I found this idea on Pinterest and put it right to work on one of our snowed-in days last week. Make sweeping a game by having kids sweep into a taped square?? Excellent! Little Mister was bored and couldn't think of anything to do.
“I have a game for you!” I said excitedly.
He caught on pretty quick that my “game” was really work in disguise. He's a smart cookie. But he still accomplished the task and was rewarded. (With hugs? A piece of candy? iPod time? I don't remember.)
This morning when I tracked down the original post for due credit here, I discovered that this technique was used for a homeschooling lesson for motor control. Denise from Explorations in Learning intentionally put beans on the floor and had her daughter sweep them into the square. She's a much nicer mom than I am. Even if I was making it a gross motor lesson, I'd still have him sweep crumbs from under the table.
Because they're always there and they always need to be swept.
And helping out around the house is a good lesson. Right? Right?
These are my daily justifications.
