Age Appropriate Chores To Teach Your Kids Essential Life Skills
In this post: how to assign age appropriate chores to your kids that will teach them essential life skills.
Typically when you think of chores you think of boring cleaning. It’s easy to assume that your kids will think the same when you try to implement them in your home (they probably will).
But, there’s a lot more to gain from completing chores than just a clean home.
Before I list just a few of the life skills your kids will learn through completing chores, there’s a secret to getting your kids to actually enjoy doing them.
The secret is… make them fun.
Set the mood, put on your kids favorite playlist, set a timer to see who can finish cleaning their chore first, etc.
For your older kids, you want to let them take the reins and get in their zone. For younger kids, make it a fun challenge.
This is also why the earlier you start implementing chores, the better. The younger your kids are when they start, the easier it will be to make chores a part of their every day routine.
Related: A Realistic Toddler Bedtime Routine
Here is all you need to know about chores and how to actually get your kids to do them.
Why Do Kids Need Chores?
Kids need chores because they teach many life skills that will make them successful and independent as they get older.
Which is the goal right? We want them to become capable and responsible individuals.
Here are a few of those essential life skills that something as simple as cleaning will teach them.
- Responsibility: Putting your kids in charge of tasks and holding them accountable will help them feel responsible.
- Confidence: Receiving age appropriate and achievable chores will give your kids a sense of accomplishment after completing the chores and in return, boost their confidence.
- Motor skills: Chores that require more body movement (sweeping, taking out the trash, etc.) help develop your child’s gross motor skills. Chores like folding laundry and feeding pets help develop your child’s fine motor skills.
- Self- reliance: Giving your kids tasks that directly affect them, like cleaning their room, will teach them self-reliance and encourage independence.
- Organization: Consistency with chores like setting the table or loading the dishwasher will teach your child that everything has a place and will build positive habits.
- Team work: Involving the entire household in chores will encourage teamwork and show how tasks can get done faster when working together.
Chores vs. Life Skills
Chores do teach important life skills however, not all life skills should be a chore.
Life skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and time management are all skills that can be learned through completing chores.
However, life skills such as cooking meals, money management, hygiene, and dressing themselves, are all life skills to be taught, not exactly chores to be completed.
When assigning age appropriate chores, you want to assign routine and necessary tasks that encourage them to maintain their space/ household.
Things To Know Before Assigning Age Appropriate Chores To Your Kids
Be Realistic With Your Expectations
Chores should be kept age-appropriate and only be changed when your child masters it to avoid giving them a task they aren’t yet capable of completing.
Expecting perfection when you know it can’t be given will only lead to your own disappointment and your kids not feeling like the work was good enough.
The chores should be achievable, engaging, and a part of their everyday routine. Make sure to set the expectations clearly when giving the chores to your child.
Have Grace
Be okay with the imperfections as your kids are still learning. These are new tasks that they are learning, from you, how to master.
The chores that your kids are in charge of will never be completed perfectly. And that’s something you have to come to terms with.
Remember that they aren’t being given chores to keep your home in perfect condition. They’re given chores to understand responsibility and caring for their home.
RELATED: 5 Steps To Raising Responsible Kids
Show Respect
Chores are meant to teach your kids, not to control them. Being aggressive and demanding will only make your kids to despise their tasks leading to them not completing them or growing to avoid responsibility.
Express Gratitude
Always say thank you. Just because the chore has become their responsibility, does not mean you shouldn’t show gratitude.
Think about it, when you’re at work or taking care of your at-home responsibilities, you like to be thanked and to feel appreciated right?
Verbally expressing appreciation for completing their chore keeps them motivated and helps them feel included in the household.
They are part of your family, not an employee of it.
How To Introduce Chores To Your Kids
You can’t just wake up one morning and throw a bunch of chores at your kids. Schedule time to sit down with them individually, discuss chores, and set clear, achievable expectations.
Go over why they are responsible for each chore and how it will benefit them. Listen to their concerns and allow them to express their thoughts/feelings.
