Age Appropriate Chores for Kids

March 28, 2017

Every parent has a responsibility to teach and prepare their children for adulthood. One part of that important preparation is teaching them how to be more responsible and giving them tasks through which they will gain experience. Giving age appropriate chores is one of the best ways to teach your children and prepare them for adult life. Typically kids do not like to do chores and you sometimes may want to give up and do them by yourself, but that will not teach your children how to act when they grow up. By gaining experience in doing chores, kids will grow up into responsible adults that will know how to take care of things. Teaching them to take care of the home will prepare them for times when they will be living on their own.

Probably the most difficult part is motivating your kids to do the chores. Besides assigning chores, you also need to come up with some kind of reward system for their good behavior. When kids are very young, some playtime or verbal praise can serve as a good reward. When they become older, especially teens, they will ask for money. You have to come up with your own rewards system for doing chores.

The following are a list of age appropriate chores for kids, but they should serve as a general guidance. Every child is different and some children may be ready to manage chores earlier or later than other children the same age. Some chores are done on daily basis, whilst others are done weekly. Consider the following as helpful guidelines for assigning chores:

2 to 5 years: can start by cleaning up toys, putting dirty clothes in a basket or help in setting up the dinner table. Cleaning dust, watering plants and sorting the laundry are a few other chores that kids from 2 to 5 can do.

5 to 9 years: can handle a bit more responsible chores like making the bed, feeding pets, collecting and taking out the trash or clean up their bedrooms. They can also put the dishes in the dishwasher and later take them out when cleaned. Sometimes it can be confusing to know when the dishes are clean, so a good solution would be getting a dishwasher indicator like the one from Glide Signs, which alerts you when the dishes are clean or dirty. A very helpful thing to have in your kitchen, and there will be no more excuses for your kids not to do this chore.

10 years and older: there is a whole range of different chores this age group can do. Helping in preparing the meals, vacuuming and mopping the floor, putting away clean dishes and changing bed sheets are some things which they can do. Older teens can also start doing laundry, clean up the yard or garage, or clean up the kitchen.

These were some chores which you can assign to your kids, but at the end, it all depends on you when determining which tasks to give to your children. Remember it is the regular practice and responsibility that is important when teaching your children how to be an integral part of the family. Enjoy teaching your children these important tasks.