Everything is more fun when its… fun!  Here are some ideas that help make work more fun, whether it’s washing dishes or shelling beans.  I hope it helps!

1. Listen to an audio-book – If you like curling up with a book, but your hands are occupied, try audio-books.  We have several at our library, and some of our favorites are Freddy the Pig, and Hank the Cowdog. (These are also available in book form.)

2. Play a game – Just because your hands are busy doesn’t mean you can’t use your brain!  Try these classics:

20 Questions  – Choose one player to think of something in one of the following categories: Animal, Plant, Mineral, and Other.  The other players take turns asking questions to try and figure out what the “it” person is thinking of.  If it is guessed within 20 questions, whoever guessed it gets to be “it.”  If they don’t get it within 20 questions, the person who stumped them gets to be “it” again.

I Packed My Grandfather’s Suitcase – Choose one player to start.  He says “I packed my grandfather’s suitcase, and in it there was ___.”  He fills in the blank with something that starts with the letter “a.” Go around in a circle, each person starting with “I packed my grandfather’s suitcase.” When it’s the second player’s turn, he repeats what the first player says, making sure to include whatever the first player chose for “a,” and he also adds something starting with “b”.  Keep going like this until you either reach the end of the alphabet, or everyone is out but one person.  Someone can get out by saying the wrong thing, forgetting what he was supposed to say, or skipping a letter.  One variation to this game is to have a certain category that the items have to be in, such as “food.”

3. Listen to music. – This one is simple, but it does make things more fun when you’re humming along to your favorite tunes.

If you looking for ways to make the work go faster, while still having fun, try some of these:

4.  Have a race.  Who can finish shelling their bowl of beans first?

5. Beat your record.  Keep track of the time you spent each time you did a certain job.  Try to beat your record, but be careful that no dishes are broken in the process!

6. Set up a timed reward system. – If they get done with their jobs in a certain amount of time, they get computer time, etc.  Make the time limit challenging, but not impossible.

So that’s it! Hopefully these will make chore-time a little bit more fun.  I’ll go now, so you can get to work!

***Allison***