Summer is here! School is out for the summer and your kids will probably have some spare time on their hands. You can help them alleviate their boredom by assigning them more chores. They’ll be thankful for that, right? Just kidding! But they will be thankful if extra chores will perhaps increase their pocket money they can spend on ice cream. To make chores more fun, we picked five cool and refreshing chores for kids that are the favorites (among chores) in our home for hot summer days.

 

Washing the car

Kids generally love washing the car if they can have fun with it and get wet. First have them clean up the inside of the car, vacuum the crumbs and carry all the candy wrappers to the trash. Then get everyone in their bathing suits, blast some music, give them a sponge and a hose and let the car cleaning party begin! If you have enough kids, you can even make teams so they can compete on whose half of the car looks cleaner.  You can stay in the shade and be the judge. 😉 Or you can forget about chores and your car and make an awesome “car wash/kid wash” – and don’t forget to go through it yourself!

Cleaning windows

Washing windows is a quick and easy task that every kid can do – or at least help with it. Teens are able to wash windows all by themselves, but younger kids can help washing the lower windows or help with drying with a squeegee, so there aren’t any streaks. They get to see the results right away and they can do as many windows at a time as they want. You can even make a DIY window cleaner, that’s safe for kids.

Gardening

Kids love to grow their own produce and it’s good for them to know exactly how many chores come with having a garden. They can help you get rid of the weeds, water the plants and with the harvest. They’ll learn a lot about plants and about food and they will appreciate it more. We’ve even heard about a lot of picky eaters that started to eat their veggies after they grew them themselves. 😉

Taking care of the lawn

Older kids can be responsible for mowing the lawn, so teach them how to use the mower safely and put them to work. Younger kids can move the sprinkler around or take a hose and water everything, so your grass won’t die. Your lawn will appreciate the watering and so will your kids after all that hard work, so let them run and play around the sprinkler.

Packing

Kids are almost always excited when it’s time to go somewhere. Whether you’re taking a longer vacation or a day trip to the beach or the pool, you can let your kids help you with the packing. You won’t have to do everything alone and they will feel like they are contributing to the planning and not just coming along for the ride. They can help you make the list so you’ll remember to put their favorite bathing suit on there, or you can make a general list and put them up for the challenge on how to pack everything in one bag.

The key to a great summer and well done chores is to always keep it at least a bit fun. Whatever you do, remember to stay in the shade during the day, use sunscreen and drink lots of water!