Just like cleaning the bathroom sink, doing laundry is an essential part of being an adult. Therefore, it’s a good idea to get children to understand the basics of doing laundry as early as possible. By teaching your children how to do their own laundry, you will essentially teach them a life skill that they will use throughout the entirety of their lives. But the question that lies to be answered is how do you get small children involved? Read on to learn how to do just that.
1) Toddlers
In the mind of a toddler, the concept of doing household chores is fascinating. When they look at a large pile of clothes, all they see are endless possibilities of fun. Therefore, it’s the perfect time to speak with your child about the reasons why dirty clothes need to be washed. Teaching toddlers how to do laundry when their young will help to establish a rapport which will eventually transition into improved laundry skills.
Over time, they will get to the point where they can competently do their own laundry as well as for the family. The key thing you need to remember about getting toddlers involved is that they should be taught about the dangers of playing around with machines and laundry-related chemicals. One of the ways you can get toddlers involved is to make a game out of doing laundry such as a game where they match colors, count clothing pieces, or identify matching shapes.
2) Grade School Children
As children grow older, they become less concerned with imitating mom and dad. Instead, they’ve grown to the point where they would rather play video games than help out with the laundry. However, if your children are in grade school, now is the opportune time for you to explain what the laundry process consists of as well as things they can do to ensure that process runs smoothly. Some of the things you can do to get grade school children involved, include:
- Place a hamper in the bathroom and bedroom. Tell them that they should put their dirty clothes in the designated hampers.
- Give your child a mesh bag which they will only use for socks. Then, show them how they can wash the entire mesh bag of socks by throwing them in the washer. Additionally, explain how using mesh bags for socks can help to prevent losing socks.
- Label each drawer of the dresser and instruct the child to place clothing items in the drawer according to the label.
3) Teenagers
Even though it may seem hard to believe at first, getting your teenager to help out with the laundry might prove to be much trickier than getting a toddler involved. In most cases, once you explain that they need to help out with the laundry, you’ll receive, eye-rolls, sighs, excuses, and complaints. But if your teen doesn’t know how to do laundry at that point, it’s especially important that they get involved before they go off to college or finish high school. Therefore, ensure that you speak with your child about the importance of doing laundry.
Some major topic to cover, include:
- Read Labels
One of the first things you can do is to explain to your teen how and why they need to check labels. A clothing label provides info on how the item can be washed. For instance, if the label says “wash separately”, let the child know that they have to separate said clothing item when they do large loads. Additionally, explain the consequences that are associated with throwing a “dry clean only” clothing item in the washing machine and consider getting a DIY home dry cleaning kit that they can use to clean clothes with a “dry clean only” label.
- Stain Removal
Teenagers are mature enough to understand advanced stain removal procedures. Therefore, tell them about the basics of pre-treating stains.
- Washer – Dryer
It would be advantageous for you to also teach teenagers the importance of promptly removing wet clothes from the machine and into the dryer. Explain that it can help to reduce the appearance of wrinkles as well as to prevent mildew.
Additionally, explain that in order for them to ensure that all clothing items are properly dried, they need to separate lightweight items from heavy fabrics when it comes to doing a load in the machine. Additionally, teach them about the various cycles on the dryer as well as the importance of ensuring that they remove items from their pockets.
