Every
family with children should have age appropriate chores for the children to do.
Chores teaches them responsibility and how to take care of things. It will show the children that they belong in
the family. It also teaches them that when belonging in a family that everyone
needs to share the work load of taking care of a house. Discipline along with
chores teaches children how to become responsible adults as they get older and
helps them appreciate the value of things and shows them how to take care of
things. It also helps the child feel like they are contributing to the
family. At first they may be a little
hesitant but then eventually it will make them feel like they are important. If they do a chore wrong, praise them for the
job they did and then kindly show them the correct way to do the chore. Giving the children a lot of praise is really
great. Always show the children how to
do a chore first before giving them that responsibility that way they know how
to do it and what is expected of them when they do the chore. Like for example: laundry, they might not
know how to fold towels, show them the way you fold the towels that way they
learn how to do it and then praise them for it when they try to do it on their
own. All of these chores are valuable
life skills that they should learn to know for when they become adults and move
out of the house. There are so many
young adults that don’t know how to do laundry or cook simple meals because
they were never taught how to do it.
Having chores for them to do when they are children helps them learn
these life skills to help better prepare them for when they grow up and move
out of the house. Doing everything for
your children doesn’t teach them anything. But giving them a list of age
appropriate chores teaches them valuable life skills that everyone needs in
life.
Here
is a chart that shows what age appropriate chores are to give you an example of
what you can give as a chore for a child depending on their age.
Age Appropriate Chore List Ideas
Child's
Age
|
Personal
Chores
|
Family
Chores
|
2 -3 years old
|
Assist with making their
beds
|
Put their dirty clothes
in the laundry basket
|
|
Picking up the their toys
|
Fill up pet's bowls with
food & water with help
|
|
|
Help parent clean up
spills
|
|
|
Dust
|
4-5 years old
|
Get dressed on their own
|
Set the table with help
|
|
Make their beds on their
own
|
Clear the table with help
|
|
Bring their belongings
from the car into the house
|
Help a parent prepare
meals
|
|
|
Help a parent carry
groceries
|
|
|
Match socks during
laundry time
|
|
|
Answer the phone with
help
|
|
|
Be responsible for pet's
food and water bowl
|
|
|
Hang up towels in the
bathroom
|
|
|
Sweep and Clean floors
with a dry mop
|
6-7 years old
|
Make their beds every day
|
Be responsible for pet's
food, water & exercise
|
|
Brush teeth on their own
|
Vaccum their rooms
|
|
Comb their hair
|
Wet mop rooms
|
|
Choose an outfit and get
dressed on their own
|
Fold laundry with help
|
|
Write thank you notes
with help
|
Put their laundry away
|
|
|
Put away dishes from
dishwasher
|
|
|
Help prepare food with
help
|
|
|
Empty trash cans
|
|
|
Answer the phone with
help
|
8-11 years old
|
Take care of personal
hygiene
|
Wash dishes
|
|
Keep bedroom clean
|
Wash the family car with
help
|
|
Do homework on their own
|
Prepare a few easy meals
on their own
|
|
Responsible for their
belongings
|
Clean the bathroom with
help
|
|
Write thank you notes for
gifts
|
Rake leaves
|
|
Wake up using an alarm
clock
|
Learn how to use the
washer and dryer
|
|
|
Put all laundry away with
help
|
|
|
Take the trash out to the
curb
|
|
|
Test smoke alarms once a
month with help
|
|
|
Screen phone calls &
answer when needed
|
12-13 years old
|
Take care of personal
hygiene, belongings and homework
|
Change light bulbs
|
|
Write invitations and
thank you notes
|
Change the vaccum bag
|
|
Set their alarm clocks
|
Dush, vaccum, clean
bathrooms and do dishes
|
|
Maintain personal items
such as recharging batteries
|
Clean mirrors
|
|
Change bed sheets
|
Mow the lawn with help
|
|
Keep their rooms tidy
& do annual deep cleaning when needed
|
Baby sit (in most states)
|
|
|
Prepare an occasional
family meal
|
14-15 years old
|
Responsible for all
personal chores for ages 12 and 13
|
Do assigned housework
without prompting
|
|
Responsible for library
card and books
|
Do yard work as needed
|
|
|
Baby sit
|
|
|
Prepare food
|
|
|
Wash windows with help
|
16-18 years old
|
Responsible for all
personal chores for ages 14 and 15
|
Do housework as needed
|
|
Responsible to earn
spending money
|
Do yard work as needed
|
|
Responsible for
purchasing their own clothes
|
Prepare family meals
& serving it
|
|
Responsible for car maintenance (gas, oil changes, etc)
|
Deep cleaning of
household appliances
|
This chart came from Focus on the Family website
Chore Chart
When you figure out what chores you want your children to do make up a Chore Chart on Excel. Then put the Chore Description on the top left corner, then the days of the week going across. Then in the cells put their names for each chore. Then print it out and hang it up on the fridge or some place where they can see it every day.
Here are two examples of other ideas for a chore chart you can create.
Example A:
Example A:
Chore Rewards
For young kids ages 2-4: You can use
stickers in a sticker book.
For children ages 5-10: You can give them more time on the tablet or more TV time, or more time to play on the video games. Another idea is to give them allowance, but a small amount.
For children ages 11-18: Allowance is always a good thing, since they always want to buy things they want. Or you can also give them more time on tablets, TV, video games or later bed times.
Allowance Ideas
For children ages 5-10: You can give them more time on the tablet or more TV time, or more time to play on the video games. Another idea is to give them allowance, but a small amount.
For children ages 11-18: Allowance is always a good thing, since they always want to buy things they want. Or you can also give them more time on tablets, TV, video games or later bed times.
Allowance Ideas
You could ask the child what they think would be a great allowance as a suggestion, however you don't have to agree with whatever they say.
Here's a formula I have found that works well, 50 cents for every year. So if they are 7 years old, they would get $3.50 a week.
Another great idea would be to give 1 dollar per year to a child, which if they are 7 years old they would get $7.00 a week.
Here's a formula I have found that works well, 50 cents for every year. So if they are 7 years old, they would get $3.50 a week.
Another great idea would be to give 1 dollar per year to a child, which if they are 7 years old they would get $7.00 a week.
Chores that are not done: Any chore they don't do that week I take 50 cents off of their allowance or you could take off more, it's really up to you on how you want to handle chores that are not done.
If you have your stepchildren less than 50% of the time, I would only suggest to give less chores for them to do, because the main focus of their time should be spending time with their Father and as a blended family and not so much doing chores the entire time they are there.
When my stepchildren were here I would just ask if they would pick up after themselves for example: clean their rooms before they go home. If they took showers to pick up towels and put dirty clothes where they need to go. If the stepchildren have too many chores when they are there, they will start to resent you and not want to come on the weekends. I also feel that since they are there less and do less chores, they don’t get as much allowance as the children that live there all of the time would.
Do you have a chore chart for your children to do? How much allowance do you give your children?
References:
Focus on the Family 2009, this information came from http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/parenting-challenges/motivating-kids-to-clean-up/age-appropriate-chores on February 24, 2016.
Focus on the Family 2009, this information came from http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/parenting-challenges/motivating-kids-to-clean-up/age-appropriate-chores on February 24, 2016.