*Perfect* task for a 5yo, or, The Game-Job October 27, 2006
Posted by Karen Joy in Parenting, The Kids.trackback
I’m really not good at coming up with new ideas for things. I’m better at taking others’ ideas and running with them. But, I decided that to keep my 5yo involved in today’s Friday Work Day that I would have to become a little creative.
I went through the house and tagged all the light switches with a piece of masking tape onto which I’d written a number with a Sharpie marker. I also printed out a sheet with the numbers 1-20 printed large and widely spaced upon it. I gave Wesley a little bucket with a rag and a little soapy water in it, and told him it was his job to find all the light switches in the house, remove the piece of tape and place it on the corresponding number on his sheet, then wash that light switch & plate. I showed him how on the first one, explaining that he needed to use his muscles to wring out the rag.
Oh, my goodness. I haven’t seen him that delighted in a long time. He immediately proclaimed, “It’s a game-job!” He set right to work, singing a made-up song that told of his own commendable, hard-working mastery of light switches. He also frequently stopped, counting out how many he had done, and how many were left to do, giving me a report. He even found two light switches that I hadn’t tagged. He got the whole thing done in less than 30 minutes.
Here’s his completed sheet:
After a good half-hour break, I did a similar thing with all the doorknobs in the house (25 of ‘em), but he wasn’t quite as thrilled that time. But, we talked about perseverance, and he eventually got it done. I gave him a jawbreaker for a treat, and let him know how very proud I was of him for not giving up.
I’ll definitely use this “game-job” idea again.
THIS is an EXCELLENT idea. Thank you for sharing it. I’d like to link to it….
[...] Read how this Mom helped her son accomplish his work, persevere against his flesh, work on math AND have fun all at once. Published in: [...]
Absolutely brilliant idea. I’m so glad JavaDawn mentioned your post…I LOVE THIS. I am thinking this will help us get ready for next Tuesday’s Reformation Party
Yippee!! Thanks for sharing it!
Deborah
Very, very clever!
That was brilliant! I have a busy 5 yr old girl and i think I will do this next week.
Susan
Thanks, Dawn, for the link! And thanks to everyone else for their kind words.
This whole day has gotten me thinking… Since Wesley is the youngest of my three boys, I just don’t require much out of him. He’s not my baby anymore, but I still think of him that way. But, tonight, as we were praying at bedtime, he remarked that he thought he would sleep really well, since he was tired from working so hard today.
You could hear the satisfaction in his voice. I think I need to come up with more jobs for him to do, and more encouraging towards his hard-working ways.
Oh yes this is totally genius!! I LOVE this idea!! Thanks for sharing it!!!
Claire sings little songs About Whatever She is Doing, too. And after I told her that your little guy was Wesley she has been going around saying that she wants to marry We-sl-ey. Sometimes saying it Wezzle-ey. She loves the idea of marrying the Princess Bride hero. I just need to clue her in on his needing to be game with the idea as well. She has a little boy-friend in town named Christian and they adore each other and hug, but that name…..
Shellie/RCG ~ I was trying to find the e-mail you sent to me that had a pic of Claire in it. I think she even looks a bit like Wesley!! I’ve actually thought about one of my kids marrying one of your kids, and then we could be in-laws!! Totally OT, but a few mothers and I were having a conversation in the church nursery the other day, and we agreed that we could completely see how the idea of arranged marriages came about. That’s a little scary-sounding, I guess, and I’m *NOT* going to arrange any of my kids’ marriages… but I’m thinking more and more these days about relationship w/ my future daughters and son(s?) in law… Makes me pray, every time.
I like it!!! I think I may also try the quit at 2 p.m. thing/5week on, 6weeks off, too.
Hey, bordermama, thanks for stopping by. It may have been unclear on that homeschooling sanity post, but I actually school for 6 weeks, then take 1 week off. There are several stretches (including Christmas, a late-Spring trip, and Summer break) where I’ll be taking 3 or more weeks off. I’d LOVE to do five weeks on, six off, but I did the math, and I wouldn’t be able to fit in the 35 weeks/year that AZ requires. Oh, well!
Oops! I meant 5 weeks on, 6th week off. But wouldn’t that be lovely? Alas…