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Children display a rather contradictory behaviour - they learn through example, but the lessons they take from their surroundings aren't often the ones you feel comfortable with, such as swearing or breaking rules (mischief remains the surest way children explore the adult world). Responsibility and cleanliness seem to be invisible to children, because they depend on their parents for protection and care in every capacity. To raise your children as active kids who understand the importance of being neat and help around the house ought to start as soon as the child reaches pre-school age - five or six.

Your first lessons should be turned into a game without a significant challenge. Sorting laundry doesn't take all that much physical effort and it can become a fun activity for a creative child, mainly because laundry sorting has to do a lot with colours and fabrics. A sure way to lose a child's interest is through ordering them to come and help you or command them to pay attention. A child at this age might still have a strong attachment to parental figures, but also learns about what it means to make their own decisions and you might have a small rebellion, if you try to get your child to do something it doesn't generally want to achieve.

You have to make laundry sorting fun and exciting for your child (pretend to enjoy it tremendously) and soon enough your child will investigate what has made you chipper. After all, children always seek new adventures and sorting laundry can instantly fit the description. Once you know your child is watching, you still have to make sure you enjoy sorting clothes based on their colour - something, which I generally do enjoy as it calms my mind and relaxes me. My daughters watched me dispatch clothes in different piles on the floor spellbound and asked what I was doing.

This is the question you have worked so hard to get to. It's quite important to give the correct answer - quite like fairy tale characters who have to answer a riddle correctly or risk being eaten by a monster (though the stakes aren't quite as high). Everyone has their own technique based on what their child is into. Since my daughters love sweets, I told them I separated clothes into colours like they would do with Skittles and then feed the washing machine with a colour at a time. That's as interesting as laundry could get for my girls without hinting that this is a chore and involved actual work. Of course, they both know the washing machine doesn't have an appetite (other than the occasional sock or two), but still joined in, because it gave them a chance to be silly.

Fantasy, I have found, can motivate a child like nothing else. Not even sweets (honestly, I can't understand people who train kids with treats - they're not pets last time I checked) or other promises. Once you use something material as the proverbial carrot on a stick, your child will likely grow into a teen who will do nothing for you without a compensation of some sorts. You should maintain the fantastical element in sorting out laundry, which can be anything from Skittles to making rainbows out of the laundry.

You want to make a habit out of assisting you during this task and teaching him which colours go with which and what combinations should be avoided. But don't burden your child with the whole task. If you want your laundry done, then call end of tenancy cleaners around Mitcham (their website describes every task they will perform). They will even iron it. This is about teaching, not training your child to be your maid.

Once you are sure the lesson has stuck, you can actually teach them why you have done this in the first place. I told my daughters this in the form of a secret. There is nothing quite as exciting as a secret to a child and if you manage to make something as ordinary as sorting out your laundry into an adventure with secrets and magic - pat yourself on the back, you have done your offspring a great service.