save your sanity. With everyone home so much more I find it impossible to keep our home clean and tidy. I’m forever picking things up and nagging at the kids to pick up their things. It is exhausting.

This week my goal is to give us all a few ideas of what children can do around the house as chores or simply jobs that they might be developmentally able to do on their own.

For younger kids, or when introducing new tasks you should start small and model doing the chore, they will be so eager to assist you. The sooner you start this hopefully the less flack you’ll get as they get older and you delegate more and more ways they can help out around the house. Don’t forget our goal as parents is to prepare our children to be independent and successful on their own in the future. Knowing how to take care of themselves and their environment is a huge bonus for them when so many of our children will have to move away to attend higher education (in a long, long, long time.)

Babies/toddlers (two to three):

Tidying up their toys
Putting clothes in their hamper
Wipe up messes with towels/wash cloths
Put clothes in the dryer
Choosing their clothing
Putting on their coat/shoes

Preschoolers/school age (four to seven)

Any previous chores;
Emptying backpac/packing backpack and lunch kit
Match socks from the laundry
Dusting their room
Making their bed
Emptying garbages
Set table/clear table
Help put away groceries
Brush teeth/wash face
Help chop up fruit and vegetables (with adult supervision)
Cleaning their room

Big kids (eight to12)

Any previous chores
Getting the mail
Meal prep, making lunches
Sweeping/vacuuming
Folding and putting away laundry
Taking care of pets
Emptying the dishwasher

Teenagers

** In this age group, don’t forget we are prepping our kids to eventually leave our home, so the more independence they gain the better they will adjust to the transition of living on their own.

All previous chores
Supervise siblings
Begin learning how to cook meals
Cleaning bathrooms
Washing mirrors/windows
Mopping floors

Children who live on farms may have a different list of chores and responsibilities pertaining to their family business. They are also taking away so much from the amount of responsibility they are trusted with. They may begin their love for farming and animals in this way.

A trick for convincing kids to tidy up/pick up around the house ‑— Instead of nagging kids to pick up forgotten items around the house have a bin that collects everything left lying around (ponytails, headbands, hockey sticks, pucks, balls, cars, pencils.) At the end of each week tell the children that whatever is left in the bin is going to get thrown out (or stored away in the cupboard where they can’t access it). This might have to happen once for them to catch on but I guarantee they’ll be checking and emptying the bin regularly after that – without nagging.

These are just some ideas to get you started. Any responsibilities you choose to give your child will prepare them to become independent and hopefully help with house work. It also will help your child develop an awareness of time management. If they know something has to be done by a given time they will have to learn to schedule their events/activities accordingly. Have fun getting started on changing your household!

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