When it comes to chores, you want to ensure that you are not putting a huge burden on your children. This is why when you are aware of the age-appropriate chores you will know the chores that you can give to your children at particular ages. However, you need to remember that kids are not the same. Some are fast learners, and some are slower, so you can assign chores according to how your children are. You can use the following as a guideline to help you understand the types of chores for children at different stages.
Age appropriate chores for 2 to 3-year-olds
The great thing about toddlers is they are willing to participate in helping you out because they have so much energy. Toddlers will need you to guide them, and you will probably need to be there during the chore. However, they will be more than happy to help out which is a fantastic way to get them habituated to doing chores. You can teach them to pick up their toys and keep them in the designated places. You can help them to clean a mess that they created and to feed your pet dog or any other pet if you have one. You can make sticker charts for toddlers.
Age appropriate chores for 4 to 5-year-olds
The children at this age love to spend time with you so it can be a great way to ensure that they learn new chores. You need to provide them with instructions so that they can then do the chore that you have assigned. You can help the preschoolers by giving them rewards when they complete the tasks you had given to them. The preschoolers can be given tasks such as carrying groceries, setting their table, dusting their table, helping out to bring things within their reach and so on. These children love to learn to ensure that they enjoy the chore they do.
Age appropriate chores for 6 to 8-year-olds
When your children start to go to school, they might be less willing to help you out at home. However, not all kids are like that because some do enjoy helping you out. You can do one thing with children if they are not showing much interest in doing chores. You can teach them how they can become independent if they know how to do a specific chore. You can ensure that they take the chore chart seriously by thinking of new rewards to give them. Children at this age can help you out by putting away laundry, mopping, folding certain clothes, and taking out the trash.
Age appropriate chores for 9 to 12-year-olds
When you are assigning chores to these kids, you can start by telling them what you expect. They will want more order when it comes to chores so you can ensure that there is a specific schedule that they can follow. You can discuss it with them, and you should be clear about the consequences and rewards of completing the chores. You can ask them to clean the bathroom, help with setting things, help you with cutting vegetables, and wash dishes. Such chores will help them understand the more advanced chores that are required to be done in your home.
Age appropriate chores for 13 to 18-year-olds
Teenagers need proper guidance before you give them a chore. They can help you out with complex tasks, but you need to dedicate time to teach them how to do the chore properly. By this time, children have a lot of work to do and a lot more things, so you need to ensure that they are comfortable with the schedule that you assign them. After you have analyzed the school work and other things that your kids are busy with, you can assign chores according to their schedule. You can give them chores such as laundry tasks, prepare meals, and clean appliances.
Tips for parents regarding chores for children
The following are some of the pointers that you can keep in mind when it comes to giving age-appropriate chores to your children. These will help ensure that you are communicating properly with your kids and they understand what you expect from them.
- You should always praise your children when they get the hang of the chore and are doing well. This will motivate them to continue to do well, and they will put in the effort to do the chore properly every time. You can praise them even when they get a single step right.
- You need to create a chart for chores for children and ensure that everyone follows it. It is ideal if you keep it in a place where everyone can see. If you become inconsistent in any way, then your children are going to follow and become inconsistent as well. You need to encourage your children to be consistent in doing chores regularly.
- Quite often you might expect your children to learn after you teach them once. If they forget some steps or are unable to do the chore perfectly, then allow them to learn. You need to teach them to do it to the best of their ability. You should avoid doing the chore for them.
- It is a good idea to start early so that your children learn from the start. If you keep putting off chores for children, then it will be late. You might be underestimating your children’s ability to do the chores which are not benefitting them or you. Have faith in them and start giving them easy chores first.
- While you might be extremely strict when it comes to meeting deadlines, your children might not be like that. Don’t start to get too upset because you don’t have complete control of the situation. You can make the rewards interesting so that they happily meet deadlines.
- Don’t nag your children about chores for children because they won’t put in all their effort. If you keep telling them that they are not doing it right or they cannot get anything done, then they won’t even put in some effort to do it. You want to be able to encourage at every level not discourage them.
- When you are dealing with younger children, it is better if you keep allowances out of the equation because they probably won’t be that interested in getting money to do a chore. For older kids, you can tie allowances with the number of chores that they complete properly.
- You should supervise and evaluate how your kids are doing. For example, if your child has mastered a chore, then they will be ready to learn new chores. It is recommended that you introduce and teach new chores to them. This will help them develop a learning skill, and they will be more confident as a result of this.
You can now give age-appropriate chores to your kids knowing that they will learn about sharing and responsibility. Don’t forget to ensure that you communicate with your children to understand if they are having difficulty with anything. This will ensure that you and your children can share the responsibility of your home willingly.
