Empowering Children: How Helping at Home Builds Confidence

Introduction

The journey of learning new things for a child starts early. Initially, they learn to imitate others’ actions and start moving their body. Slowly, they start imitating the words of older people around them and that's how they learn to talk. With time, they learn how to read, write, and perform different activities by observing others. Hence, it is safe to say that for a child, learning is a continuous and never-ending process.

It also lets a child thrive and explore their capabilities to the best of their ability. A parent's involvement in a child's ability to learn and master new skills is significant. Parents can guide their children through various failures and make them learn new skills by simply involving them in day-to-day activities. By becoming a part of household chores, the child may become more detail-oriented and responsible. Additionally, it may also make the child aware of the right way of performing different tasks so that they can do it on their own in case nobody is there to help them.

How Helping at Home Develops Confidence Among Kids

Simple activities such as dusting the furniture, keeping clean clothes in the laundry basket, and others may be assigned to kids to enhance their motor skills and cognitive development.

Here is a deeper look into how kids can be benefited by helping parents at home.

• Teaches Them Teamwork

One of the biggest learnings that children can have early on in their lives is to understand the importance of teamwork. This is not just helpful at home but can have many positive implications while they work with other kids at school or in their professional lives when they grow up. When a child takes up certain responsibilities, they learn how to carry out the task while considering everyone's opinion. They also learn how to convey their feelings without hurting anyone else and work with everyone to achieve a common output.

• Enhances Confidence

When a child indulges in different activities, such as making their bed, watering plants, keeping dirty clothes in the laundry basket, and other such activities, they might become more confident. As per research published in journal Children and Chores: A Mixed‐Methods Study of Children's Household Work in Los Angeles Families published in 2009, activities let the child do things on their own and feel a sense of achievement as soon as that particular task is done. Additionally, if a child is not able to do a particular task properly, then parents may guide them through the right process. By correcting their mistakes and learning the right formula for doing various household chores, the child may become more self-reliant.

• Develops Motor Skills

Various activities such as folding clothes, keeping clean utensils in the cupboard, helping and washing dishes, or cleaning the floor with the broom may improve a child's motor skills. Household chores require a child to be constantly involved in performing a task, both mentally and physically. As per a research paper called Associations Between Household Chores and Childhood Self-Competency published in 2018, chores may enhance a child's hand-to-eye coordination and may also make them more detail-oriented. As a child learns how to hold a broom perfectly, they might be able to clean the floor better with each attempt. Refined motor skills may benefit a child while playing sports or indulging in other physical activities.

• Builds Work Ethic

For parents who want to teach their child the necessary soft skills such as punctuality and discipline, indulging their child in household chores can be a great start. It is while performing these tasks that a child may understand the importance of doing a particular task on time and being constantly involved in helping others to keep the house running and in the best possible form. To make it even more interesting and engaging, parents may introduce some positive reinforcement such as a token of appreciation and rewards so that the child remains even more committed.

• Supports Family Bonding

While performing various household chores, the child will come in contact with parents and other family members performing their respective duties. It is then that they might realize what goes into keeping the house clean and ensuring everything is in place. As per the journal WILEY published in 2022, kids might develop a deeper consideration in the child's mind regarding their parents and the hard work that they put in. Also, the child might indulge in actively sharing their insights related to some particular area of the house or doing a task a different way. It could be a great way for the whole family to come together and have wonderful conversations while carrying out day-to-day tasks.

• Reduces Screen Time

Assigning household chores to kids in their leisure time is also a way of avoiding excessive screen time. Instead of scrolling mindlessly on phones and other digital devices, a child can get actively involved in cleaning a specific part of the house or helping their parents do a particular task. It is also a way of indulging the child in a physical activity that can keep them fit and moving. To keep it more engaging and interesting, parents may keep switching the task assigned to the child. For example, one day they might assign the child to clean the garden area and water the plants. The other day the parents can suggest to the child to clean their cupboard and put everything in the right place.

Conclusion

Making a child responsible from an early age lets them take charge of their work. This may also make a child extremely confident, and the child begins to support parents from an early age which might form an extremely positive relationship between both parties.