Rights and Responsibilities
What you can talk about together…
- Why do we need money?
- Where does money come from?
- How many different jobs can you think of that need to be done in this room?
- Who does different jobs around the home?
- Why do they do those jobs?
- How can you help?
- How do you think you’ll feel when you have helped?
- How do plants grow? What do they need?
What you can do together…
Getting to know money
On a mat or tray, place different items all relating to money. These can include: coins, notes, debit/credit cards, till, price tags/labels, receipts, purses/wallets, piggy bank.
- Can you tell me anything about these things?
- What have you heard about money?
- Where do we use money?
- What does it look like?
Follow this with a discussion about money. Prompts you could ask are:
- What do we do with money?
- Why do we need money?
Look closer at the coins and notes. See whether the children recognise any of the coins.
Ask:
- Can you find the numbers hiding on the coins?
- Can they tell those which are worth more than others?
Work together, encouraging your child to take the lead to order the coins from the lowest value to the highest. It might help to draw a number line for your child to refer to.
Helping around the home
This activity is designed to help your child to understand that there are jobs that they can help with around the home and to motivate them to help. This can be a frustrating issue for many parents and lockdown may have highlighted the issue even more. The activity will work best when you are feeling as calm as possible. If now is not the right time, perhaps choose one of the other activities and come back to this one another time.
Ask your child to make a list of some of the jobs that are done at home. Can you list 10? Even more? Have a chat about who usually does each job. You could write names next to the jobs.
Does the list look fair? Are the jobs shared out?
Which jobs help everyone in the home and which are to help an individual?
Have a chat about those jobs that are for the benefit of everyone and those that benefit just one person (like making their bed). Who should do that job if they are able to?
Highlight or draw a line under any jobs that your child could safely help with.
Here's a list of ‘Age appropriate chores’, created by child development experts from NHS Tayside:
Ages 4-5
Feed pets • Wipe up spills • Put away toys • Make the bed • Tidy bedroom • Water indoor plants • Prepare simple snacks • Use hand-held vacuum • Clear kitchen table • Dry and put away dishes
Ages 6-7
Fold towels • Dust/Mop floors • Empty dishwasher • Match clean socks • Weed garden • Rake leaves • Peel potatoes and carrots • Make salad • Replace toilet roll
The idea is that this will give you some guidance as to what a child might be capable of at a given age. If your child is not used to doing any jobs or has got out of the habit, then it will be helpful to take small steps, adding one or two jobs at a time and a change in habits will take time to consolidate. Praise is a huge motivator and can take the form of verbal or non-verbal cues, such as smiles or thumbs-up and sticker or tick charts.