One of the ways our kids help out around the house is by emptying the dishwasher. To make it possible for the children to safely put dishes away, we store all non-breakable dishes where the children can reach. Not only can the kids help with putting clean dishes away, but they're also able to help themselves. They're able to get bowls out for breakfast, pick out plates and silverware for lunch, and even get themselves a drink!To make our kitchen kid-friendly, we store plastic plates, bowls, cups, and place mats inside an under-counter cabinet. Everything is in stacks and easy to get to.
We also have a drawer for sippy cups and bowls with lids.
When it's time to empty out the dishwasher, I open the dishwasher up and start removing anything breakable as well as anything sharp. Sometimes my 5 year old will help with the breakable items by stacking them onto the counter for me to put away. My 2 and 3 year olds help out by taking the plastic plates, bowls, cups, baby items and putting them into stacks inside the cabinet. They also help with the silverware and measuring cups.
If you're interested in re-organizing your kitchen so that your children can help more, you might also consider storing all your breakable dishes in kid-reachable places. This makes it easy for children to help with everything in the dishwasher as well as being able to help set the table. However, I don't recommend trying that if you have a child under 2 years old as you may end up with dishes pulled out onto the floor and breaking.What ways have you organized your kitchen to make it more kid-friendly?
After seeing the way you have your kitchen organized, I'm obviously doing things backwards! I have all my pots and pans in the bottom cabinets and all their plastic plates and cups in the top cabinets! They're always having to stand on the counter to tell me which plate or cup they want to use.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of reorganizing it to make it more kid-friendly. I really want to encourage them to start helping with chores, like emptying the dishwasher, etc.
We have lower cabinets with stuff the kids can "play" with...like pans and such. But I left my glass and antique lazy susan in a lower cabinet and one of the bowls got lost. DRATS!
ReplyDeleteI just love this. I liked giving my kids space in my kitchen and not having to say "no" all the time.
ReplyDeleteHow are you feeling? I hope you are doing well!
Morgan,
ReplyDeleteI love your name, and hearing how it came to be. Thanks for the tips on organizing, that's something I love as well.
Hugs for your night,
Sara
I wish I had thought of that when my kids were younger. They used to climb to get the plastic cups and plates.
ReplyDeleteYou're very wise to think of these things while your kids are young and to get them in the habit of helping before they get too old. When you start things with older children, they complain.
Fortunately, with persistence, I have managing to teach my kids how to do chores.
This is a very good idea...we have to work first on making everything baby proof, but the truth is, I have too much glass close to the floor in drawers and cabinets. If I didn't, it wouldn't even be so important to baby proof by sealing cabinets shut. I did get rid of all harsh chemicals that can be swallowed though.
ReplyDeleteI am a new follower from FFF! Nice to meet you!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! For us, not the kitchen, but we put new lower clothing rods in the kids closets so they can get their own clothes. They have been getting dressed on their own forever!
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