Summer chores for kids – they don’t have to be boring!

Summer chores for kids

Summer is just around the corner…where has the first half of this year gone? Some parents will be happy that their kids are home for 3 months or so, and others might dread it just a bit. No matter how you feel though, you are going to want to keep the kids entertained during the summer months, with both fun activities and chores {see bottom of post for a list of summer chores for kids}.

When kids think chores, they think boring. What if you changed their way of thinking over the summer?

Unfortunately kids tend to get very lazy during the summer. Many sit in front of the T.V. for hours at a time. That is definitely a bad idea. A lot of kids engage in obesity-related behaviors over the summer, including eating more sugar and fewer vegetables {according to a study from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health}. It is such a problem in fact, that almost every professional sports league spends millions of dollars each year to promote kids staying active, via different campaigns. I love that they are doing this!

With millions of kids staying home during the summer, including a large share staying at home alone. It’s important for parents to have a plan to keep their kids busy and healthy as the temperatures rise. There’s nothing wrong with some TV or moments of video games, but often these things end up wasting entire days. On average, kids will play about 14 hours of video games each week. Add to that the 30 hours of TV watched each week by the average child, and 52% of their week awake is spent doing nothing productive.

Disturbing, right?

Here are a few tips for keeping your kids moving this summer:
~Make sure your kids are active for at least two hours a day. Just because summer is over, it doesn’t mean that they can just laze around the house.
~Build a “Busy Calendar” For The Kids – You can use the BusyKid app to help you with this.
~Assign By Strengths – No child is the same, so instead of them being bored with their chore, let them do what they love, while still helping. For instance, A kid that loves being outdoors might pull weeds, mow the lawn or do the watering. A child that enjoys cooking might be assigned a dinner chore
~Find Balance – When you use the Busy Calendar on the BusyKid app, be sure to add plenty of fun things too, not just chores.

~Count Steps – This is a great way for the kids to get exercise, and possibly even beat their stats for the previous day. They can use the step counters on their phones to challenge themselves, and possibly hold a competition for whomever takes the most steps in day or week. Reward the winner accordingly!
~Reward their successes – Parents views sometimes vary when it comes to rewarding kids. I think we can all agree though, that kids do better with motivation (vs. yelling or nagging). Money is a definitely a great motivator, especially when they are able to turn around and spend their own earnings on something to keep them busy during the summer (or the latest, greatest “cool” item!).

Kids love to earn money, and if you’re able, let them earn extra over the summer, then take them out for a day of fun so they can spend some of their hard earned income! Maybe if you’re lucky, your child might even treat you to an ice cream cone 🙂

If you need some ideas for summer chores for kids, I have a few ideas for you:
~Wash the car {depending on the child’s age of course}
~Sweep the garage
~Dust the house and/or wipe down the baseboards
~Organize a hall closet
~Vacuum
~Clean their room, while putting items for donation in a pile. This is a great way to make more space.
~Walk the dog {if you feel comfortable with your kid(s) walking your neighborhood
~Clean the bathroom
~Gather all of the garbage from the cans in each room of the house. They should do this the night before garbage is picked up
~Organize photos {do you have printed photos that are just thrown in a drawer?}
~Load and/or unload dishwasher
~Pick fruits and veggies from the garden {if you have one}

A great way to keep track of chores, allowance, balances, etc., is the Busy Kid app. I did an extensive Busy Kid Allowance app blog post a few weeks ago, which really explains how Busy Kid can help your family. A couple of features that I think are really helpful are that chore or activity has a recommended allowance which is based upon the age of your child. You can change this amount whenever you want – simply delete the preset amount and add your own. There are also plenty of chore recommendations in the app itself. Easy! You can also find a full page of easy to follow BusyKid videos, in case you need a little help.

If you child is a little older, they can learn about and buy stocks on BusyKid, and keep track of them. For kids of any age, they have the option of donating to a charity. Or if they just want to keep their money or part of it, they can purchase gift cards! This app is just the neatest thing ever.

I hope you and your child(ren) have a wonderful, productive and fun-filled summer! Oh, and if have any other ideas for summer chores for kids {or fun activities}, please feel free to leave them in the comment section below!

 

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