"By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; and by knowledge its rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant treasures." Proverbs 24:3

Family Fold Out



The title, "Family Fold Out," was coined by my six year old.  It's when everyone in the family gathers in the living room to fold and put away the laundry as quickly as possible. So how do I get my whole family to do the laundry without a fuss?  It's part of our "After Dinner Chores."  If you haven't read this post click here:  "How to get your whole family to help with chores."  In the background you can see a white rolling laundry cart.  I got one white cart and two black ones from IKEA.  (If you click on their pictures below it will take to their IKEA site and you can buy them online. )


Only dirty laundry in the black basket.

Only clean clothes in the white basket.
The clean clothes from the dryer goes into the white basket, never dirty clothes.  Then they get wheeled out into the living room to get folded and put away.  There is a black hamper in the boy's room that my six year old is responsible for wheeling to the laundry room every morning since there are usually dirty clothes and sheets to be washed every day.  (moms of boys may understand)  He also puts the clean clothes into the white basket, the washed clothes into the dryer, and loads their dirty clothes into the washer.  (not every day, but he's still learning)

I keep another black hamper in the laundry room that gets filled with my husband's dirty work clothes, or the boy's dirty play clothes that I don't want being tracked through the house.  I usually do at least one load during the day.  The other load we finish during family fold out.


We save the easy to fold items like towels and washcloths four our for year old.  See how carefully he is lining up the edges.  This is a great fine motor skill activity for preschoolers!  


Here my six year old is stacking folded underwear.  He's getting quite good at folding.  I've had to lower my standards a little on having the clothes perfectly folded without wrinkles.  If you're stuck doing the laundry by yourself because you need it to be perfect, might I suggest letting go a little.  It's worth it to have the help, to let your kids practice and learn, and to show them that your family can work together as a team to get a job done.  If there is something folded very badly, I either have them do it again more carefully or I just redo it later when they are not looking.

Once the laundry is folded we put them away where they belong.  If one person is done putting away their own clothes then they help put away someone else's clothes or they put away towels or sheets.  Family fold out is finished when everything is folded and put away and we're just a step away from having a fun family time.

I love comments and followers!  Please feel free to share your own ideas about laundry or other chores.

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