Chores for Kids: Appropriate Chores For Every Age

When raising your kids, you want to show them the right way to do things, teach them essential life lessons, and ensure they can one day take care of themselves. A great way to do this is by having them do chores at home. Chores teach kids so many excellent lessons. It teaches your kids the importance of personal responsibility, how to set and reach a goal, and how to do certain things that will improve their lives as they age.

This report covers some age-appropriate chores. You will learn what tasks your children can do, whether they are toddlers or teenagers or every age in between.

Chores for Kids: Appropriate Chores For Every Age 1

Tips for Getting Kids to Do Chores

Before looking into the different chores your kids can do at various ages, let’s take a moment to discuss getting your kids to do their chores in the first place. This is going to be one of the struggles you face, once you know what chores your child can handle at his or her current age. Remember to keep trying and not give up on your child, as one of these methods is going to help your child understand that chores are part of their personal responsibility and not just something mom or dad will do if they to do it themselves.

Remain Consistent

One of the most important things to remember when you want your kids to do their chores is to remain consistent. Don’t clean up for them if they take too long or don’t want to. If you told your preteen daughter to put her folded laundry away, leave it until she does it. If you have rules about the consequences of not doing chores, see them through. Your kids will soon learn mom means business, and they must keep up with these responsibilities.

Start Chores at a Young Age

Many people make the common mistake of waiting too long to have kids do chores because they aren’t aware of what kids can do at certain ages. Even kids as young as 2 or 3 can do certain things that will get them used to the practice of doing chores. Start them young, and getting them to do chores as they age will be easier.

Don’t Worry About Being Perfect

Your child is not going to do the chores perfectly every time, but the effort is what matters most. You can supervise some of these tasks so that you know if something needs to be re-done when they leave the room, such as a kid doing dishes and not cleaning something all the way. However, don’t worry if it isn’t perfect with things like folding laundry and making the bed. They will lose all motivation to do chores if you judge them for this.

Keep Praising Your Child

Make sure your kids know that they are doing a good job. Children really want to do well, and it helps tremendously when you can recognize their efforts. Every time they do a chore on their own without being asked, do it correctly, or keep up with the chore chart you have created, praise them and let them know they did a good job.

Consider Offering an Allowance

This is an individual choice, but many parents find that giving their kids an allowance works. Some parents feel that this teaches kids they will get a reward every time they do something that should already be expected, while others believe it teaches them a good work ethic for the future. This is your choice, but you might want to consider an allowance, at least for older children and teens. However, there is also a strong argument for why kids shouldn’t be given an allowance.

Chores for Younger Children

When your child is about 2 or 3 years old, they are usually old enough to do smaller chores. This is a good age to start so they can learn personal responsibility. They won’t be able to do everything themselves, but it is a great age to have them help you with things.

Two and Three-Year-Old

You can have your younger children start helping you make the bed by picking up their toys and blocks when they’re done playing. They won’t be able to do it entirely on their own, but let them assist you while you make it. Kids at this age should also be able to help with spills, feed the pets with your supervision, and put their dirty clothes in the laundry basket.

Four and Five-Year-Olds

They can start doing more things independently when they get a little older. This includes doing more of making the bed, being responsible for picking up things in the living room and bedroom, and getting dressed on their own. Children of this age should also be able to help with some things in the kitchen, such as stirring or putting dishes in the dishwasher. They can help outdoors by watering plants, raking leaves and putting them into bags, putting away groceries, taking dirty dishes from the table, and putting them in the sink.

Chores for Kids: Appropriate Chores For Every Age 2

What School-Aged Children Can Do

By the time your child reaches first or second grade, they should already be comfortable with doing chores and on their way to being capable of doing even more around the house. This includes chores they have already started doing but now can do without supervision.

Six and Seven-Year-Olds

Your children should now be able to make their own beds without supervision. It is okay if it isn’t perfect, but this is a good age to stop helping them.

Here is a list of other tasks and chores kids at this age can handle:

Writing thank-you notes
Vacuuming, sweeping, and mopping
Taking out the trash, with your supervision
Folding and putting away laundry
More food prep, with your supervision
Cleaning up their room

Ages 8-10

This is a great age because your kid is becoming more independent. They choose their clothes, help with laundry and dishes, and hopefully make their bed and clean their room daily. You can also add a few more chores, including preparing easy meals on their own, washing the car, and cleaning their bathroom.

Chores for Your Pre-Teen

By the time your child reaches the preteen stage, which is between 11 and 12 years old, they are doing many things on their own. This is the age when you should expect your son and daughter to start doing their own laundry. You can still supervise them to make sure they use the right amount of soap and select the right setting, but for the most part, it is a chore they can handle on their own.

Pre-teens can also do the following things themselves:

Dust wood furniture
Vacuum and mop all rooms
Change light bulbs
Change their bed sheets
Do more yard work, such as pulling weeds or mowing the lawn
Preparing simple family meals
Cleaning windows and mirrors
Doing the dishes without the help

Teenager Chore Responsibilities

When you have teenagers in your home, you prepare them for adulthood. You want to teach them as many basic skills as possible before they reach 18 so that by the time they go to college or move out independently, they know how to take care of themselves and their home correctly. This is done through various chores around the house.

13-Year-Olds

For 13-year-olds, you want to start introducing them to life skills and the chores they have already been doing. Of course, keep having them make their bed each morning, do the dishes, and continue working on their own laundry. However, they should also start doing things they will need to handle on their own as an adult, such as replacing the bag in the vacuum cleaner, ironing their clothes, mowing the lawn, and possibly even doing minor repairs around the house. Aside from changing a light bulb, a 13-year-old can also help with things like hammering nails, as long as they have supervision.

14 and 15-Year-Olds

Continuing with these types of lessons, have your 14 and 15-year-olds do more home chores as well. For example, you can have your son start preparing more elaborate meals from recipes he finds and has him do the grocery shopping for ingredients. You can let your daughter start babysitting for neighbor kids or wash the outdoor windows in your home. These are life skills that help your teens take care of themselves.

16 and Up

By the time your teens reach 16 or 17 years old, they should be doing everything you are doing. This includes cleaning out the refrigerator, doing any housework or yard work, washing cars, making a grocery list and shopping independently, and doing deep cleaning around the house. This is also a good age to start teaching your teens about financial budgeting.

Continue introducing new chores to your kids weekly and add to the chore chart. They shouldn’t be doing all household duties but helping out so they can learn how to do things on their own. When your teens move out of the house, you feel confident they know what they are doing.