Planning Chores for Your Littlest Family Members

The importance of chores for little kids

Studies show that kids who do chores tend to have better problem-solving skills and do better in school than their peers who have fewer responsibilities.¹ When you involve kids in chores, it is a great way to help them with prioritization, taking initiative, and following instructions. It’s also a great way to help you check things off your family to-do list—especially in a house with multiple kids, making sure they’re all pitching in to caring for the home is important.

The following chore options are perfect for kids at each age, from three through seven.

Chores for three-year-olds

Even though they have little hands, three-year-olds can still be a big help! Focus their attention on small tasks that don’t have to be perfect.

• Put their toys away
• Feed the pets
• Wipe up spills
• Wipe down the front of appliances
• Dust
• Stack books and magazines

Chores for four-year-olds

As your little ones get older, progress their chores slowly. For example, they already learned how to dust, now they can learn how to vacuum a little bit. You can also begin to introduce self-sufficiency to four-year-olds as they prepare their own breakfast cereal.

• All of the above and…
• Make the bed
• Empty wastebaskets
• Get the mail and newspaper
• Pull weeds in the yard or garden
• Clean up crumbs with a hand-held vacuum
• Water flowers
• Unload and put away utensils from the dishwasher
• Wash plastic dishes
• Fix a bowl of cereal

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Chores for five-year-olds

Five-year-olds can handle the previous examples of chores as well as making decisions for themselves, such as getting dressed. You may want to offer a little bit of guidance here in case they want to wear shorts when it’s 10 degrees outside.

• All of the above and…
• Get themselves dressed
• Help carry in groceries
• Tear lettuce for salads at dinner
• Fix simple lunch items like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich

Chores for six-year-olds

Continue to encourage your six-your-old to contribute to the household as a whole. The below options, such as sorting laundry and setting the table, are more ways they can learn to help out the whole family, not just themselves.

• All of the above and…
• Sort laundry—by color or by fabric, etc.
• Sweep floors
• Set the table
• Rake leaves
• Keep bedroom tidy

Chores for seven-year-olds

Seven-year-olds are firmly in elementary school, and they may be working on practical life skills there as well. Build upon the previous chores they have completed through the years and consider what else they’re doing at school to give them more practice.

• All of the above and…
• Help with dinner—stir a pot with supervision, toss a salad with forks, etc.
• Fold and put away laundered towels
• Cook simple food like toast
• Peel veggies
• Assemble and pack their own school lunch

Tips for giving chores to little kids

• Avoid seeking perfection. It’s important to be extra patient with little kids as they are learning how to do the tasks and developing their fine motor skills. Forcing them to be perfect on their first try can turn chores into a negative experience.
• Stay consistent with developing chore routines with your kids. Getting them started with routines early on will set the foundation for them into adolescence and even into adulthood.
• Consider positive reinforcement to keep the momentum going once you institute a chore routine for your kids. Some parents may let their kids earn their own money through doing chores. Alternatively, for the smallest family members, receiving a sticker on a chore chart might be motivating enough.
• Be as specific as possible when assigning tasks and consider keeping track of them in a spreadsheet in Excel. For example, instead of simply saying, “Clean your bedroom,” thoroughly explain what that entails. Include details such as, “Make your bed, pick up clothes from the floor and put them in the hamper, put toys in your toy box, and put all books on a shelf.” Once you kids learn to read, they can refer back to the spreadsheet to help them remember what cleaning their room actually means.

Ideally, once your kids get in the habit of various chores and helping around the house, you won’t have to ask them to do the things, they will simply do them! But don’t get discouraged if you need to give them a little nudge with a new reward here and there, like ice cream instead of a sticker.