Weekly Household
Job Challenge

Activity Overview

Daily living and independent skill-building are essential practices in early childhood classrooms. For Milestone Week, we have created a challenge based on all of our motor work from the past three weeks. This Weekly Household Job Challenge builds in the elements of planning, trustworthiness, confidence, and generosity that we have been practicing, and creates daily jobs for the student to help contribute directly to the household. These household activities allow the student to gain dexterity and awareness of where their body is in space, and practice both efficacy and concentration, which aid them in their ability to hold focus and follow through on academic and life tasks. They are also aimed at helping the student understand the care and constant attention required to run a home, and will help them feel a sense of accomplishment and belonging as they help accomplish these tasks. This challenge allows the student to reflect on prior learning and bring that knowledge into a capstone project that requires a great deal of organization and planning.

What You Need

• Household Job Challenge Chart

• Materials from This Is the Way We Wash..., Washing the Dishes, Folding the Laundry, and Now We're Cooking!

• Recipes: List two to three possible meal ideas with recipes (so they are not completely on their own in finding these meals)

Steps

1. Each day the student will be tasked with something different. Refer to the Household Job Challenge Chart to see what each day's challenge will bring, or create your own 5-day household job challenge!

Guiding Questions

• How can we show each other that we take care of our belongings and our home?

• Can we sort out our laundry into groups?

• Where do these items belong?

• What kinds of foods could we make?

• What kind of meal do you think the people coming would like?

• Can you make [guest’s] favorite food?

• Can we make a drink for our meal?

• How can we get all the food off of this dish?

• How do we know if this is clean?

• How can we place these items to dry?

• Where do these items go?

• How does it feel to help take care of the household?

Extensions

• If your student enjoys folding and doing the laundry, have them try folding blankets, fitted sheets, sweatshirts, or articles that provide a little bit more thought and challenge.

• Build food preparation into your daily life and have the student organize their own snacks each day.

• If your student likes doing dishes and you have a dishwasher, have them load and unload it. Build this work into your daily routine as a way to give that child some autonomy over the daily routines of the home.