The Gerber Life Parenting Blog

When spring finally rolls around each year, it brings so many welcome sights. The snow thaws, days grow longer, flowers start to bloom, and there’s a lot of cleaning to be done. Wait, actually that last part isn’t welcome at all.

You may not want to be stuck inside for a long session of spring cleaning, when other options include playing with your children outside or riding bikes in the park. But, unfortunately, spring cleaning is something that almost always has to be done.

Fortunately, even if spring cleaning can’t be avoided entirely, there are ways that may help get it done faster. Follow these spring cleaning tips, and you’ll be out under the sun before you know it:

Determining when your child is ready to help around the house and what he or she should be helping with is no easy task. Suddenly, you’ll start wondering aloud, wait, when did I start helping around the house as a child? Was I cooking and cleaning at five? Of course, you’ll eventually remember that you weren’t baby Rachel Ray or Martha Stewart, and you’ll realize that you need to decide on age-appropriate chores for your child.

To keep things simple, focus less on the specific chore you’re considering and more on what a child can handle and should be learning at a particular age. For example, instead of trying to determine whether your child can realistically mop the floor, think about whether that task would benefit him or her. Ideally, it should be a task that is both feasible and something your child can learn from.

Still stuck? Don’t worry; we’re here to help. Here are some ideas for age-appropriate chores:

Wouldn’t it be great if your child could write a book of his or her own? Writing is a skill that definitely should be encouraged, and that has many benefits for children throughout their lifetime, including benefits not related to school.

However, isn’t it really expensive to publish a book? Fifteen or 20 years ago that might have been the case, but nowadays there are book-publishing apps for children that make it easy, inexpensive, and efficient. Learn more about two apps you may want to consider:

Most parents want their children to be able to read well and enjoy reading, too. If a child doesn’t enjoy spending time with books, he or she is unlikely to devote the time it takes to learn to read well.

An ideal way to help foster a love for books in your child is to create a literary-rich environment in your home. This can be partly achieved by providing plenty of books and reading materials, displaying a positive attitude toward reading and writing, encouraging reading and writing for both pleasure and practical reasons, and reading aloud to your child every day at the same place and time.

Having a dedicated physical reading space isn’t a requirement for a literary-rich environment, but having an enjoyable space can be a huge ally in getting your child to love books. With that in mind, what would be more enjoyable for your child (and you) than having a reading loft for your daily reading sessions? Follow these simple steps and build your dream reading spot:

When a child first learns to read, it’s helpful to give him or her plenty of opportunities to practice with you, such as by sounding out the words on the back of a cereal box, reading road signs or voicing recipe instructions while making dinner or baking a cake.

To help make reading fun for your child, a good idea is to create games that help bolster the reading skills you’re trying to reinforce. One great game is the scavenger hunt because it can strengthen reading, problem solving, creativity and imagination, among other qualities.

Here’s how to plan a play-at-home scavenger hunt for kids that’s entertaining while requiring your child to flex his or her reading muscles: