Assigning age-appropriate chores to your kids might be the perfect solution to those messy bedrooms, toys all over the floor, and dirty dishes! This will teach them responsibility and how to keep things in order, while reducing your workload at home. Letting your little ones help around the house new to you? To help you get started, here’s a list of different age-appropriate chores you can evenly distribute among your kids.
Age-Appropriate Chores You Should Assign to Your Kids
In this article:
Ages 2 and 3
1. Make the Bed
Making the bed is one of the first things kids should learn in doing personal chores. You might want to motivate them to make their bed so they’ll have fun doing it. You can draw a quilt, say, with 30 patches good for a month, and let your kids color each patch every time they complete this task. Completely coloring the quilt each month is something to look forward to on a monthly basis.
2. Pick up Toys under Your Supervision
It’s always best to let the one who makes the mess fix it. Scattered toys on the floor will surely flood your house, and you can’t always pick them up immediately because you have other things to do too. Let your kids do it for you while you supervise them. You’d be surprised how enjoyable they may find packing away their toys!
3. Take Clothes to the Laundry Basket
This is also one of the fun age-appropriate chores you can teach your kids. With your guidance, you can train them to drop their used clothes in the laundry basket every day. They’ll enjoy the “journey” of coming back and forth to place their clothes in the basket.
4. Help Fill a Pet’s Food and Water Bowls
If you have a pet at home, you can also let your kids get involved in pet care by making them in charge of filling in the food and water bowls. Together with your kids, make it a habit to let them help you feed your pet. They won’t just develop a bond with their pet through play, but this activity will also allow them to learn the responsibilities involved in love and care of a furry family member.
Ages 4 and 5
5. Get Dressed with Minimal Help
At this age, your kids can already be trained to get dressed with only a little help. They can start with their underwear to putting on their footwear. They will get used to it and will know how to dress alone later on.
6. Bring Things from the Car to the House
How heartwarming it is to see your kids waiting for you at the doorsteps when you get back from buying groceries! Let them understand the challenge of getting the groceries done. At least, they can be invested in the activity by bringing lightweight groceries from the car into the house.
7. Help Prepare Food
Why not teach your kids to do some kitchen work? Let them help you prepare food little by little and allow them to appreciate the importance of cooking and eating healthily. Who knows? You might have a budding chef in your household.
8. Set and Clear the Table
Setting and clearing the table is also another simple chore your kids will like doing. With your guidance, they will know how to prepare the table for a meal and how to clear it after. They will actively be obliged to set and clear the table in the long run.
Ages 6 and 7
9. Brush Teeth Independently
Brushing their teeth is important in maintaining good oral health. Your assistance might be needed at first, but they will start to become responsible for brushing their own teeth. Of course, don’t forget to always remind them to brush their teeth if they can already do it on their own.
10. Comb Hair
Combing hair is one of the age-appropriate chores your kids should not forget to learn. It’s just natural to teach them how to look presentable and clean.
11. Empty Indoor Trash Cans
Trash cans at home get filled up every day, and you don’t want these overflowing. So, why don’t you give the task of emptying these trash cans to your kids? It would be awesome to think they can empty them for you without breaking a sweat.
Ages 8 to 11
12. Responsible for Belongings
Kids ages 8 to 11 years are already mature enough to be aware of their belongings. Teach them how to take care of their valuables, especially when they are at school, so you can make sure everything’s still intact every time they come home. This is a way of teaching them about the importance of security.
13. Wash Dishes
More kitchen duties for your kids? This is the perfect one. Train them to help you wash the dishes. It’s nice to watch them set and clear the table and then load the dishwasher with you afterward. What a great way to strengthen your bond in the kitchen!
14. Clean the Bathroom
You can move on to the bathroom too. Teach them to clean the bathroom with your supervision. You can do this probably once a week depending on how frequent you clean your bathroom. This will also allow them to understand the golden rule of not making a mess in the bathroom because cleaning it is quite challenging.
Ages 12 and 13
15. Take Care of Personal Hygiene
Kids 12 and 13 years old are entering the teenage stage, and puberty is starting to take place too. They begin to feel some changes in their body (along with developing body odor). At this point, they need your parental guidance on how they can take care of their hygiene properly and work on keeping themselves clean and neat.
16. Prepare an Easy Meal
Because you already have let them help you prepare food, this time you can teach them to cook an easy meal for the family. You might want to let them make pancakes for breakfast to start off and then go from there. They may find cooking and prepping food a fun and exciting hobby to cultivate!
17. Babysit
If your 12- or 13-year-olds have a little sister or brother, you can train them to babysit their sibling. It doesn’t just lift your burden of taking care of your little angel alone, but also allows your kids to create a sibling bond. This saves you from hiring a nanny, too.
Ages 14 and 15
18. Do Assigned Work without Being Told
Make sure your kids can do their chore assignment without being told at this point. They are responsible enough to do the things they should around the house. The more they remember their housework duties, the better.
19. Do Yard Work
Aside from indoor household chores, you can also train them to do some yard work. Lawn mowing is one of the common outdoor age-appropriate chores you can teach them. They may even find it fun!
20. Help Wash Your Car
Car wash might sound too tiring, but it isn’t for some kids. They can have fun helping Dad washing and cleaning the car, while you prepare some snacks to fuel them up!
Ages 16 to 18
21. Do as Much Housework as They Can
Kids 16 to 18 years are mature enough to do “real” housework without any assignments or supervision from you. They already know what to do around the house and which chore they are most comfortable with doing. All you need to do is check if they are really working, and if not, remind them of their house responsibilities.
22. Prepare Meals
At this stage, kids should be preparing family meals at home. You can either let them deal with the kitchen alone or divide the work amongst yourselves. If you’re planning to have a special dinner, you can ask them to prepare some dishes they like doing for the whole family.
23. Deep Clean Your Appliances
Cleaning your appliances is sure an adult’s job, but kids 16 to 18 can already do it with proper training from you. For example, you can ask them to defrost your freezer and take care of the cleaning. It’s time they step up the game in doing household chores.
Watch this video about age appropriate chores from Focus on the Family:
Age-appropriate chores are essential in training your kids to become responsible, conscientious adults. We all undergo the process of learning chores, and we should pass this on to our kids properly. Your job is only to assist and guide them on what to do, so learning is more effective. Lead by example and watch your kids become more caring and hardworking!
What other age-appropriate chores can you suggest? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
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