chores – Katie's Blog

Hey Dearies! I wanted to go over some chore ideas that you can do with your kiddos! I will be listing stuff for all ages too as well because you can start chores or the idea of chores as little as 2 years old.

My daughter is now 5, which is still crazy to me because yesterday I remember bringing her home from the hospital and now she is in preschool. Now that she is older, I wanted to start doing a chore chart for her and introduce chores and the idea of helping out around the house.

I bought her a chore chart that is magnetic and they give you options for different chore ideas, of course, some of them didn’t pertain to my daughter yet, such as homework. Every time they would do something on the chore chart, she would get to put a star next to it.

I haven’t been strict with her about it, yet, but I did get her excited to want to start doing chores around the house if it meant she got to put a star on her chore board. Lately, to get her to get stuff done, to reward her with some screen time or mostly playing Minecraft or Animal Crossing.

Here are her usual list of chores is just simple stuff, such as brushing her hair, brushing her teeth, getting dressed, picking up toys, setting the table, etc. Simple things that she can do. I haven’t pushed her to follow through with the other types of chores I want her to start doing because I don’t want to overwhelm her with them.

You don’t want to overwhelm them with a long list of chores because then they will never want to do it. I have started her with 5, which seems to go well and she still needs to be told to do them, but she will usually do them, if not I just tell her no Minecraft and she will start getting them done.

Now that you sort of know what I’ve got my daughter doing at home, let’s talk about what kinds of chores you can introduce to the little ones.

Chore Ideas for Ages 2-3 Years Old

Of course kids, this age don’t need to enforce it, but you can start introducing to them to some simple chore ideas such as these:

Pick up toys & books
Put trash in the garbage can
Dust
Put away silverware
Wipe baseboards
Fold rags &dishcloths
Put clothes in the hamper
Put clothes away in drawers

Chore Ideas for Ages 4-6 Years Old

At this age, is when you should start making a few chores mandatory for them to do. I would start with at least 3-5 chores that they are responsible for. You can also include some of these from up above:

Take care of the pets
Set & clean the table
Match Socks
Wipe down dirty walls
Empty trashes
Sweep

Chore Ideas for Ages 7-11 Years Old

At this age, doing chores should be something they should be doing every day. You might be also including allowance for them or treats for completing chores. They should be doing at least 5-10 chores a day and if you want to include one day of their choosing that they don’t have to do it. Here are some stuff they should be able to do:

Fold laundry
Sweep
Vacuuming
Take out the trash / Taking it out to the curb on trash day
Wash mirrors
Meal prep
Weed flowers / Garden
Clean out the car
Clean toilets
Clean room
Organize toy room
Bring in mail / newspaper

Chores Ideas for Ages 12+ Years Old

At this age, they should be doing chores all week long. They might be getting more of an allowance or none at all because they know they should be doing chores without being told to do so. Here are some other chore ideas that the older kids should be doing now:

Mow lawn
Babysit siblings
Wash windows
Iron
Wash car
Cook simple meals
Laundry
Mop floors
Clean bathroom
Clean out fridge

Of course, you don’t need to do it the way that I suggest because every parent has a different way of raising their children. I was raised to do chores and as we got older, my mother stopped paying us for it once we got older because when we lived on our own, we would have to do these things for ourselves.

What kind of chores do you have set for your kiddos? When did you first start them out with chores or at what age do you think they should start doing chores? Let me know in the comments!