots of fun stuff to help get you started.
How to get started
When starting, you don’t need to get too fancy or ambitious with your garden. Here is a basic plan to get things moving:
If you are lucky enough to have a bit of extra space in your backyard, give your child their own space. If you don’t have a backyard, you can easily use containers. My kid testers have just used planting containers for the last few years, and they work perfectly.
Let kids choose what they want to grow so that they will be more invested in the process. Most gardening stores have seed packages that are marketed to kids that contain seed for fruits or vegetables that are fast-growing and appealing for children. Some of the best picks are peas, beans, strawberries, carrots, lettuce, and cherry tomatoes.
Once kids have chosen what they will be growing, they should take a bit of time to learn about when the right time of the season is to plant each vegetable, fruit, or flower. Most kids/adults will want to grow whatever seeds you have bought immediately (guilty!) and not bother reading the packets about when and where the seeds should be planted.
Have them prepare the soil for planting. Kids love playing the dirt and will have a great time getting the ground ready for planting.
Don’t let them forget to water their gardens and monitor what is happening. There is something very satisfying about growing something from a seed that you will ultimately be able to eat. This is particularly true for children.
Gardening Kits and Tools for Kids
There are some unbelievably cute gardening kits and equipment around that are specifically designed for kids. The kits with the metal tools are worth getting even if you are paying a bit more. Generally, metal tools are better quality and feel much more like ‘real’ gardening equipment to kids.
Kids Garden Toolset with Tote is a cute set for younger kids (ages 2-5). It is a good quality set that has tools with colorful metal ends and wooden handles. It also has a tote bag with lots of handy pockets.
Let’s Get Started Gardening Kit is a set that is a little different. It’s cool because not only does it have all the necessary tools, it also includes a couple of garden bib aprons and gardening gloves (one apron/set of gloves for the parent and one for the child), a gardening tips booklet and also stickers and stakes. This company offers a couple of other versions of this set. One is for grandmothers and grandchildren called Grammy Let’s Get Started Gardening Kit, and the other one has a hip apron rather than a bib apron, and that one is called the HIP-Ster Gardening Kit.
Gardener In Training Deluxe Garden Kit is another fun set that is good for kids 4 through 8 years old. It includes two ducky handled gardening tools, an embroidered apron with pockets, and gardening gloves. The devices are metal with plastic handles.
Toysmith Kid’s Big Tool Set is a set that has child-size versions of real rakes, spade, hoe, and a leaf rake. Most reviewers for this set suggest that it is most suited for kids ages 5-7 since it has sharp edges, so kids will need to be supervised when using.
Radio Flyer Kid’s Wheelbarrow, your kids will find any number of uses for a wheelbarrow, even if they don’t stick with gardening. This particular wheelbarrow is relatively small, so it’s suitable for kids under 5. It is solid wood handles, a metal bucket, and the front tire is plastic.
Gardening Books for Kids
If you would like a bit of guidance to help get your kids started, there are a lot of gardening books to choose from with fun ideas and projects that kids will love. Here are a few of the most popular ones:
The Ultimate Step-by-Step Kids’ First Gardening Book is a beautiful book that has more than 150 projects suitable for kids from 5 to 12. An introduction covers all the basics and eight hands-on projects. It also has tips and advice on other topics like edible treats, flowers, fun craft projects, wildlife gardening, and indoor gardening.
The Book of Gardening Projects for Kids focuses on how parents who already love to garden can help get their kids involved in a family garden. This book is a step-by-step guide that has practical gardening advice, including how to design a play-friendly garden, how to create theme gardens, and how to cook and preserve what you have grown in the garden.
Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots by Sharon Lovejoy, who is one of the best know gardening writers for kids is a neat book that has 12 ideas for theme gardens that parents and kids can grow together. Each garden includes a plan, the planting recipe — seeds, seedlings, and growing instructions spelled out step-by-step. It also has a chapter on gardening basics includes a child-friendly 10-Minute Plan for planting and maintenance, plus a list of the top 20 plants guaranteed to make gardeners out of kids.
Project Garden is another excellent book for parents who are trying to get kids involved in creating a family garden. It has simple projects that will get a garden growing at any time of year. There is advice on how to grow practical gardens that work in any space, as well as information on how to plant flowers gardens and vegetable gardens.
Gardening Apps
An app isn’t something that comes to mind when thinking about gardening, but I came across this gardening app called Plants HD, which is fun and informative for anyone who wants to learn more about plants.
This educational app has interactive content about plants and their lifecycle. The app provides an in-depth look at topics such as seeds, germination, pollination, flowers, trees, fruits, and dispersal. It also has a quiz and game and photos on various topics.
There are lots of ways to get kids gardening; it’s a fun and rewarding activity that is well worth the effort. If you have any gardening tips for kids, please leave them in the comments.
