The word ‘chores’ doesn’t exactly spark excitement, right? But it’s all about perspective! For yourself, or to keep your kids motivated, use Enzo plus our tips on turning tasks into household chores games that make it more attractive – and you’ll probably get it done faster too.

The prospect of Household Chores fills many a parent with dread. In a fair household, you won’t do everything yourself. However, you may feel it’s easier to take it on without anyone’s help. It will be done correctly the first time, right? AND you won’t have to argue and nag to get things done.

The reality is that better chore management along with the Enzo app can result in a much better household and lifestyle. For starters, doing chores together as a family can be a bonding experience. And it can be a lot of fun if you add a gaming element. And why not? They have to be done—why not try a new approach and see what happens?

We’ll give you some tips on Household Chores Games, and most families really like our 4^th game example below from the get-go.

But let’s start with why this is such an important topic to discuss with your family.

Benefits of Children Having a Chores List

There are a number of emotional, social and academic benefits of doing chores:

• Firstly, it’s humbling. Even when cleaning your own home, you have to do rather dirty tasks, like cleaning the toilet. And that puts life into perspective, such as the fact that things won’t always be easy and kids shouldn’t look down on others, no matter their position in life. Everyone may end up scrubbing a toilet or unclogging a drain sooner or later in life.
• Secondly, you have to learn to give your best even when you don’t like doing a task. It’s important to have the house clean and tidy, otherwise it can lead to problems like mold in the house. So, children learn the consequences of their decisions and the importance of doing their part.
• Children learn about commitment, faithfulness and consistency, as well as caring for others through these tasks.
• Fourthly, children who do chores often do well academically, according to experts.
• Additionally, if you all share the responsibility of doing chores, you will have more downtime to spend with each other. So, use household chores games to have a healthier family dynamic.
• Children will also learn to work well with other people.

It’s clear—it’s beneficial for your children to have some tasks to do. So, don’t avoid delegating the tasks, even if it’s giving moody teens a few chores. In the long run, they’ll thank you for giving them a quality upbringing.

But just because you want them to learn a few lessons, doesn’t mean it can’t be fun along the way, right?

You just have to manage it all like a pro.

Rewards-based Systems versus Games

You’ll find experts promote different ways of managing tasks in the family setup.

For example, there are parents who offer rewards for doing tasks. These moms and dads will offer star-charts with prizes to children if they complete these tasks. Perhaps you have short term success this way, but the approach isn’t always motivating for some children.

In addition, if you reward your children for everything they do, they’ll expect returns for almost anything they do in life. And that can lead to some rude awakenings once they hit the adult world or even a sports environment while still at school. Sometimes, you just need to do your part because it’s expected, not because someone is going to praise you afterwards, right?

That’s why it’s better to find ways to help children have a positive view of the dull, dreary—even disgusting—tasks around the home. And, they should accept the more negative aspects of life with calm.

One valuable lesson they can learn from you is proving to them that one can view even a bad situation in a good light. For example, if you can turn work into fun household chores games, it can motivate them to see the good in a challenging work environment. Or perhaps they won’t let a tight budget get them down they’ll just find creative ways to supplement their income. Why? Because their parents taught them the value of changing your perspective sometimes.

See the ripple effect of your parenting skills and tools?

So then, what types of games could you offer your children? We’ll give you some ideas to use as a starting point for creating your own.

Household Chores Games Examples

The family chore chart can be made a lot of fun with the following games.

Make the Bed Relay

You can all have an opportunity to do one thing in a room, and one thing only. For instance, one person can remove the covers and pillows, while someone else can straighten the sheets. The following person can refit the bedcovers.

This one teaches everyone to work together and if you time yourselves, it becomes fun to beat the clock each time you make a bed. Imagine how quickly the house will be in order each morning!

Pick Up and Put Down

You all go round the house finding objects such as toys to pick up from the floor. Then you put them in their correct place or container. The person who picks up the highest number of items wins.

Keep the ‘win’ simple if you want to avoid a rewards-based system. They can ‘win’ an extra hug or have the privilege of choosing the next game.

Escape Room Cleaning

One of the most fun household chores games is where each person in the household, if old enough, gets to clean a room as quickly and thoroughly as they can, and be timed. Do this if you need the house cleaned quickly before company arrives or if you need to go out, but don’t want to leave the house in chaos.

Of course, the room must be checked by an adult to make sure the cleaner didn’t forget anything. The person who wins can get to choose the next meal.

And if anyone cheats, introduce negative consequences, like having to wear oddly paired shoes for an hour, even if you’re going out. That’s sure to draw a few giggles and ensure rooms are spotless most of the time.

Musical Tasks

This time, you start cleaning a room together, and set a timer—say for 5 minutes. Then, once the buzzer goes, you get to swap tasks with the person on your right. Another approach is performing your task for the duration of a song playing on the radio. When it stops, it’s time to switch!

It works well as long as everyone actually does their tasks properly. Don’t leave the hard work for the next person in line! Still, this game certainly takes out the drudgery out of cleaning!

Chore Darts

Take a dartboard and assign tasks to specific numbers or areas on the board. Then you throw your dart at the assigned chore number that you’d like to do. Kids will inevitably get one or two chores they don’t want, but at least they will have had an opportunity to aim for the one they prefer.

Color-by-number Chores Game

Another of the popular household chores games is coloring in. If your children enjoy coloring in, then print out an age-appropriate color-by-numbers sheet found online. There are many to choose from, and you can pick image themes your children love.

Next, place the sheet in the lounge. Hide crayons all across the house or in a task area. When they find one, they get to color in the part of the sheet for which that color is appropriate. They can then continue cleaning and looking for more crayons, until the page is fully colored in—and hopefully the house is also as clean as you imagined it.

To-do-list Checks

If your family members are very competitive, any competition is bound to motivate them to get their work done first. Allow the first person to complete their chores list for the week to choose the Friday night meal.

This is where an app like Enzo comes in handy, because it helps you assign tasks and track progress. Everyone will be able to view each other’s chores and the desire to be the winner will help maintain cleaning momentum throughout the week.

Final Thoughts

Now, you have some ideas to try out for yourself. Why not create some more on-the-spot games, and get to a new one every week? Consider what your family members view as ‘fun’ and see how you can incorporate it into your house maintenance plans. If you have creative ideas for household chores games, please share with us.

And remember to download the Enzo chore app because it’s a practical but also fun way to manage your household.