Laundry isn’t a chore that most of us look forward to doing. And if you have kids, there’s that much more of it, and it can often overtake their rooms. Wouldn’t it be fabulous to teach your children how to do their own laundry long before they get to college? It makes life around the house easier to manage, and helps kids become more responsible. Here are some steps to get them to learn and engage in the process.

1. Separate bins: When teaching children of all ages, start by putting laundry bins in their bedrooms. We suggest having divided hampers so you can teach them how to separate their clothing by color. Put all of the dark clothing together, and then start again with a light pile, and, then again with whites.

2. Charts: Once the hampers have filled up, create a chart that shows how clothing color corresponds to water temperature. The various knobs and dials can even baffle adults, so take pictures of the buttons to press for the correct temperature and post them in the laundry area. Check out this example found on Pinterest—it can help if you have an older child and just need some basic guidelines.

3. Time management: Help your child learn time-management skills by using a timer while doing laundry. We think these Time Timers are a fun way to help with this, especially for younger kids. Once the items are washed, discuss which ones can be dried and which ones cannot. We sell these at the studio too!

4. Fun folding: After they dry the clothing, practice folding it. For little ones, you can create a matching game for their socks to make it fun and easy. For those learning how to fold, start with smaller items (such as wash cloths) and then work your way up to bigger articles of clothing. Also explain which items go on hangers and why.

5. Easy labeling: It’s a good idea to have your kids put all of their clothing away, whether or not they folded it. For those just starting, we suggest these labels to easily identify where their items are kept once they’re folded. The labels also help them find clothing quicker when getting ready in the morning!

6. Frequent encouragement: Make sure to give positive reinforcement along the way; the more fun you make it, the less of a chore it will seem. It’s good to provide constructive feedback whenever you can. This is an important lifelong skill that you won’t regret teaching your children early on.

Happy Folding!