Chores for kids

My son is almost 5 and he does a little. when I am cleaning I ask him to help like put the pillows on the bed, put the rubish in a bag, bring me something or take things sowhere. He helps when I work in the garden. He stirs when I cook. He puts all the dirty clothes in the basket. puts away the shoping. helps me make sandwiches. I am sure he does few other things I cant think of oh he does al that as long as there is no cartoons on tv or his friends are not outside playing lol.

there are no hard or fast rules to follow when should the kids to have household chores. maybe their thinking of the household chores is very much different from yours. they might it is heavy for them to do so, which i think it may be right. i suggest you let them do their share, like for example cleaning their school shoes, arranging their school things, cleaning their toys, etc. i think it should begin with their own things rather than real household chores like cleaning the house or helping in the laundry. or i suggest you do it in a play time manner so they will not feel that they are task to do it,and let them realize the importance of it by talking to them while doing the chores. example, ask them to help you or their dad in cleaning the car which could be a play time and at the same time also 'bonding time'. or another suggestion, you could introduce a reward system if they do a chore for the day or week. reward can be as simple as treat an ice cream or some sleep with them or allow them extended tv hours... dont force your kids of what should be their chores, let them the one who volunteer until they realize the importance of it....

My kids offer to help with things so I don't set them anything specific. They are boys aged 8 and 2. My 8 year old is responsable for keeping his room tidy, putting his own clothes away and helping his brother tidy up after they have been playing. He also does dishes, usually dries but now he can reach the sink he has started to wash too! My 2 year old doesn't have set chores for himself (I think that is a little too young!) but he will help me get washing in and out of the machine and tidy his toys up when he's asked. He has been known to take his own clean clothes into his room but he's not big enough to put them away! I've always said that as soon as a child a) offers to help and/or b) is capable of understanding instructions, they should help out.

i have kid sthe ages of 9 and 6 they both have their home chores but the first they must do is take care of their room when they wake up and secondly they take care of the table after dinner then their homework is their primary chore,i think its better to teach them all these at a early age i started making food for my family at age 12,but noew i enjoy it

my boy is 4 years old and he does a lot of things. he packs his plate whenever he finishes eating, packs our plates. he's learning how to wash dishes and also do some minor laundry

I think what you are doing is complety fair and they could even do more if you so choose like take out the garbage or help with dusting. If you trust them to do the dishes even that. All you are doing is teaching them responsibilty. My 3 year old picks all of her toys up and attempts to make her bed almost everynight after her 1 year old sister goes to bed. And during the day they both help out with putting there own clothes in the hamper and different stuff like that I feel they are learning that I am not responsible for all the the mess the whole family makes and that each person is responsible for there own things. Example if I am getting ready to run the vacuum They have to get all of there toys picked up off the living room floor and into there rooms Then I vacuum and I have since my vacuum has a handle that you can extend for vacuum or leave short they always ask if they can vacuum the living room. So I get it all set up and I vacuum first and then if they want to I let them go over what I did then I know it is clean when I am done. LOL Not sure on the allowance thing cause every family is differant. So that is something that I kind of look back on from when I was a kid. We got 5 dollars a week if we did our chores everyday as told. If not we did not get it.

I really think that what a child has as a chore list depends on how the household works, the responsiblity and maturity of the child in question and so on.....My kids are 12 (13 in May) and 14 1/2 and they do the garbages, dishwasher, animal dishes, clean their rooms, keep their entertainment room clean, help with putting away groceries and odds n ends when needed..My daughter also has decided recently that she wants to do her own laundry so I dont have to it LOL and once a week she is doing just that (shes my 12 yr old)...on occasion my son will also do his own wash...they also both help out with dinner and sometimes are the ones who make dinner completely on their own...

my children are 18,12, and 3. and they all have chores! everyone has to be responsible for the up keep of our home. washing dishes, sweeping, picking up toys, taking out the trash, taking clothes to the dryer, cleaning bathroom. we all do that. of course my three year old doesn't but she does have to clean up her toys and she likes to help me seperate the laundry on sundays. my boys have been doing chores since they were about 5. and No i do not pay them to do what they have to do and that is help keep their home clean. however, i will pay my middle son to do more then his share. only because my older son works and is not home to take out the trash and some of his other duties. so when my middle son does more then his fair share i will give him a buck or two

