Itās crazy how often I see kids be self-motivated to be helpful. I say āhey would somebody like to help me move these boxes?ā and especially kids ages about 8-12 jump up quickly.
One of the teenagers came up to me during rehearsal and asked for the keys to the costume shop so he could clean it ā unprompted. When I came to find him heād cleared a messy corner that had intimidated me for months.
Even really little kids ages 1-3 will pick up something you dropped, carry and transfer items with you, and offer relevant items to you.
Oh tiny kids LOVE to help, some of the most helpful children I've ever met were 1-4 year olds. When I worked at a camp the cook's 1 1/2 year old toddler liked to help us sweep and wipe tables. I had a 4 year old help me clean a bathroom once. When I worked at a preschool we asked the kids one time to help us gather all the lost bits from the sensory table that one child had scattered and an entire class (roughly fourteen 3-5 year olds) scrambled to help us clean the room up and find everything. We had a 6 year old in a class I worked in who would help us pick up all the little kid chairs and put them on top of the tables at the end of the day just because he COULD. Little kids are some of the most delightfully helpful people I've ever met.
