Question for you guys – do your kids put away their own laundry?
I recently mentioned in my post on our Kids’ Responsibility & Money Management Kit that my 4 and 5 year old get themselves dressed, brush their own teeth and make their own breakfast each morning and have been doing so for over a year.
That alone created a bit of a stir on facebook and I didn’t even mention that they also put away all of their own clothes – woo hoo! (Now you know how I actually survive being a mama of 3 kids, 5 months to 5 years in age!)
Today, we’re sharing a super helpful tool we use around here to get the kids putting away their own clothes – a very basic set of printable graphic labels that go on the outside of the kids drawers.
My kids really love taking ownership of this job, especially with these labels that they can color themselves. Here’s MJ to tell you all about it.
Hope you love them as much as we do.
Laundry. It’s not the bane of my existence, but it’s close. I don’t love the many steps (and hours) it takes to go from dirty to folded and back in the drawer.
This super simple step helped to streamline our process and gave my children a sense of independence. Organization is always a goal around here with three school schedules and our professional calendar as well.
Every season my children and I go through their dresser drawers together. We look at what fits and what doesn’t, as well as what clothes they actually wear and which outfits are ready to move on to an owner who might love them more.
This act of purging is a great lesson in giving.
We fold together and reorganize each drawer. Using printable labels make the process simple. Dadand.com has created a set of labels that works well for even toddlers as they match pictures to their clothing and make the job a snap!
DOWNLOAD DRAWER LABELS
Your child can color the labels to fit their own tastes (or even show some of their favorite looks). While they’re busy coloring, talk to each one about the importance of putting things away where they can be easily found again.
When the labels are complete, you can attach the kids clothing labels to the drawers with some painters tape or washi tape. (Alternatively, you can also print the labels directly onto adhesive paper and make stickers.)
When you fold laundry, keep your children’s clothing in the same categories as these labels, transfer the piles into a basket labeled for each child, and let the children take over the final step of putting their clothes away!
This is a simple way to give your children more responsibility and add always appreciated time in your family schedule!
