I have three kids all under four and they love being useful, feeling needed, knowing that they contribute to our family.  And, I love to look for the sneaky ways to help my kids learn without realizing it, or without the confines of a structured environment.  Chores are a great way for my kids to contribute, for learning to occur and for us to get more done in a day.

Sorting laundry and math skills:

• Counting, learning one-to-one correspondence, or learning that “1″ means 1 item.   Kids Love to Know explains number correspondence as, “how to point to only one object when they are counting and to stop counting when all objects have been touched.”  Laundry piles are a great way to physically experience numbers and quantity while contributing to the family!
• Recognizing and creating sets.  We are working on folding our clothes together in bundles (see tip post).  My kids are learning which colors and clothes “clash” and create sets of top, bottom and accessories, with their clothes.
• Differentiation and similarities comparisons.  Example: Daddy has a shirt, Z has a shirt.  Daddy’s shirt is bigger but both are shirts and both are  folded the same way.  Or,  we may have a contest and my daughter’s pile is bigger than my son’s (or smaller than).  Recognizing quantities is a pre-math requirement.
• Matching socks.  We can play the make-a-match card game… or we can play make-a-match with socks!  I prefer the second.  I detest socks and love the fact that my kids match them together.  Now we are working on their motor skills.  Hopefully, they will begin folding them soon!

Do you have any tips on how to include kids into doing chores?  Have you blogged about chores in your household?  I’d love to read about your kids successes and hear what chores they participate do in your home.  Submit your story to our blog carnival.  I’ll feature my favorites sometime next week!

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