Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in greater los angeles, CA

Preschoolers Like to "Work" Too: Jobs Around the House for the Little One

May 12, 2009

Five jobs you can give your preschooler for imagination exercise:

1.  "Office."  What could be easier or more fun than to pretend he is "working" on a "project" or he has to "check his email just for a sec" before he can play with you?  I can't imagine where a child would hear such a line...  If you don't have old keyboards and phones and computers laying around the house, they are easy enough to obtain for free through Craigslist or Freecycle.  Wipe everything down with disinfectant, then let them play and pretend with pencils and paper and you can even dress them up in little office attire.

2.  Chef.  Even if they don't make something edible, children love to pretend they are cooking.  We have set up a makeshift stove on a plant stand using a plastic strainer and some small toys and a wooden spoon.  For the older children, have them help you roll out pizza dough and spread sauce and cheese on it, then point out what you are doing when you put the pizza in the oven and set the timer.  They will love to see the finished product and maybe they will even eat it.  Bonus if you use whole wheat dough and organic toppings.

3.  Astronaut.  Settle a child down inside a box that is bigger than her body and she can draw dials and monitors and cut a hole out for the window.  Dress her up in a costume and tell her to fly off and explore faraway planets and galaxies and report back to you what she has found and even draw pictures of what she saw.

4.  Gardener:  Whether you have a yard or not, helping plants grow is a job preschoolers are made for.  Their little hands are small and love to get dirty.  Have them water the plants or the garden, give them things to carry to and from your work area, and get them started early on weeding.  Not only do you have his imagination engaged when you talk about what the growing plant will look like with love and care, but you also have a helper!

5.  Professional organizer:  It's a growing population of professionals with a national association and a big job:  Americans are clutter hoarders.  People who are good at purging and keeping the level of stuff in their homes are few and far between and teach us all lessons.  Show your child how to sort his toys into bins, give him a clipboard and a list and a pencil to make check marks, and set him to it.  This will help instill good habits in him, and someday he can come back to dig you out of the warrens of clutter you are living in with your cats.  Read more...