The hidden power of household chores
Setting the table, preparing small dishes, folding laundry or doing DIY... These everyday activities, often relegated to the rank of chores, are in reality gold mines for children's awareness and learning.
Amazing!
This may seem surprising, but this is what science tells us!
From a very young age, our children have an extraordinary learning capacity, thanks to their exceptional cerebral plasticity.
Cerebral plasticity , or neuroplasticity, is the extraordinary capacity of the brain to modify and reorganize itself in response to learning and experiences.
In children, this plasticity is at its peak, meaning their brains are fertile grounds for new knowledge and skills.
And what about domestic chores in all this?
The superpower of housework
A 2022 study from La Trobe University in Melbourne investigated that children participating in household chores from a young age develop better working memory and inhibition skills. These skills are crucial for academic success, particularly in reading and mathematics, and contribute to overall academic achievement.
Already in 2002, Marty Rossmann, professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota, analyzed data over 25 years. She assessed the impact of household chores on the success of children as adults. His study shows that children who participate in household chores from the age of 3 or 4 adapt better socially. They have better relationships with those close to them and are successful professionally.
To arrive at this conclusion, measures of individual success such as school completion, early career, IQ, relationships with family and friends, and absence of drug use were used.
From Small Gestures to Big Successes
But how can cutting carrots, setting the table or doing crafts promote academic, professional and personal success?
These daily activities are the perfect training ground for developing essential skills:
Reasoning, working memory, cognitive flexibility, cooperation, language, self-confidence...
Essential skills to achieve your goals
These skills, as specialist Adèle Diamond explains, are essential to successfully navigate life.
We ask for them every day, even every hour, in all aspects of life: at school, at work, and in personal life.
When we lack these essential skills
When we lack them, acting in an intentionally thoughtful, controlled and organized manner becomes a challenge, making the realization of our projects more complex.
This is why experts consider these abilities essential and call them the biological foundations of learning.
The Word from Harvard
The Center on The Developing Child at Harvard University writes about this:
“Coming to school with a solid foundation of these executive functions is more important for children than knowing their letters and numbers.”“Providing children with the means to build these skills at home, in early education programs, and in all other settings in which they regularly live, is one of society's most important responsibilities. ”The essential :
And let's not forget one of the essential qualities of domestic tasks: daily moments of sharing with family. Young children crave them, just like their brains, because these moments of language and connections help them develop!
In summary :
Despite their appearance as simple chores, household chores are in fact real treasures for learning and sharing as a family. Involving children in these activities meets a fundamental need for their intellectual, motor and emotional development.
Sources:
M. Rossmann (2015). “Involving Children in Household Tasks: Is It Worth the Effort?”
Tepper, D.L., Howell, T.J., & Bennett, P.C. (2022). "Executive functions and household chores: Does engagement in chores predict children's cognition?" Australian Occupational Therapy Journal.
Diamond, A., & Lee, K. (2011). "Interventions shown to aid executive function development in children 4 to 12 years old". Science (New York, NY)
National Scientific Council On The Developing Child. "Building The Brain's 'Air Traffic Control' System: How Early Experiences Shape The Development of Executive Function", Working paper 11.
