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Hang the Laundry

Child helps hang small items on a low drying rack - washcloths, face cloths, socks - draping or clipping them. Works with any drying system; adult sets up the rack.

Cartoon illustration of a parent and child at home doing Hang the Laundry.
  • Age2 to 6 years
  • Time5 to 15 minutes
  • EnergyCalm
  • CostFree
  • WhereIndoors or out
  • PrepNone

While a grown-up hangs laundry to dry, your child helps with the small items: socks, face cloths, washcloths: draping them over a low rack or clipping them with pegs. A real contribution to a task that happens regularly in most households.

How to do it

  1. Set up or position the drying rack at a height your child can comfortably reach at least the lower rungs. Or designate a low section of an existing clothesline.
  2. Sort out the small items your child will hang: socks, face cloths, washcloths, children's handkerchiefs. Keep adult items and large items for the grown-up to hang.
  3. Show your child how to drape an item over a rung, or how to clip a peg if using clothes pegs. One demonstration is enough.
  4. Hand items to your child one or two at a time and let them hang each. Stay nearby and hang your own items alongside them.
  5. When all the small items are done, acknowledge the contribution: "you hung all the socks."

What you need

  • Drying rack
  • Laundry
  • Clothes pegs

Signs it is working

Your child hangs several items without skipping rungs or dropping them constantly. They persist through the pile of small items. They carry their pile to the rack independently

If it is not quite clicking

Your child can't reach the rack: Bring the rack lower or drape items over a chair back as an alternative. Clothes pegs are frustrating: Switch to draping: the clip motion is a fine motor challenge that not all 2-3 year olds are ready for. They want to hang the big items too: Let them try one (with help) and then redirect to the small ones that fit their sise. A sibling dispute over the pegs starts: Give each child their own container of pegs

Make it yours

Younger, 2-3 years: Drape without pegs, just a few items. The adult places each item over the rack and the child pats it flat. Older, 5-6 years: Peg all their own items, identify which items need to go inside vs outside, check whether items are already dry before hanging new ones. Siblings: Each child handles a category: one hangs socks, one hangs washcloths.

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