WE HAD CHORES WHEN WE WERE OLD ENOUGH TO TO PICK OUR CLOTHES UP OFF THE FLOOR WHEN WE CHANGED THEM I THINK CHILDREN SHOULD BE TAUGHT WHEN THEY ARE YOUNG I DO NOT BY DOING DISHES OR ANYTHING OF THAT NATURE BUT BY KEEPING THEIR TOYS PICKED UP ALONG WITH THEIR CLOTHES THEN WHEN THEY GET OLD ENOUGH TO WATCH YOU MADE THEIR BEDS AROUND 7 and 8 AND THEN LEARN HOW THAT IS WHEN THE OTHER CHORES SHOULD BEGIN THIS IS JUST MY OPINION

We must guide and train them to perform their work well. The young age is the age of learning. Our children can learn better than the elders. So we should help them to train and give them some task to complete. We should also criticize them but with politeness and affections of love. We should also appreciate them and should reward them if they are working positively. Your room is looking very beautiful. It is very good as you got up early in the morning and you completed your chores before leaving for your school. These and sentences like these cost nothing but earns much. Yes try it today.

My son is 8 years old. He is responsible for putting his own dirty clothes in the basket by the washing machine, taking the compost out to the compost pile, crushing cans for recycling, putting plastic, tin cans, and glass in the container in the garage, hanging up his shirts and putting his other clothes in his dresser, and keep his things picked up.

I think the earliest possible age that a child can do something is when they can already physically capable of doing somthing. My 18 months neice is always asked to throw some wastes in the garbage can and she'll gladly do it. Perhaps she is still eager to please her parents and she does not consider the chore as a duty or something tiring. I think you can ask your 11-year old child to wash the dishes and help you in preparing your meals. Try reward system for them to be happy with their task but I think they must keep in mind that household chores are meant to be divided among the members of the family.

My children are 16, 7, 5 and 2, my children do chores and they earn pocket money in return. The 16 year old has his own part time job and so he just does the washing up to help out in return for his meals and washing! The 7 year old and 5 year old do the wiping up and they tidy up whatever mess there is at the end of the day and the 2 year old well she hates to be left out and so she wipes anything plastic up. Every week they receive their pocket money for their jobs, they put a percentage away in their savings accounts and then they get to spend the rest on whatever they want! I dont think there is anything wrong in setting children chores, it teaches them a lot of things and it also teaches them that if you want money then you have to earn it.

Hi! My older girl is 4 and I've split work into 2 categories for her - family responsibilities and chores for allowance. Family responsibilities are general things like clean her room and help pick up toys. For chores, she must do at least 2 chores each week to earn her allowance of $1 per chore. I give her opportunities by asking if she wants to do such and such and by the end of the week she's always done! If she didn't, though, at this age I wouldn't make it an issue - she just doesn't get her money! If she does extra chores I give her extra allowance! Chores are pretty easy, though, like helping unload the dishwasher, cleaning cupboards, fingerprints on walls, setting the table. She vaccums, too. She's awesome about doing her chores because she's a little shopper and LOVES to save up her own money so she can buy things for herself. Of course, since she's 4 I have to go over everything to check her work, but that's okay! As she gets older I plan to move more chores into the responsibility area - for example maybe eventually vaccuming her room once a week will be a family responsibility instead of a paid chore. I'll also up the minimum chores per week as she gets older and older. I think that my main goal is to have a balance between teaching her that work is a part of life and maintaining a home and family, and the financial value of work, too. I think that the most important thing is that your kids are comfortable with the arangement. I mean, they may balk at it a bit - they're kids! If they can get out of anything they're like, "Cool!" But most kids tend to be really reasonable, though, and yours sound like that sort. They feel empowered by being part of the decision making process, though. I think that you should sit down and figure out as a family which things are expected and which things earn allowance and have them realize that some things pop up now and then that are extras to be done and that's okay cause you're all a family and you all make things work for each other. Okay, this is all quite long, but depending, I dont think that it would be unresonable to expect your 7 yr old to do say 3 chores a week to start. Chores don't have to be big or long - in fact it's probably better if they're not. Maybe work them in slow! Just think about how much time they actually have, and what they are ready to handle. You'll figure it out! I hope some of that was helpful.

They can wash the dishes, dry the dishes - one washes, the other dries, alternate times, but if it is a special occasion and you are using the good china ware, it is your job. They can set and unset the table, put their clothes in the laundry, pull the weeds out in the garden, dust the furniture, clean their room, sweep the floors (well I did watch Cinderella,and I guess that is what she did. :) If you have a regular lawnmower they can take turn mowing the lawn. I would not let them near a gas or electric lawmmower until they are well in their teens. So just sit back and enjoy your coffee, there is so much that they can do.

