If you are hoping to instill in your children a sense of responsibility and accomplishment, one of the best ways to do this is by creating a chore chart. There are several different ways you can set up such a program, from taping a list to the refrigerator to a more interactive set-up, but you must make sure that you are assigning age-appropriate chores for your children. A two-year-old cannot perform the same tasks as your fifteen-year-old, so keep this in mind when you are creating your chore chart.
Assigning Age-Appropriate Chores: Children Ages 2-4
The first group of children are the toddlers and post-toddlers who want to help Mommy and Daddy around the house, but who aren’t capable of doing too many things. Experts, however, advise parents to start assigning chores as young as two years old because it teaches the behavior from a very young age. Children who are between two and four can help with wiping up spills, dusting low surfaces, feeding the dog or cat, picking up toys from the ground and sweeping the front porch. One of the best ways to teach children this age about chores is to start the practice of cleaning up toys as soon as they are done with them.
Assigning Age-Appropriate Chores: Children Ages 5-6
This is the age at which children are motivated by a clearly-defined rewards system. For example, every time your five-year-old picks up a mess, a star goes next to his or her name. It doesn’t have to be a big reward as long as it shows the child what he or she did right. Children of this age have better motor skills and hand-eye coordination, so the chores can be slightly more complicated. For example, they can set the table for dinner, dry plastic dishes before you put them away, assist in making easy foods and help make the beds in the morning. This is also an age where routine becomes important, so having the same chores every day is beneficial.
Assigning Age-Appropriate Chores: Children Ages 7-9
Around age seven, children start exercising their need for independence and begin to lose their enthusiasm for helping out around the house. That is where getting them in the rhythm from an early age will be helpful. Children between the ages of seven and nine are more capable than they were at younger ages, and can take on more responsibility without your supervision. You might assign chores like vacuuming the carpet, mopping tile floors, consolidating and removing trash, preparing more complex meals, washing and putting away dishes, and sorting and putting away laundry.
Assigning Age-Appropriate Chores: Children Ages 10-12
This age group will be particularly surly about chores, which is why diversity, rewards and consequences are important. They can also begin to provide input about chores and the system you have created with your chore chart. Take their recommendations into consideration as long as it doesn’t include a request like, “How about I don’t do chores?” Children between the ages of ten and twelve are far more capable and can handle the responsibility of chores like washing family vehicles, cleaning the bathrooms, raking leaves, washing and drying clothes and mowing the lawn.
Assigning Age-Appropriate Chores: Children Ages 13-17
The final age group is the one in which most chores are fair game. They are capable of performing just about any chore that an adult can do as long as it is safe. The problem is that this is the age at which children are starting to take interest in extracurricular activities, and their busy schedules might not leave much room for your chore chart. It is important for parents to put homework first, and if you feel that your teenager is becoming overloaded, it would help to encourage them to cut back. Help your teenager to learn how to balance his or her schedule and to make room for different obligations.
