Recently Andrew and I have taught the boys how to fold their own laundry. We started with kitchen towels and worked our way up to shorts, pants, and shirts. They are responsible for folding their own clothes and then putting them away independently.
Because we do wash all the laundry together, the boys first sort clothing into piles according to their owner. Next they fold what is in their own pile.
Emil’s pile is always the largest… must be all those costume changes during the day!
Oliver folds his shirts into thirds, then in half again. He takes a lot of pride in his work!
Once they have folded their own, they are responsible for putting their clothing away. And if they choose, they can earn a bit of extra money if they want to fold other house members’ laundry. Last week Oliver folded Emil’s pile, and Emil helped by putting it all away. He is working on the manual dexterity, but I figure he will be at it soon enough… he always wants to keep up with those big brothers!
I’ve also completely stopped caring about the state of their drawers. They do a pretty awesome job keeping things tidy in there anyway. So proud of those boys! I don’t think I was folding my own laundry until I was ten years old!
That is a great idea! I need to get Avery folding her own laundry, and maybe Caleb’s if she wants some extra money.
This is fantastic! I am going to teach my son how to fold. I have always thought it is easier to do things myself but he will never learn that way. Thank you for the great idea!