Have Your Toddler Help

As your child grows into the toddler stage, you will find that it is a bit exhausting at times trying to keep them entertained and busy. When they are a baby, they cry and can move around a little bit, but when they become a toddler, they now run around all over, climb up where they are not supposed to, and are quick to get into mischief. They will want to try all kinds of new things and do things they are not supposed to.

In order to make this stage of parenting easier, your best bet is going to be to let your child help out as much as you can. That doesn’t mean they are doing everything the same way that you are, but it does mean that you’re looking for ways that they can participate in whatever it is that you may be doing. If you simply try to keep them away, they’ll either want to do it more or get into more trouble somewhere else.

For example, when you’re making dinner, involve your child in the preparation of dinner. They can get the food out of the pantry, they can carry it over. They can pretend to cut the food as well. Get them some play toys that they can use to help prepare the food the same way that you do. They can help to clean up the mess that you make while preparing food, and they can help to clean the dishes afterwards.

Beyond meals, they can help with different activities around that house that have to be completed as well. They can help to clean up the bathroom, they can carry the laundry to the washing machine. They can help carry things back to their room, and they can most definitely help to clean up as well. Yes, they’re not going to do things the way you want every time, but it’s often better than the alternative.

There’s another benefit to having your child participate in different activities around the house when they’re still young - they’ll learn how to do them very early on in life and you won’t have to teach them again later on. While they may be less likely to want to help as they grow up, they will understand how to do those activities, and it’s much easier to keep them doing them than trying to get them into it later.

For example, we clean the bathrooms every other week in our home. This could be an activity that is not really any fun for anyone, but our toddler helps happily. In fact, he screams that he wants to help clean the bathroom. Our older child, while less enthusiastic these days, still enjoys squirting the cleaner into the toilet bowl and washing the inside of the bowl - it doesn’t take any coaxing still.

If you’re struggling to get your child involved, then try buying toys that help encourage them to participate. Buy small versions of brooms and mops, buy small cutlery that they can use, and you can also buy other simple toys that they will enjoy using to help around the house. This is one of the easiest ways to keep them “helping” while you do some of the work they’re not ready for just yet.

Have your kids help around the house. It will help them to learn how to do it the right way, and it will keep them entertained at the same time.