Children and Chores

I am a big fan of having kids do chores. Giving children chores teaches responsibility, appreciation, independence, and trains them for basic adult living. It is a dis-service to a child when they get to school and can not button or zip their coat, tie their shoes, or pick up after themselves. I have seen children who have no home chores and expect the teacher to do everything for them. This is impossible because a teacher has 18-30 other children they must look after.

Chores should be age appropriate. Make sure you are not handicapping your child by doing to much or too little. Here are some suggestions of age appropriate chores:

3-5 years old
- Help organize room (ex. pick up toys, pick up clothes, put books and other
items in place).
- Get requested items (ex. pamper for younger sibling, TV remote, books)
- Start to dress themselves


6-8 years old
- Take out trash
- Make up bed and clean their room
- Fold laundry


9-12 years old
- Operate washer and dryer
- Clean the kitchen
- Help out with younger siblings
- Cut the grass and help in the yard
- Wash the car(s)

Remember, children develop at different rates and some can handle responsibilities sooner than others. These are only suggested benchmarks.