Sort, fold, put away: the laundry crew
Laundry is a real job kids can own one piece at a time. Thirty minutes with one clean basket, and each kid walks away with a laundry job that's theirs every week.
- Time
- 30 min
- Cost
- $0
- Ages
- 4 to 10
- Where
- A bed or the couch
What you need
- A basket of clean, dry laundry from the whole house
- An empty basket or a cleared spot for each person's pile
- Masking tape and a marker for drawer labels
- The hamper, for anything that turns out to be dirty
Before you start
- Detergent pods are poison for kids. CPSC says store them in the original container, out of sight and reach, and don't let children handle them. AAP suggests powder or liquid detergent if possible.
- If a child swallows detergent or gets it in their eyes, call Poison Help right away: 1-800-222-1222, open 24/7.
- Kids start with clean, dry clothes. You run the machines and handle the detergent.
- Washers and dryers aren't hiding spots. Close the doors when you're done.
Steps
- Dump and sort by person. Dump a clean basket and sort every piece into a pile for each person.
- Match the socks. Find the sock pairs and roll each pair together.
- Fold towels first. Lay a towel flat and fold it in half three times.
- Shirts: side, side, bottom up. Shirt face down: fold one side in, then the other, then the bottom up to the collar.
- Label the drawers and put it away. Label drawers with tape, then each kid puts their own pile away.
- Give each kid a laundry job. Pick one weekly laundry job for each kid and say it out loud.
If it stalls
- If folding turns into a fight, drop the standard. Put away and wrinkled beats perfect and still on the bed.
- If they fade halfway, cap it: "Just your pile, then you're done."
Sock pairs matched · Drawers labeled
Signed off: can do this.Signed by Date