Teaching your child to read music might seem like a daunting undertaking to some parents, especially those who aren’t able to read music themselves. Luckily there are some fantastic resources (including books, apps, websites, and free online games) that you can use with your child that will teach them basic music theory and how to read notes in a fun, child-friendly way.
Some people compare learning to read music with learning a foreign language; to be successful, you need commitment, repetition, and lots of practice. Putting a bit of hard work into teaching kids music theory is well worth it because the benefits are endless. Some of the reported benefits include improving the brain’s executive function, attention, memory, and focus. It also helps develop children’s verbal intelligence, reading skills, and much more.
Learn to Read Music Websites and Online Games
There are lots of great websites with games, worksheets, lessons, tips, and activities that can help parents begin to teach their kids about music theory. Here are a few fun sites to have a look at:
Music Learning Community is a website that has hundreds of learning games of varying levels, all carefully planned to gain mastery of the elements of music theory, ear training, and rhythmic skills. You can get a free 3-week trial or just try some of the games for free.
Fun and Learn Music is a great website that provides teachers and parents with the materials they need to help their little ones learn basic music theory.
Music Teachers out of the U.K have a good list of fun online music games for kids.
The Mighty Maestro has kids’ music theory online lessons. This site has some free activities as well as a paid option.
Happy Note is another website with lots of games to help kids learn music notes and symbols in a fun way.
Data Dragon has a good overview of what to learn. Probably best for an older child.
Apps
Music Theory Helper has all the major music theory topics from reading notes and rhythm to basic harmony. The app includes several interactive controls that make learning to read and play music fun and easy.
Jellybean Tunes– Play, learn, and compose with a fun, creative, and colorful introduction to music. By interacting directly with notes on the musical staff,
Music for Little Mozarts was developed for the preschool age group (ages 4-6). It features games that help kids learn about the piano.
Notes! – Learn To Read Music is a basic flashcard app that helps beginners learn the letter names for notes on the bass and treble clef (“F” on bass through to “G” on treble).
Flashnote Derby is a fun app for kids to learn and practice identifying music notes by name. The game is a horse race where the user identifies different notes in order to urge their horse and jockey on towards the finish line. Answering quickly and correctly will cause their horse to gain ground, while incorrect answers will cause it to fall behind. At the end of each race, students can review the notes they missed and see the correct answers.
Treble Cat was designed by professional musicians and educators to help kids and adults learn how to quickly identify notes in the treble clef. This will help improve sight-reading skills.
Music Theory Books for Kids
A great way to teach kids how to read music is by finding the right method book. There are a number of series available for younger kids, mostly geared towards music teachers, but the material is fairly simple, so parents shouldn’t have too much trouble with the lessons. Some theory books specifically mention that they are okay for parents teaching kids at home (Doctor Mozart and Little Music Lessons for Kids: Lessons 1-2-3). Here are a few books to have a look at:
Doctor Mozart Music Theory Workbook teaches music theory in-depth in a fun way using a hands-on approach that involves writing notes, clefs, and musical symbols by hand. This is one of the books that mention on its website that it is good for homeschooling because everything is explained clearly and in detail so it is easy for children and parents to understand.
Music Theory for Young Children by Ying Ying Ng is a series of theory workbooks for young children that incorporate clear symbols and instructions, creative illustrations, intense color, and fun learning techniques, including the use of stickers in exercises. In the first book some of the topics include: the musical alphabet (7 letter names), treble clef, time names and time values, line notes and space notes, treble clef notes (middle C to treble G), bass clef notes (middle C to bass G).
Theory for Young Musicians, Bk 1 (Book & CD) is another popular music theory series for children. Books 1 and 2 contain theory lessons, ear training lessons, and worksheets. This series is designed for students from ages 8 to 12 in their first year of lessons, but can be used at home by parents. This method includes theory lessons, ear training (with CDs for books 1 and 2) and worksheets.
Voggy’s ABC of Music Basic Music Theory for Kids has Voggy explaining the basics of music in a child-friendly manner. This method uses well-known children’s songs to help kids review and practice music theory. It also introduces the most popular musical instruments with pictures as well as sound.
Little Music Lessons for Kids: Lessons 1-2-3 by Tatiana Bandurina. You can teach your child music theory with help of the series “Little Music Lessons for Kids,” even if you are a total newbie. This series has stories with bright pictures and a cute musical puppy tell your little one about what the music staff is about.
Free Online Videos
A few people (music teachers mostly) have put together a mix of some of the best YouTube videos that can help kids learn how to read music. Anne Crosby Gaudet put together a great selection of free videos that are helpful for learning music theory. Also, this selection from MusicK8 is a pretty good roundup of videos covering a lot of beginning concepts and ideas.