I beleive that is fair chores for them because my 2 boys which ages are 14 and 9 They have to clean their room and the game room, they actually wash their own clothes every two weeks on the weekend, fold them and put them away, take out the trash(but my husband helps them with the trash most of the time)and they have to wash dishes. And the get an allowance every week if don't without being told every 5 minutes. I think the reason why I do this is because I want them to be independent and don't have to count on anyone once they get older and understand responsibilty.

My grandkids are currently 13 and 11, with my grandson being the oldest so this is easy for me. They've been given chores to do for years now, with varying success. Two summers ago my daughter starter putting a "chore board" on the refrigerator every day and if they didn't do what they were supposed to do each day they got a "strike" for each thing they missed and when they had three strikes they'd get something taken away from them like a day at the pool or a trip to a carnival, whatever was planned at the time. I think they get a clean slate each week, but I forget for sure. She does this mainly during summer vacation and it usually works wonderfully. As for what chores are appropriate for kids according to their ages, that depends on the child. My granddaughter, Angela, is pretty mature for her age so she's been helping with laundry and cleaning just about anything for several years now. They have a dog, so the kids take turns taking him out to "go" and feeding him, etc. They also take turns cleaning the cats' litter boxes. There's a lot kids can do and I'd advise to try to give them more responsibilities as they seem capable of them. Annie

My girls are grown now but I can tell you by age 7 they already had been doing chores for several years. As soon as they can understand and are physically capable they should be helping with picking up their toys. This is their firs introduction into sharing responsiblility. A toddler can also help with gathering laundry on laundry day. My granddaughter loved taking the clothes from the dryer and putting in the basket. She would also help with putting them in the dryer, of course had to check those little fingers to be sure they were clean. At age 11 a child should be picking up her/his own room to include making the bed. Another chore for that age and younger would be taking out the trash or washing/drying the dishes. An incentive often helps a child be willing to help with chores, such as your chore is to cook supper for your family. What if you did not cook because you should't have to have any chores. The 7 year old may not grasp this concept but the 11 year old should be able too.

My children are 14 and 16 so it's up and down with the chores, but I found an age appropriate list of chores for children when I was setting up our chore system. I will use the ages of your children for your use. Your 7 year old should be able to put away his toys, feed pet(s) (if applicable), put clothes in the hamper, clean spills, dust, put books in a pile, pick out clothes, get dressed, make bed, empty trash, clear table, bring in mail, pull weeds, water flowers, help empty dishwasher (again if applicable), fix bowl of cereal, sort laundry, sweep floor, keep clean; wash up, set table, help make meals, rake leaves and clean bedroom. Your 11 year old should be able to do all of those things above PLUS load/unload the dishwasher, put away groceries, vacuum, help prepare dinner, prepare/take bath, prepare breakfast, walk pet, wash car, clean bathroom, iron clothes, do laundry, clean kitchen and have some type of neighborhood job. My children have the same chores since they are as old as they are and they just swap days in who completes what. Whoever has dishes for the day/night, the other one has all the other chores because they are short and simple for the most part. The other chores are feeding the dogs and cats, cleaning the litter box out, vacuuming up the dog hair (I swear he sheds puppies), taking out the trash after dinner, putting away the leftover food from dinner and cleaning off the dining room table. They are both responsible for keeping their rooms clean and since they have been so lax on bringing their laundry out when I'm doing it, they end up having to do at least a load for themselves when they realize they are out of clothes. Sometimes they do a few more loads just to be helpful, but not often. Once a month, we have a sheet made up of all the down and dirty chores that don't get done on a daily basis. These consist of sweeping the floors, mopping the floors, washing the windows, wiping own kitchen cabinets, cleaning the microwave and it's stand, cleaning the stove, fridge and freezer, dusting the tables, washing the dog, cleaning the bathroom and vacuuming the rug in the middle room as well as their floors (we have mostly wood and lineoleum floors). Instead of assigning these chores, they bid on the chores. We no longer allow them to have unlimited internet or video game access, so they bid how many minutes they will do the chore for. Normally, it starts at an hour and they work their way backwards until someone doesn't think it's worth it. They then use the accumulated minutes for fun internet time and/or video games for the following weeks. Anyway, that's the way we do it...

i live with my aunt who has a 12 year old and thinks like your children. But i always rebuke my aunt for not having a set of chores for her. I hated people who doesnt know any chores in life. Because my aunt can't tell her daughter to do something, i made a monthly calendar and on it are the simmple things she needs to do everyday. Like everyday, she has to set the table for dinner, adn on weekends shes in charge with the washing the dishes... It has been working pretty well.