Tidy Tuesday - Little Helpers

One thing that toddlers and preschoolers love to do is help their mommy.  They may be small but they are eager and willing to do whatever Mommy is doing.  You can encourage this by providing simple tasks that they can do and praising their efforts.

Here are some ideas to help you get started -
1. Look for kid-sized tools.  Chuck and Lilly love to help sweep the floor but an adult-sized broom can be lethal when swung around  :)  You can either get a child-sized broom or cut down an adult sized one.
2. Scrubbing the floor is a great excuse to play with water.  Provide a small plastic bin of warm water and a washcloth or sponge and watch the fun begin.
3. There are many lightweight vacuums around.  We had a small Oreck vacuum that even our three and four year olds enjoyed using...just like Mommy.
4. Let the kids use a feather duster (cut the handle down if it's too long) to dust the furniture but keep them away from lamps and fragile, breakable things.
5. Chuck loves watering the plants and picking off the dead leaves.  
6. Kids can plump pillows (as they throw them around and stomp on them!)
7.  And of course there's the always favorite job of picking up their toys  :)

I know...none of these things sound like much fun to you but remember that little kids watch and imitate their mommies and want to please them.  There may never be another stage in your child's life where he is more willing to help...take advantage of it while you still can  :)