Chore List by Age
Every house has them, every family does them, most people don’t like them- today we are talking about chores. More specifically, kids doing chores. You are in the right place to find a chore list by age.
We need our homes to be somewhat clean, and we all have tasks that need to be completed to make our lives easier. My house is not spotless and definitely not Pinterest perfect!
But no one can ignore chores.
Even the laxest families need clean clothes and dishes.
Growing up on a farm and having 4-H animal projects meant that most of my chores revolved around my livestock. My amazing mom took care of most of the in-home tasks to keep us kids from being overloaded.
In our family, this worked best for us, but as a young adult I realized that I didn’t really have the skills and habits necessary to properly take care of my home.
Luckily, I have the most wonderful husband who put up with me as I worked on developing those good habits.
I’m not going to lie, still to this day it is not always obvious to me when something needs done. I’ve had to communicate with my husband that he literally just needs to tell me what needs to be done and how I can do my fair share of the housework.
I’m getting so much better, but it’s just not something that was instilled in me.
Get Your printable copy of the chore list here:
When we had kids I knew I wanted them to be more self-sufficient and be more comfortable doing housework than I was.
Of course, I am guilty of just doing things for my kids that they could easily do themselves. Is this helping them in the long run? Absolutely not!
I want to raise confident, self-sufficient humans who take pride in their space and their belongings.
In order to do this, I have to be very intentional about what chores to have my kids do at our house. That is why I created this chore list.
Why is it important for kids to do chores?
Doing chores helps children gain important self-help skills such as perseverance, cleaning up after themselves, time-management, and just plain learning how to do things around the house.
The most obvious reason why it’s important for kids to do chores is to learn responsibility.
Everyone is responsible for certain things and if we don’t take care of our responsibilities we let down others, especially the people we care about. This is such an important life skill!
Kids learn responsibility and learn how to work together by completing routine tasks around the house. The act of doing chores shows children that families and communities are better when everyone does their fair share.
Through fulfilling their responsibilities by doing chores, children also learn to persevere. They must persevere through the task, even if it gets hard.
Asking for help to get through the chore is perfectly fine! Knowing when you need assistance and appropriately asking are necessary self-help skills too!
As children get older, they start to understand the value of managing their time. They will begin to figure out that doing their chores quickly will give them more time to play, draw, or do whatever else they prefer.
Be mindful about what your kids can handle and understand.
Of course, young children will need a ton of guidance while completing chores!
Toddlers will definitely need you to model for them exactly what is expected of them. Not just in completing the task on the chore list by age, but in each step of the process.
Think of putting dirty laundry in the clothes hamper for example. Our school-age children might be able to complete this task with just the direction, “Put your clothes in the hamper.”
It seems direct to us, but this is still abstract to toddlers. You will most likely need to take them through, step-by-step:
- Pick up your clothes
- Carry them into the [whatever room the clothes hamper is in]
- Lift up the lid
- Drop the clothes inside
Be cognizant of your child’s vocabulary. Positional words like inside, over, under, beside, etc. will be difficult for toddlers and preschoolers to understand.
With these tiny kiddos you will most likely need to physically walk them through each step.
Teaching a new chore will require you to explicitly direct your child and show them your expectations.
In the education world we call this interactive modeling. You model the task. The kids tell you what they notice you doing. You walk them through the chore. Finally, they can try it on their own.
My kids hate doing chores! How do you get them to get these things done?
For real though, my kids despise doing any type of household chore. We have literal tantrums because of this on a regular basis.
Tantrums is a topic for another day. A day when I’ve had a glass of wine maybe. Or a massage. A day with chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.
Anyway, you are not alone if your children fight you about doing chores!
Children of any age are more likely to comply and follow through with their chores if they have some sense of autonomy. Give them choices!
Examples of choices of chores by age are:
- Toddlers: “Do you want to carry your shirt or your pants to the clothes hamper?” (I know, I just can’t get away from that darn hamper!)
- Preschoolers: “Would you prefer to sweep the kitchen or dust the shelves?”
- Elementary kiddos: “Which is first- folding your laundry or wiping the bathroom counters?”
