Encouraging your young child to do chores is an excellent way to teach your child essential life skills at an early age. The best preschool activities blend play and learning in a way that aids in their early development. Unfortunately, not all children find chores to be fun. However, you can incorporate duties into your child's preschool activities and encourage them daily with these tips. 

How to Encourage Your Child to Complete Their Chores

1. Give Simple Tasks

Young children sometimes find chores challenging because they don't understand expectations. For instance, parents usually want chores to be completed in a specific way to teach their children responsibility. However, children could feel frustrated with unclear expectations unless parents explain the importance of a chore and the proper way to complete it. 

When giving your youngster a chore to complete, make it a simple task like putting their freshly folded clothes in their dresser or cleaning the dining table after each meal by placing dishes in the sink. Tasks can even be as basic as putting their shoes away or carrying their backpack to the car when it's time to go to a daycare center or preschool. Keep the chores simple and your expectations clear. 

2. Remove Distractions

Sometimes, children stray away from their preschool activities, including chores, because they are distracted. If your young child is more interested in their tablet, television, or toys than their chores, remove the distractions until they finish their work.

Be sure to talk with your little one about why you removed the distraction. Then, motivate them to complete their chores by asking them what they intend to do when everything is finished. Once you appeal to your child's interests and excite them about their playtime, they'll be encouraged to complete their task quickly and accurately. 

3. Set a Time Limit

It's not uncommon for children to move slowly when doing chores they don't want to do. If possible, they will drag their feet long enough to convince their parents to ignore the uncompleted task or do it themselves and let their child off the hook. However, you can use a schedule to encourage your youngster to move quickly and not waste time. Use a timer to keep track of the time and let your little one know how long they have to finish their work. If they don't finish within the time limit, you can take away a privilege like extra screen time or late bedtime. However, you can also incentivize your child by having them compete with themselves to finish work quickly and receive a reward. 

Mendon Child Care Center in Victor and Mendon, NY, is a leading early learning center that believes in helping children learn life skills. The child care center offers programs for infants and children up to age 8. Their skilled staff offers stimulating play and preschool activities to encourage growth and development. Learn more about their child care curriculum online or by calling (585) 624-2337.