Do your kids help out around the house?
Giving your children chores from an early age is a great way to teach them essential life skills that will help them long after they’ve moved out.
Want to assign your children some chores, but aren’t sure where to start? We’re here to help.
Here are a few ideas of chores for children based on their age and abilities.
Chores for Younger Children Ages 2-5
While toddlers and younger children may not be able to handle a vacuum, there are still a few tasks you can give them to help them learn responsibility.
That said, you should always supervise young children, while they complete their assigned chores to stay on the safe side.
Here are a few easy tasks and chores you can give you 2-5-year-olds.
Pick Up Toys
Early on, take the time to do this task with your child. By helping your toddler pick up their toys, you’ll teach them where they go and how a “clean” space looks.
But, once they got the hang of it, picking up their toys after playtime is a perfect and easy chore for your younger children.
Dress Themselves
The younger your child is, the trickier this task may be. So remember to supervise them whenever it’s time for them to get dressed.
Unless you want your child running around dressed like a dinosaur or superhero every day, you should still help them pick out their clothes.
But, having your toddler dress get dressed by themself is an excellent way to teach them autonomy and initiative. Although, you may still have to help them with tricky laces or zippers from time to time.
Be Responsible For Their Toys
If your toddler decides to take a toy with them when you leave the house, make it their responsibility. If they set it down or try to pass it off, take it, and only return it to them once you return home.
On top of that, it should be their responsibility to bring it back to the house from the car.
This task may not seem like a traditional “chore,” but it’s a fantastic way to teach your child responsibility.
Chores for Children Ages 6-9
Once your children start to get a little bit older, you can begin assigning them more complex tasks and chores that benefit the entire family.
And, as your child takes over these added responsibilities, you can also choose to offer them an allowance to reward them for their efforts.
Here are a few tasks and chores that are suitable for children ages 6-9.
Make Their Bed
Making your bed first thing in the morning is one of the best ways to ensure a successful and productive day. And, it’s one of the best habits you can instill in your kids at an early age.
While your kids are very young, around 5 or 6, have them help you make their bed every morning to teach them how to do it. Then, once they’ve gotten the hang of it, add it to their list of chores.
Fold and Put Away Laundry
While you may not want to trust your 7-year-old to run your washer, they can help once the laundry is clean, dry, and ready to put away.
Start with towels. Squares and rectangles are much easier to fold than sweaters and will help them learn the basics of folding clothes. Once they master towels, start teaching them how to fold more complex items.
Your 6 to 9-year-olds can also help take out cleaned laundry and should be responsible for putting their clothes and laundry away.
Put Away Dishes
Again, loading a dishwasher or scrubbing out a big, heavy pot might be too much for your 6-year-old. But, your kids can certainly help put clean dishes away.
Putting away dishes is a fantastic chore for kids because it directly benefits everyone in the house, not just them. That said, if your children are still pretty small, you may want to supervise this task or risk a lot of broken mugs and plates.
Care for a Pet
If your child has a personal pet, like a fish or a hamster, they should be responsible for taking care of it entirely. That means feeding it, cleaning its container, and taking care of everything it needs.
If you have a family pet, like a dog or a cat, your child should help take care of it in some way. That means having your child feed the family cat or walk the dog after school, not doing everything themselves.
Keep Their Room Clean
Finally, once your child gets a little older, they should also start taking responsibility for their room by cleaning it by themselves. If you have a housekeeper or house cleaning professional visit your home on a regular basis, ask her to leave your child’s responsibilities alone. This way, she can also spend more time and focus on other things that are important to you.
Having your child clean their room will teach them about taking responsibility for their environment.
Chores for Older Children Ages 10-13
As your child approaches the teenage years, they can begin to take on more responsibility and more physically demanding tasks.
Many of the chores in this section are more advanced versions of the tasks in the last grouping. These will help improve your child’s skill-set and give them more responsibility, without bogging them down with a lot of extra jobs.
Here are a few tasks and chores that are suitable for children ages 10-13.
Wash Dishes
Now that your children are a little older, they can graduate from putting dishes away to washing them and loading the dishwasher as well.
Just remember to guide or supervise your child the first few times, or if they’re washing something particularly fragile. The only thing more dangerous than broken glass is wet and slippery broken glass.
Do Their Laundry
While you may not want to trust your 13-year-old with laundering your work-wear, learning how to do your laundry is an essential part of growing up.
Teach your child how to work your washing machine, and supervise their first few loads, in case they have any questions.
Take Out the Trash
While taking out the trash is a pretty easy chore, it can require a bit of extra muscle. So, unless you want to risk the clean up that comes with a torn garbage bag, wait until your child is tall enough and strong enough to take on this task properly.
Light Lawn Work
A ten-year-old may not be able to work your mower. But, from raking leaves to shoveling snow, there are plenty of other jobs they can take care of outside.
Remember to supervise your child the first time they take on any physically taxing jobs, to make sure they don’t hurt themselves — or your flowerbed.
Need a Little Extra Help?
Remember that you cannot easily group children by age or size, just like adults. So, before assigning any chores for children, take the time to evaluate their skill level, and make sure you’re only giving them tasks they can handle.
While having your kids pitch in around the house can lighten the load, it never hurts to bring in a professional to help pick up the slack now and then. And that’s where we come in.
We can help you find the perfect house cleaning professional to help you keep your home in tip-top shape.
Contact us for more information or request a booking to start taking care of your home today.