- Teens: “Are you going to clean the bathroom before or after dinner?”
Obviously, you need to offer choices that you will be okay with no matter which one your child chooses, and they need to be appropriate chores by age.
A chore challenge with a reward can also be fun and help your kids work together to accomplish a common goal.
The challenge could be completing all of their chores in a certain amount of time. It could be a challenge to see how many chores they complete before lunch and earn an afternoon at the park.
In our house we are all about working together, but if you’re a competitive family the challenge can be who can complete the most chores in a weekend.
One of our favorite ways to clean and get housework done is to have a cleaning dance party! We use Apple Airplay and blast our favorite songs through the TV. We also use Alexa on our Echo smart speaker for this.
My kids are also more likely to do their chores if they know my husband and I are also cleaning. Again, this models the importance of everyone doing their fair share.
Finally, the chore list by age!
Sometimes it is hard to know what chores are appropriate for your child’s age. I have created a list of the tasks that should be able to be completed by different age groups of children.
Of course, you will need to adjust this list to fit the needs of you and your family.
Ages 1-3 years
- Put toys away
- Put clothes in hamper
- Wipe table spot/highchair tray with wet cloth
- Set out placemats and napkins
- Pour cup of pet food into dish
- Assist in transferring laundry from washer to dryer
- Dust with dusting mitt or wand
- Start to wipe up spills
Ages 4-6 years
- Put toys away
- Make bed
- Put clothes in hamper
- Wipe table and counter with wet cloth
- Set the table
- Feed pets
- Assist in transferring laundry
- Fold laundry (not perfect)
- Put clothes away
- Sweep with assistance
- Mop with assistance
- Vacuum with assistance
- Dust
- Rinse dishes
- Wipe bathroom counter
- Wipe windows within reach
- Wipe baseboards
- Help water plants
- Assist with pulling weeds
Ages 7-9 years
- Clean room
- Make bed
- Put laundry in hamper and sort
- Help transfer laundry and fold
- Put clothes and towels away
- Clean table and counter
- Set and clear the table
- Feed and water pets
- Sweep
- Mop with assistance
- Vacuum with assistance
- Dust
- Washing dishes from start to finish with assistance
- Clean bathroom counter and sink
- Wipe windows within reach
- Wipe baseboards
- Help water plants
- Assist with sweeping garage
- Assist with pulling weeds
- Clean up pet waste
Ages 10-12 years
- Clean room
- Make bed
- Put laundry in hamper and sort
- Spot treat clothes
- Transfer laundry and fold
- Put clothes and towels away
- Clean table and counter
- Set and clear the table
- Feed and water pets
- Sweep
- Mop
- Vacuum
- Dust
- Washing dishes from start to finish
- Loading and unloading dishwasher
- Clean bathroom counter and sink
- Wipe windows within reach
- Wipe baseboards
- Help water plants
- Assist with sweeping garage
- Assist with pulling weeds
- Clean up pet waste
- Throw out old food from fridge
- Take out trash and recycling
Ages 13+ years
- Clean room
- Make bed
- Put laundry in hamper and sort
- Spot treat clothes
- Transfer laundry and fold
- Put clothes and towels away
- Clean table and counter
- Set and clear the table
- Cook meals
- Feed and water pets
- Sweep
- Mop
- Vacuum
- Dust
- Washing dishes from start to finish
- Loading and unloading dishwasher
- Clean bathroom counter and sink
- Clean windows
- Wipe baseboards
- Water plants
- Sweep garage
- Pull weeds
- Clean up pet waste
- Throw out old food from fridge
- Take out trash and recycling
- Clean appliances
- Clean toilets
- Clean bathtub and shower
If you would like a printable chore list by age, you may download this freebie!
It has been fun giving ideas about how to get your kids to do their chores and giving you a simple list of chore expectations by age!
If your kids have finished their tasks on the chore list by age, reward them with one of these summer bucket list activities!
If you found this post helpful, please let me know! Do you have any ideas to get kids to do chores without complaining? I’d love to hear them and learn from you!
Thank you for reading and see you soon!
Amanda
