How to Turn Household Chores Into Gross Motor Skills Practice
Household chores don’t have to feel like… well, chores. With a little creativity, everyday tasks can become powerful opportunities to build balance, strength, coordination, and body awareness. The best part? Kids stay engaged because they feel helpful, independent, and proud.
Here are simple ways to turn daily chores into fun gross-motor boosters.
🧺 1. Laundry = Squats, Lifts, and Balance
Gross motor skills built: squatting, core strength, crossing midline, balance
Try:
Sock Match Toss: Have your child squat to pick up socks, match them, then toss into the laundry basket like a basketball.
Laundry Relay: Place clean clothes on one end of the room and the basket on the other. Have your child run, crab walk, or bear crawl back and forth.
Heavy Work Helper: Allow them to push or pull the laundry basket across the floor to strengthen core and leg muscles.
🍽 2. Setting the Table = Coordination + Motor Planning
Gross motor skills built: balance, bilateral coordination, walking with control
Ideas:
Let your child carry plates or cups one at a time so they walk carefully and deliberately.
Put utensils on the counter and have them reach, bend, or step onto a small stool to retrieve items.
Make it a “Waiter Walk”—stack items on a tray to encourage steady hands and slow movement.
🧹 3. Sweeping & Mopping = Whole-Body Movement
Gross motor skills built: shoulder stability, trunk rotation, endurance
Try:
Use a child-sized broom or mop so they can use two hands and rotate their trunk.
Turn it into a challenge: “Can you sweep all the crumbs into this square?”
Create “lanes” on the floor with painter’s tape and have them push the broom along the path.
📦 4. Tidying Toys = Lifting, Carrying, Sorting
Gross motor skills built: lifting, squatting, navigating space
Ways to boost skills:
Animal Walk Clean-Up: “Pick up blocks while walking like a bear… now like a frog!”
Heavy Work Boxes: Let them carry a small bin of toys to the shelf for proprioceptive input.
Clean-Up Path: Arrange pillows or tape lines on the floor to balance across while holding toys.
🌿 5. Outdoor Chores = Natural Gross Motor Playground
Gross motor skills built: pushing/pulling strength, balance, endurance
Try:
Watering plants with a small watering can (great for upper-body strength!)
Helping carry sticks or small gardening tools
Sweeping the patio
Pulling a wagon with lightweight objects
Raking leaves into a giant pile… then jumping in!
🧽 6. Wiping & Dusting = Reaching, Stretching, Crossing Midline
Gross motor skills built: shoulder stability, stretching, coordination
Ideas:
Have them wipe windows in big up-down, side-to-side motions.
Give them a microfiber cloth and have them dust high and low spots to encourage whole-body movement.
Let them “draw” shapes or letters while wiping—turns the task into play.
🛏 7. Making the Bed = Coordination + Strength
Gross motor skills built: pulling, lifting, bilateral coordination
Try:
Let your child help pull sheets up from one side of the bed to the other.
Have them hold one corner of the blanket while you shake out the other side.
Encourage climbing or crawling across the bed to smooth out wrinkles (great for core strength!).
🫙 8. Grocery Help = Carrying + Motor Planning
Gross motor skills built: carrying, pushing/pulling, balance
Ideas:
Let them help bring in one lightweight bag at a time.
Encourage pushing a kid-sized or empty cart.
Have them sort items into pantry shelves that require bending, reaching, and standing on tiptoes.
⭐ Tips for Success
Keep tasks short and age-appropriate.
Use simple language: “Push,” “Pull,” “Carry,” “Lift.”
Provide choices: “Do you want to sweep or help with laundry today?”
Celebrate effort: Praise the helper, not the task.
Make it playful—kids learn best when they’re having fun.
💛 Why This Works
Chores offer natural:
Movement variety
Sensory input (proprioception, vestibular movement)
Opportunities for independence
Real-life motor skill practice
When kids feel like valued helpers, motivation soars, and so do their motor skills.