Remember that they are individuals that you are raising and not employees hired to maintain your home.
Take the time to walk them through each chore and how you expect them to be completed.
Give them time to master the task and get it right because each new chore takes a skill that they are still learning.
Supervise and evaluate your kids abilities. Advance them only as they master their chores.
Keep reading for the best list of age appropriate chores for kids.
Now that you have the tools to start implementing chores into your family routine, here’s my list of age appropriate chores for kids.
Age Appropriate Chores for Kids
1 TO 3 YEARS
The toddler stage is more of allowing them to help you with tasks and letting them think they’re in charge rather than actually assigning them set chores.
This is the easiest and best age to introduce chores because they’re a lot more willing to help and only seek your excitement as a reward for their hard work.
All chores that you include your toddler in should be supervised/directed and made to be a fun activity.
- Make the bed
- Pick up and put away toys
- Return books to shelf
- Place laundry in basket
- Feed pets/ give treats
- Wipe messes/spills
- Load small dishes into dishwasher
Again, a toddler is more of a tiny helper rather than an older child responsible for these chores. Typically, you’ll be inviting them to join in on your own chores.
You want them to take the lead on their own age appropriate chores and think they’re in control- this will help build their confidence as they grow.
4 AND 5 YEARS
This age is still a lot of fun because 4 to 5 year olds usually just want to copy whatever the adults are doing and require minimal supervision while completing their chores.
They’re still willing to help when assigned tasks and are usually satisfied with praises after they completed their chores.
As they get older they may start to seek small rewards like picking the first activity of the day or getting to run the bathtub by themselves.
- Help set & clear the table
- Make the bed
- Carry & put away groceries
- Feed pets/ give treats
- Sort colors in the laundry
- Wash safe dishes in the sink
- Clean bedroom
Some 4 to 5 year olds can’t efficiently fold laundry so by having them instead sort their laundry, they’ll still learn responsibility and keep their color recognition fresh.
6 TO 8 YEARS
At this age, your kids may require a little more motivation to get “boring” chores done and want rewards for their work. They do however start to seek more independence and want to be shown you trust them on their own.
Introducing a chore chart, with images instead of words, that will get them a small reward at the end of every week may help motivate them more and allow them to take their responsibilities into their own hands.
- Care for pets (supervised)
- Vacuum/sweep/mop
- Fold/ put away laundry
- Empty/ load the dishwasher
- Wash safe dishes in sink
- Clean bedroom
9 TO 12 YEARS
At this preteen stage, kids need more set schedules for their responsibilities. As they get older, they start to better understand what exactly responsibilities are and what they mean.
When assigning chores to your 9 to 12 year olds, set clear expectations and appropriate consequences.
- Wash dishes
- Fully load/unload dishwasher
- Wash clothes with washer and dryer
- Clean surface areas in bathroom
- Take out trash
- Care for pets (minimally supervised)
This is a perfect age for your kids to learn to operate the washer and dryer to clean their own clothes and to run a dishwashing cycle.
13 TO 18 YEARS
It’s common to think that the older your kids get, the more chores you should give them.
Something that needs to be remembered is that the older they get, the more outside responsibilities they get too. Whether it be schoolwork, extracurriculars, or starting their first jobs.
Teenagers should still be given age appropriate chores, however they should fit into their schedules and not overload them. Which is why it’s important to monitor your children’s schedules and talk with them before changing their responsibilities.
- Clean bathroom
- Vacuum/ sweep and mop
- Wash laundry
- Grocery list
- Lawn maintenance
- Care for pets (unsupervised)
We want our older kids to still have household responsibilities to continue teaching them essential skills and develop good habits. However, overloading our teens with too much responsibility can cause stress & negative outcomes.
It’s important for your kids to have chores because of the many life skills they’ll learn and the individual they’ll grow to be.
You can successfully start giving your kids chores as long as you continue to talk with them and only add more responsibility when there is comfortable room for it.
Hope this helps mama- xo