What Age Should I Start Giving My Kids Chores?

Doesn’t it seem like whenever the subject of chores comes up, everyone has a differing opinion?

You may feel like you want to avoid potential conflict with your children about having them do chores. Perhaps you may even feel like they’re too young and won’t see the value in doing them.

Whatever the case may be, we’re here to help with determining what age you should start giving your kids chores. 

Are Chores Necessary? 

Chores are absolutely a necessary task. While you might not need the extra help around the house, chores are crucial to a child’s development.

In fact, research shows that doing chores as a child is the biggest indicator of success as an adult. Who knew that helping out with some laundry and dishes could have such a big impact?

Of course, the key here is to not compromise all their playtime and overwork children. You want them to help out around the house, but their childhood shouldn’t be all about work. 

Here are a few of the reasons chores are so important to children’s development:

1. Life Skills: No one enjoys doing chores, but they’re a part of life. Making them a regular habit from a young age make that fact so much easier to accept, and your kids are more likely to be self-sufficient once they move out on their own if they’re already used to doing them.
   

2. Responsibility: Chores are great for teaching responsibility, as it shows children that if they don’t do their part, there are consequences. For example, if they don’t load the dishwasher, there won’t be clean dishes for dessert - a disaster!
   

3. Teamwork: Teaching cooperation skills isn’t always easy, but when all members of the household come together to make things run smoothly, it can help greatly. These teamwork skills are transferable to school, sports, and eventually, the workplace.
   

4. Work Ethic: Completing chores can instill a strong work ethic in kids and may motivate them to work harder once they have their first job.
   

5. Self-Esteem: Haven’t you ever felt better about yourself once you finally completed that chore that’s been nagging at you all day? You may feel so much more motivated, that you decide to take on even more work! Being productive and feeling like a valuable member of the household and society is crucial to high self-esteem levels and is no different for children. 

What Age Should Kids Start to Do Chores? 

If you start assigning chores out of nowhere when your child is 10 years old, they may not welcome them with open arms.

Sure, every kid is different, but instilling these practices in at an early age will generally yield a much smoother transition. After all, if you start doing chores at 3 or 4 years old, there likely won’t even be a “transition” to remember!

So, is 3 or 4 years old the age to start assigning chores? 

Well, it’s certainly not a bad idea. Toddlers tend to love helping out with everything. Try to say “yes” when they offer to encourage their desire to assist you with things around the house. Sure, it may not actually be as helpful as we would like, but the important part is letting them think they are. 

For example, if you’re preparing dinner, you could task them with throwing away food scraps in the garbage (so long as there’s nothing potentially dangerous they could hurt themselves on). If you’re cleaning the house, they can put away their books and toys or help wipe down tables. 

As you work, make sure you don’t lose your patience or become irritated with them. After all, at one point, someone had to teach you how to do laundry, too. We want this to be a positive experience. Putting on some upbeat, fun music, giving a high-five after a job well done, or simply saying “thank you” can go a long way. 

Age-Appropriate Chores

Chances are, you’re not going to get very far if you assign your 4-year-old the task of raking the yard or vacuuming the house. Your 15-year-old should probably have more challenging chores than just making their bed. 

You get the idea. 

It’s not just about assigning kids chores - it’s about assigning them age-appropriate chores.

Here are some examples for tasks you can assign your children, depending on their age group. Keep in mind that some are slower to pick up certain things than others. Helping them and allowing them a kind of “training period” doesn’t hurt at all. 

Chores for Toddlers 

As previously mentioned, assigning chores to toddlers is more about implementing that habit of helping contribute to their household rather than the tasks themselves. 

• Making the bed with parent’s help

• Put away books and toys

• Feeding pets

• Throwing food scraps away during food preparation

• Wiping down tables

• Putting dirty clothes in hamper

Chores for Kids Ages 4 to 7 

In this age group, kids are still often great little helpers yet will be ready to take on larger tasks. 

• Making bed on their own

• Using handheld vacuum to clean smaller areas

• Helping set and clear table

• Putting away smaller dishes

• Water plants

• Feed and water animals

• Help pull small weeds, help with gardening

Chores for Kids Aged 8 to 11

• Vacuum, mop, and sweet

• Take out the trash

• Rake the yard

• Prepare easy meals for themselves

• Get up on their own

Chores for Kids Aged 12 + Up

• Wash dishes

• Load and unload dishwasher

• Mow the lawn

• Help prepare dinner

• Babysit younger siblings

• Do their own laundry

Keep Track of Family Chores and More with Family Daily

Tracking chores is much easier than just putting up a chart on the wall. You can now use virtual trackers like the Family Daily app, which is seamless across various devices and makes clear who’s doing what.