Challenge #1:       Trading Places (Building Grit)*

Have a family meeting to discuss this fun 24-hour challenge.

KIDS: Children are challenged to switch places with their parents for one day and do a selection of the household chores. They will take on responsibilities such as laundry, dealing with the trash, preparing dinner, washing dishes and/or loading the dishwasher, straightening up, etc.

PARENTS: The parents will follow their children’s routine for the same time period. If this is a weekday event, the parents will follow the kids’ routine after they get home from work. If it’s a weekend day, they’ll follow it for the day and evening. Be prepared for some craziness!

INCREMENTAL LIFESTYLE CHANGES

Have a family meeting the next day to discuss the challenge. How did it go? Talk to your children about which chores were the most difficult and which were the easiest. Ask them if they enjoyed any of the chores. Let them know that they are old enough to take on some more responsibilities and ask them to choose a predetermined number (one or two) of the chores to do every day. Have them decide at what point in the day they will do the chore, then put it in your family calendar; also help them enter it into whatever scheduler they use, age dependent.

Remember to praise them for following through on the challenge!

For more Fun Family Challenges see The Learning Habit.

* Reprinted from The Learning Habit by Stephanie Donaldson-Pressman, Rebecca Jackson, and Dr. Robert Pressman by arrangement with Perigee, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, Copyright © 2014 by Good Parent, Inc.