Good luck with teaching your children to read music, remember that it won’t come quickly, but with lots of patience and perseverance they will learn a great skill that will give them a wonderful sense of accomplishment.
If you have any great resources to help kids learn notes and music theory, please let us know in the comments below.
It’s a little surprising that harmonicas aren’t more popular with kids, especially since they are sort of the perfect beginner instrument. They are cheap, easy to play, very portable, and they are already tuned to a specific scale so you can’t hit a wrong note.
Harmonicas are also great because kids can learn about basic music theory, and they are so simple to learn that your child will be playing a recognizable song in no time at all.
So if you are thinking about getting your kids into music, but you aren’t quite ready to commit to an expensive guitar or piano, then have a look at the harmonica because it is an ideal starter instrument for kids. Luckily for you, we have rounded up lots of excellent resources that can help you get started.
Where to Start
You will need to get a harmonica before you can do anything. There are several different types of harmonicas (or the harp as it is also known), the two most popular types being the diatonic and the chromatic. A diatonic generally has ten holes, and each harmonica comes in different keys (like C, A, B, F#, etc.). A chromatic harp has a button on the side that lets the player play all 12 keys and are much harder to play than a diatonic.
So for beginners and kids, it is generally recommended that you get a diatonic harp that is tuned to the key of C.
What Kind Should you get
There are lots of cheap harmonicas for children available, so an excellent place to start is with Hohner. Hohner has been making harmonicas for the last 150 years and sets the standard for quality with lots of harmonicas to choose from.
If you have a very young child, you could get a starter harmonica. A starter harmonica has only four holes, so it makes it easy for kids to play one note at a time. A good starter harmonica is something like Hohner Kids PL-106 Musical Toys Play and Learn Harmonica.
If your child is over 5, then you should avoid the ‘toy’ harmonicas and get a good quality harp that will last for years. The most recommended harmonica for beginners and kids is the Hohner Special Twenty Harmonica, Key of C. It is a professional quality instrument for a very reasonable price (usually somewhere around $35). It sounds and looks impressive and is perfect for a beginner.
If you are looking for something a bit cheaper, but you still want a good quality harmonica, then the Hohner Blues Band Harmonica is the one to get. This one also sounds great and is easy to play, but has a lower price point (less than $10).
Harmonica Websites and Free Online Lessons
Luckily there are a few great free lessons that are aimed at kids that you can use to help them learn to play. Here are some to have a look at:
Harmonica 4 Kids is Dave Gage’s harmonica lessons for a kid’s website. There is lots of great info on this site including songs, tips and games. This is a wonderful resource with so much great material on it you won’t even believe it.
Harmonica for Children is another excellent site with online lessons for kids. It also has a lot of familiar children’s songs that kids can play along to.
Funky Nursery has play along harmonica lessons designed for younger harp players to teach kids how to play traditional nursery rhymes on a C harmonica.
The Best Harmonica Books for Teaching Kids
If you want your kids to learn the harmonica, it is helpful to have a couple of method books for reference. There isn’t a lot of choices as far as harmonica books for children, but there are few decent ones and some books that are for beginners in general that are okay for kids.
Mel Bay Children’s Harmonica Method is one of the few harmonica books that was written for children. It has step-by-step instructions and shows kids how to play Jingle Bells, London Bridge, Oh When the Saints, Pop Goes the Weasel, Camptown Races, and a few others.
Voggy’s Harmonica Book Book/CD Set for kids ages six years and up. This is another book put out by Mel Bay that is designed specifically for children. It covers proper playing positions, playing technique, reading music, playing single notes, and whole songs. It also has all songs recorded on a CD that is included. They even included an appendix that has tips on practicing, caring for the harmonica.
Let’s Play Harmonica is a set that includes a couple of harmonicas, and it has short lessons that are good for kids. It also consists of a Song Book with how-to instructions and 12 popular songs for your child to play. This one is fundamental, made for a very young child.
Progressive Harmonica Method for Young Beginnerscovers the basics of harmonica playing and reading music. It has lots of well-known children’s songs that kids can learn, and it has nicely illustrated full-color pictures as well as a CD or link to Harmonica Lessons for Kids that has the songs and exercises that kids can play along to.
Instant Harmonica is one of the more popular books if you want to learn the harmonica, and it gets recommended a lot. It isn’t written for kids, but with an adults help, it is a good beginner book. It has a combination of tablature and EZ-Play notation and over thirty country and folk songs.
Harmonica For Dummies The Dummies series of books are usually pretty good for kids when there isn’t a look of other books on a particular topic. This book gives detailed step-by-step instructions and has lots of info on tips and playing techniques, how to read the notation and tablature.
Hopefully, you found something that will help you kids get interested in the harmonica if you have any great resources that we missed, let us know in the comments below.
