It's never too early to teach your kids the fine art of laundry. Even if you think your son or daughter is too young for the chore, it's good to start showing them the ropes early so that it becomes part of what they know as they get older. There are different ways you can approach this; you can make it fun, make it a daily routine, and — of course — praise them and reward them all the way. Following you'll find our tips for getting kids involved in this most important home chore.
Make Laundry Fun
“When you first teach them, they’re going to be excited,” says Amy McCready, founder of Positive Parenting Solutions and author of If I Have to Tell You One More Time. Young kids love learning new skills, and toddlers like feeling helpful. But as a chore becomes familiar, says McCready, “the excitement wears off.”
So turn on some some music for sorting or a short TV show for folding, and work with kids so they feel like you’re a team. McCready also recommends a “when/then routine.” “When the laundry is done, then you can something fun.”
Make It a Daily Routine
“Teach laundry early and often,” says McCready. Even young toddlers can learn to sort dirty clothes when they take them off. Put two baskets in the child’s room: one for light and one for dark. And teach them to put dirty clothes where they belong.
Make Sorting Easy
Once your child is used to sorting dirty laundry, he can start sorting clean laundry, too. Figuring out which shirt is whose is a great way to practice “big” and “little,” and matching socks is a fun game for toddlers.
If your younger kids inherit their big sibling’s clothes, use a permanent marker to make sorting easier. “Put one dot on the inside of the oldest child’s clothes,” says McCready. “When you pass that shirt down to the second child, add a second dot.” Preschoolers will love combining sorting with counting.
Teach Them to Fold
When you’re ready to teach kids to fold laundry, start with washcloths. Teach kids to match the corners to each other, smooth the fold, and then match the corners again. “Model it for them and show them how to do it,” says McCready. “Then give them an opportunity to do it on their own.” And don’t worry if their attempts aren’t perfect—just give them lots of encouragement and plenty of chances to practice.
Make Equipment Kid-Friendly
When you’re ready to trust your kids to load the washer and run the machine, give them visual cues to help them know which settings to use. “Use colored stickers to mark which temperature to use,” says McCready. Put a white sticker on hot and a brightly colored sticker on cold, and your kids should be able to push the buttons without ruining clothes.
Make Detergent Kid-Sized
When your kids are tall enough (and responsible enough!) to measure detergent, they’re ready to start a load on their own. But a family-size bottle of liquid detergent is too big for little hands to pour, so transfer some to a more kid-friendly detergent bottle. “Put some detergent in an old dish detergent bottle,” says McCready, “so they can easily squeeze it out.”
Make Measuring Simple
Most detergent measuring cups include two lines—one for a front-loader and one for a top-loader. Make measuring simpler for kids by marking the appropriate line with a permanent marker. “Kids need everything broken down into small steps,” says McCready. The simpler you can make each step, the better.
Teach Good Laundry Habits
Even if you tend to get lazy about laundry, teach your kids how to do it right. “Teach them the most efficient way to do things,” says McCready. “When the dryer stops, teach them to take clothes out right away and hang up things that might wrinkle.” This teaches kids the importance of finishing a task. Says McCready, “It gives kids a sense of accomplishment to start a task and then finish it all the way through.”
Let Them Write It Out
After kids have learned each step of the process, they’re ready to take laundry out of your hands for good. But to make sure they don’t forget any steps, give them a written reminder—in their own writing. "Have the child write instructions on an index card,” says McCready, "and then tape the card on the washing machine.” Do the same for the dryer. “By they time they’re in junior high, they can be doing laundry start to finish,” says McCready.
Don't Forget. Praise Them!
As your kids learn each new skill, encourage them and tell them how much you appreciate their help. “Tell them what a difference they’ve made for your family,” says McCready. A kid who can do the whole family’s laundry has something to be proud of—after all, plenty of adults don’t know how to wash laundry. “You don’t want kids going off to college not knowing how to do laundry,” says McCready. “It’s an important job.”
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