Teaching your child at a young age how to participate in maintaining a clean home isn’t only wise, it’s a necessity.
When children are taught responsibility at a young age, they grow up learning to take care of the space around them.
But if you’re lost on how to start introducing chores into your child’s life, Mommy Underground has some creative ways to get started.
And the best part is, you can get creative and make it fun, by creating a chore chart full of stickers and smiley faces, when your child finishes the job!
Here are chore ideas for children of all ages:
- 5 And Under: No, you shouldn’t ask your 4-year-old to wash clothes, or mop the floor.
But, you can start to introduce chores by teaching them how to put their toys away or carry their plates to the sink.
At this age, work with them and use phrases like “It’s time to put your toys away”, or “Let’s put the pillows on the couch back together.”
This shows your child you’re in it with them, and everyone is responsible for their share of keeping a clean home!
- Ages 6-9: At this age, you can begin to introduce more responsibility to the mix!
Children in this age range like to feel important and they aim to please.
Have your child help you put away groceries or set the table at dinner time.
They can help you carry dirty laundry downstairs, or sort clean laundry when it’s finished.
You can even show them how to make their bed, and straighten up their room!
- Ages 10-12: This is the perfect age to help your child make healthy decisions with their eating habits!
Help them create a personalized meal plan, then task them with creating a grocery list for their items and helping cook dinner.
They can even pack their own lunch for school and their younger siblings lunches too!
Parents reported:
“Have your tween take the dog for a walk down the block, change the sheets, help clean out the refrigerator, bring in the mail, and vacuum.
Your child can also help out while you cook dinner so they get comfortable in the kitchen, and you can let them assemble their own sandwiches and snacks for school lunches.
At this age, stickers and stars might not work, but you can consider giving them an allowance for doing their chores!
- Ages 12 and Up: Remember, as your child continues to age, their schedules get a bit more hectic.
With high-school on the horizon and busy extracurricular activities, you don’t want to stack your child’s plate too high.
But they can certainly still help around the house, and cut the grass, or do their own laundry.
At this age, you can even have them babysit for your younger ones!
Who said chores have to be boring? They can be fun!
You can even get more creative and have “family cleaning days” together, where kids can help out with yardwork, or other household chores.
If you teach your children when they are young to maintain a clean home, they’ll grow to have pride in their home, and take that transferable skill with them.
What are some chores you’ve assigned to your kids?
Do you think kids should get an allowance for doing chores?
Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
And to stay current on the latest Mommy Underground stories, follow us on Facebook and be sure to like and share our posts!