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For Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers
Make the bed
Draw a quilt with 30 patches. Each time your child makes her bed, let her color a patch. The goal is to complete the quilt. In the same way, you can motivate your kids to pick up their toys. Draw a toy chest and cut out 30 pictures of toys from advertisements or magazines. If your child picks up his toys at the end of the day, let him glue a picture in the toy box. The goal is to fill the chest.
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Pick up toys
Children enjoy blending music and work. While you show them how to do developmentally appropriate chores, use a well-known tune and make up lyrics to fit the melody. For example, if you choose "The Farmer in the Dell," you can sing words similar to the following:
We're picking up the blocks.
We're picking up the blocks.
Hi-ho, the derry-o.
We're picking up the blocks.
You also can add a child's name to the song.
Josh picked up a toy.
He's such a wonderful boy.
Hi-ho, the derry-o.
Cleaning is a joy.
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Feed the pet
Give your child a measuring cup and show him how much food to put in Rover's bowl. Then help your son fill the water bowl as well. Because he can't yet reach the sink on his own, he can fill a cup with water and transfer it to the dish. When he sees Rover chowing down on the food, praise your child for taking care of his pet.
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Water the lawn
Children long for cool, refreshing water in the summer heat almost as much as plants do. Take care of both by allowing your child to water plants with a small watering can. Help him fill it with water from the garden hose, and teach him how to pour water slowly on a plant. After he's finished, reward his effort by turning on the sprinkler and letting him run through it.
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Rake the leaves
A large pile of fallen leaves makes a great playground for children and a fun family activity. Buy a small, plastic rake so your toddler can help. Be sure to sift out any limbs or material that could hurt your child if he jumps on the pile.
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For School-age kids
Neglected Chores
My husband and I tired of reminding our four sons to do chores. We told our boys that if a chore was not completed by a predetermined time, another sibling could do it. Then the neglectful sibling had to pay the one who completed the job. Giving hard-earned money to a brother motivated them, and we no longer had to remind them.
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Motivate with a point system
At our home, we've adapted a point system to motivate our kids to take on chores. The system also encourages other ways of helping. It's a fun way to instill responsibility and ownership without resorting to nagging or scolding. Here's how it works:
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Each time your child completes a chore or task on his own, award points. The more important or difficult the task, the more points are earned. Especially kind or generous acts earn "bonus" points. Take away points for misbehaviors or failure to perform expected chores. The key is to be consistent. Be sure to decide on a point value system in advance.
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At the end of a predetermined time period (such as one month), the child with the most points wins.
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Make sure every child benefits regardless of who wins. In our home, the winner gets to decide where our next fun family outing will be — bumper bowling, the family arcade or a kids' movie night to name a few. The winner earns the power of choice, but siblings still get to join in the fun.
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Chore charts
Did you finish your homework? Have you set the table? My children and I grew tired of my daily, ineffective interrogations.
One day I laminated a chore list for each child and set up a magnet chart that had their names and the days of the week.
Later, my children picked a small number of inexpensive items they wanted. I labeled each with a "price" of a specific number of magnets that needed to be earned before receiving the prize.
Whenever my children completed their chore list without being reminded, they placed a magnet on the chart. If they did not do their chores, they had to remove a previously earned magnet. Once a child earned enough magnets, the child could redeem an item from the prize box.
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Build relationships through chores
I felt myself slipping out of touch with my six children. When my oldest boy stressed over his chores, especially doing the dishes, I worked alongside him, giving him an occasional elbow nudge or playfully splashing him. Soon his wall of resistance vanished. Now I view chores as a family relationship builder instead of a burden.
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Photo: Andrew Zbihlyj
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12 Shocking Ideas That Could Change the World
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Most occupations require people skills. But for some, a preternatural capacity for concentration and near-total recall matter more. Those jobs, entrepreneur Thorkil Sonne says, could use a little autism.
Sonne reached this conclusion six years ago, after his youngest son was diagnosed with the mysterious developmental disorder. "At first I was in agony and despair," he recalls. "Then came the thought of what happens when he grows up."
In Sonne's native Denmark, as elsewhere, autistics are typically considered unemployable. But Sonne worked in IT, a field more suited to people with autism and related conditions like Asperger's syndrome. "As a general view, they have excellent memory and strong attention to detail. They are persistent and good at following structures and routines," he says. In other words, they're born software engineers.
In 2004, Sonne quit his job at a telecom firm and founded Specialisterne (Danish for "Specialists"), an IT consultancy that hires mostly people with autism-spectrum disorders. Its nearly 60 consultants ferret out software errors for companies like Microsoft and Cisco Systems. Recently, the firm has expanded into other detail-centered work—like keeping track of Denmark's fiber-optic network, so crews laying new lines don't accidentally cut old ones.
Turning autism into a selling point does require a little extra effort: Specialisterne employees typically complete a five-month training course, and clients must be prepared for a somewhat unusual working relationship. But once on the job, the consultants stay focused beyond the point when most minds go numb. As a result, they make far fewer mistakes. One client who hired Specialisterne workers to do data entry found that they were five to 10 times more precise than other contractors.
Sonne recently handed off day-to-day operations to start a foundation dedicated to spreading his business model. Already, companies inspired by Specialisterne have sprouted in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Similar efforts are planned for Iceland and Scotland. "This is not cheap labor, and it's not occupational therapy," he says. "We simply do a better job."