Little House & The Farm, Part 6: Washing Day!

Farming and homesteading in the times of the Pioneers was a lot of work! It can be difficult to convey, let alone personally grasp the amount of time, effort and preparation that went into the most mundane tasks we now take for granted. In Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House in the Big Woods, Ma has a weekly routine of chores set up. Now we may spend parts of a day (sometimes every day) doing laundry, cooking, cleaning, shopping for groceries and household items. For Laura and her family, a task like making butter for the household could take much of a day. Grocery stores the way we know them were still years away and General Stores were miles away without the convenience of modern transportation. As much as I complain about laundry (and I complain about it a lot), we have it pretty easy here with a washer and dryer right in our kitchen. Nonetheless, I splurged (with a credit I had) on Amazon and bought an old fashioned washboard. I wanted to set up a play scene outside for the boys to try out their own washing day and it just so happened that Monday of this past week was [finally] the perfect weather after a week of rainy days. Gosh, I can't imagine how a week like that would have affected Ma's chore routine!

I have to admit that many times when I set up an activity, I have an inkling of whether it will be enjoyed for a long while, quickly tried or not appreciated at all. And sometimes I have no clue! This time, I was pleasantly surprised with just how much both boys loved our washing day! I set up a simple three step station to

1. Scrub: I set up the bin of our sensory table right on the grass with soapy water, our washboard and a handful of square washcloths/dishrags. I used peppermint castile soap as it is gentle on little hands and also a wonderful laundry detergent in a pinch! 
2. Rinse: I set a second, smaller plastic basin with just plain water for rinsing.
3. Dry: We don't have a drying rack but our sensory table base was the perfect height and setup for a makeshift clothes line. I tied on three rows of twine and added in a collection of wooden clothes pins.

When it was time to go outside, I gave a brief demo of the three steps to the boys. I showed how to use the washboard to scrub the washcloths, how to ring out the wet, soapy rags, how to rinse and ring again and two ways to hang them to dry (this step would likely be more geared toward S). One way was to use a couple of clothespins and the other was to drape the towel folded over the twine. Then it was up to them to have at it and get to work!

They had so much fun! As we worked, we sang a little song to the tune of Row Row Row Your Boat:

Wash, wash, washing day,
Washing day is here!
Wash, wash, wash away,
We do our work with cheer!

Y particularly loved the song! He may or may not have climbed into the soapy water a couple of times as well. S spent a good long while mastering the technique of using clothespins on the clothesline. He was so proud to have mastered it! This is a great activity to incorporate both gross and fine motor skills as children at different ages and stages maneuver their way around all three stations, scrubbing against the washboard, ringing out cloths, and hanging them to dry. And while I cannot guarantee that practicing laundry as a child will yield an adult love of the chore (I used to love pretending to iron and I have ironed once ever in my entire adult life), it is a likely your little ones will enjoy this activity now!

And when it comes to chores and household tasks, Ma had the right idea in creating a predictable routine and engaging the help of her children each at their own level and abilities. And after Ma came Maria Montessori who was a huge advocate of teaching children practical life skills both in the classroom and at home. Creating ways in which certain chores are able to be done with or by the younger members of our family is a way we incorporate a bit of Montessori style in our own home. Even very young members of the family benefit from contributing to household tasks and feel quite eager and important when doing so. Sure, folding the actual laundry takes a bit longer when S wants to do all the washcloths, rags and dish towels himself, but when we can afford to include the boys in these seemingly mundane tasks, we do a great deal to foster their own independence, confidence and competence. Think of it kind of like an investment plan!

Happy Household Helping and Playing!