Is your child too young to do chores or jobs at home? Some people may say “yes”, whilst others say “no”. The trick is to find age appropriate jobs or chores for your children to complete that are rewarding, teach lessons, and make them feel good about helping you as a parent.
There’s quite a few blogs out there that give idea of what children may be capable of doing at what age. But ultimately, it is up to you, as their parent, to decide what your child is capable of accomplishing. Some examples may include:
For 2 to 4 Year olds:
- Picking up and putting away toys at the end of the day
- Putting dirty clothes into the wash basket
- Putting clean clothes away
- Tidying their room
- Helping Mum or Dad cook a simple meal
- Help sweep or vacuum
- Filling your pet’s water or food bowl
For 5 to 6 Year olds:
- (with supervision) unloading the dishwasher
- Set or clear the table
- Match socks for folding
- Fold teatowels
- Help mum or dad weed the garden
- Hang up towels in the bathroom
- Tidy room
- Help carry in or put away light and/or non-fragile grocery items
- Help make their bed
Then there’s ways of jazzing things up and making them fun! If you have a spare magnetic board laying around, you could make up a few magnets with the chores/jobs for each child, stick a magnet sticker on the back and use it in a way like this:
Once a chore is “done” it can be moved back into the “Chores” area at the bottom by a parent, and perhaps even each day ALL chore, or each week (you make the rules), there’s a reward at the end of it. Maybe a book, or a trip to the movies, or a family fun night, the possibilities are endless! Good luck parents, we know you can do it!
At Angel’s Paradise Early Education Childcare Centres, we believe in encouraging both autonomy and team work, enabling children to complete after small tasks. This helps enable your child’s development and problem solving skills.