By: Lucas Chi

Led by Ms. Deanna Tepper, a 2020 study done at La Trobe University in Australia found that doing chores can improve a child’s academic performance and problem-solving skills. The study involved over 200 children ranging from 5-13 years old.

In the study, parents were asked questions about the number of chores that their children did at home, the child’s education, and the child’s performance while facing problems. The results showed that children that did chores largely had better grades.

The study also showed that gender plays a role in what chores a child would do. For example, 75% of girls put away their clothing, but only 62% of boys did. 74% of boys helped put away groceries, while only 63% of girls did.

Not only did this study help demonstrate that doing chores can help with grades and problem-solving skills, but it also showed that hobbies such as gardening and cooking can be as beneficial as chores.

The study also showed that these hobbies increase executive function, which is a phrase that represents a person’s ability to plan, work on a task, be productive, and overall handle projects easily. A person with high executive function can be a better leader and finish projects quickly and efficiently.

The leader of the study, Ms. Deanna Tepper says “Children who cook a family meal or weed the garden on a regular basis may be more likely to excel in other aspects of life.” In other words, cooking and gardening is beneficial to many other things in life, whether that is education, leadership, or making projects.

Although many kids do not like to help with household chores, they can be beneficial to them, as this study shows.

Sources:

latrobe.edu.au

twinkl.com