Involving your kids in the daily care of your home is so important for learning responsibility and many other life skills. If you feel overwhelmed not knowing where to start with designating these daily tasks, I have 6 simple kids chore ideas to get you started!
Everyone enjoys a tidy home. I believe we’re happier and our mind is less cluttered when our home is clean and less cluttered. Honestly, I’m not a naturally organized person, but in the past few years as our children have accumulated more toys I’ve realized the need for organization and tidiness. This is not only for myself, but I want my children to grow up learning this skill and putting it into practice. I’ve realized recently that the only way my children will learn this is if I get them involved with some of the daily duties. In this post I’ve put together a list of simple, age-appropriate chores that will help get your kids excited to be involved in taking care of your home.
Kids Chore Ideas Made Easy
What’s so important about chores?
You may be thinking “Of course your kids should be doing chores, that’s a no-brainer!”. Here are a couple of reasons that you may not have started to let you kids help out around the house.
- My kids are very close in age and so I didn’t have the opportunity to let one help when the other was a baby…they were both babies. So I just got used to doing everything myself. I think we get into a routine of doing it ourselves and don’t even thing to get the kids involved.
- If you’ve ever had preschool aged kids help out, you know that things take about 3 times as long. But I’ve come to realize that that is okay and I need to slow down. Dishes do not have to be loaded in record time and if our dog gets too much dog food (because it’s very fun to keep scooping it into the bowl) she’ll be okay, too. Not only does allowing our children to help around the house teach responsibility but it also teaches patience. Maybe our kids won’t recognize the patience right now, but they will remember it with their own kids one day. And they’ll definitely feel our impatience if we are always hurrying them along.
What’s so great to see as our children get older is that they actually want to do tasks around the home. They love the feeling of responsibility and that we trust them with a job. They are so proud when it’s complete and want to show off their handywork. This is a great time to praise are kids even when the job is not perfect!
First Things First: Chore Chart
Creating a fun chore chart will help get your kids excited about the upcoming tasks! Involve your child in the process, allowing them to contribute ideas for what they could do. Even if they can’t ready yet, make a chart that has pictures for visuals so they can remember what they’re supposed to do. I love these chore charts I downloaded from Fernandina Paper Co. that is customizable! Let your kids put a sticker in the box once completed or laminate the chart so it can be reused.
Six Basic Tasks
If your children are just reaching the age that chores make sense, it can be difficult to decide how many and which tasks are best to start with. Here’s my guide on six chore ideas that kids ages 4 and up can easily help with! As your kids get older, customize these ideas to his or her age level.
1. Setting the Table:
My young daughter loves to set the table! She can easily reach the silverware drawer without asking for help and loves to fold the napkins. Not only does learning to set the table get your child involved at meal time, but it is a great way to teach proper etiquette. Show your child the proper place for forks, knives and napkins. This a simple task that your kids can start at a very early age. As kids get older, they can be responsible for setting out dishes that may be glass or in a higher cabinet.
2. Plant Care:
Another “chore” my kids love is watering the plants! We went to the local hobby store and bought two small watering cans. If you’re like me, and frequently forgetting to water your plants, this is a great way to stay on top of it. Reward your child’s consistency with buying them a small plant of their own to take care of!
3. Laundry Helper:
Having a laundry helper is huge for most families! With very young children, have them start by sorting the clothes by family member or type of clothing. Then, progress to folding towels, socks and their own clothes. As kids get older they can be responsible for washing and folding their own clothes. Even when the folds are not perfect, be sure to praise your child for their hard work and help!
4. Pet Care:
If you have pets, involve your child with their care. Assign age-appropriate tasks such as feeding, brushing, bathing or taking them for a walk. In our family, by son feeds our dog in the morning and my daughter in the evening. This helps teach your child about caring and taking care of another’s well-being.
5. Toy Cleanup:
This is most likely my family’s most challenging task right now. We don’t have a play room so all of the toys usually end up in the living room. I like to end the day with a (relatively) tidy living room and kitchen, so I’m trying to implement an end-of-the-day cleanup. I’ve found turning on some type of clean up song gets everyone moving pretty quickly and enjoying the task more.
*Side note on toy cleanup- having myself and my kids cleaning up the toys has really led me to declutter and move towards a more minimalist mind set. The more little toys there are (that don’t get played with) the more there is to clean and organize. Encourage your children to let go of some toys they have outgrown or don’t use much. This will greatly help with clean up time!
6. Meal Prep:
Let you kids help out at meal time by giving them age-appropriate meal prep tasks. Have them wash vegetables, mix the ingredients or get the ingredients out of the fridge for you. Cooking together allows for quality time with your kids and is also a great time to teach them about healthy eating habits!
What about rewards?
How your family chooses to reward accomplishing chores is totally up to you! You may decide to go for a weekly allowance, or maybe an ice cream at the end of the week. Find what motivates your child and go with that. Remember that rewarding with money does give you a great opportunity to teach your kids financial skills that are important for life!
This post was all about kids chore ideas!
