I’ve realized something since starting Salty Lashes and sharing more of our daily life on Instagram stories. What I have realized is that many moms are unsure how to implement chores around the house with kids. I’m not here to judge anyone, to each their own. However, I have been asked time and time again what age my kids started chores and also what age-appropriate chores are for children.
Growing up, my parents taught us how to properly clean a bathtub, fix a garbage disposal, make sharp corners on our sheets and how to iron one hell of a dress shirt. Even our jeans and pajamas were ironed straight from the dryer. Kinda crazy, huh? My mom refused to hire a housecleaner maintaining she could clean better than anyone, which is probably true. Still in their 70’s my parents clean their own home and maintain a beautiful garden and yard. It’s super impressive!
Unlike my mom, I do believe in having help twice a month to come deep clean for me. But having a house cleaner doesn’t omit my kids from doing chores in our home, it just makes it extra clean or maybe just makes me extra OCD..#guilty
Chores for Kids
Today’s post is dedicated to chores for kids
I always want to give a disclaimer when writing about how I parent and choose to raise my kids. I don’t think I have all the answers and I don’t think my parenting is any better than another mom. Just like you, I like to observe what others are doing and when I see something I like, I try to implement that into my own parenting. My children are ages 3 to 17 and I’ve failed many, many times. There is one thing I am sure of: my goal is to raise confident, self-sufficient daughters!
It’s my job to teach them the basic skills in the home that will benefit them when they grow up and have homes of their own. Teaching kids how to be self sufficient isn’t easy. Like I said; I fail constantly, but I am committed to trying! Below is what I’ve learned so far with my kids regarding chores. Hopefully this post is helpful to moms out there!
Age Appropriate Chores For Kids
There are plenty of ways your children can help! Here are just a few that come to mind at each age. I think sometimes we as parents don’t realize how capable our children actually are! Including them in daily tasks helps to build confidence, a component in teaching self sufficiency. More on that in a later post.
AGE 2-3:
At this age we are just introducing our children to helping. Keep your expectations low and make it fun for them.
- Help clean up toys
- Get in the habit of brushing their teeth morning and night
- Throw away trash
- Put clothes into laundry hamper
AGE 4-6:
at this age I like to offer incentives. I find kids this age respond better to a reward vs. an allowance
- Make their own bed. Obviously it won’t be how you would make it, but it’s good to let them practice.
- Help fold clothes. Again they won’t be well folded. I like to have my kids learn to match socks at this age.
- Put toys away. They can 100% put away their own toys without assistance.
- Get dressed on their own for the day. Some of the best (funniest) outfits come at this age, let them be creative.
- Help carry in groceries
- Learn to set the table
- Wipe off counters
AGE 7-9:
This is when I begin to raise the bar on my exceptions for their cleaning skills. It’s also the age when they just want to rush through it and go outside with friends. My kids know I will check all their chores before they are allowed to play and if their cut corners or don’t finish a task, they stay inside and end up with more chores:)
- Make their bed everyday
- Put away all of their clothes. I will still help hang clothes for them when the closet rod is too high.
- Learn to vacuum.
- Help make dinner.
- Set the table
- Help load and unload the dishwasher, minus knives.
- Wipe the counters and floors. Goldie loves to take two Clorox wipes and place them under her feet then “ice skate” across the tile. She is having fun and the floors are getting clean. Double win!
- Dust
- Brush their own teeth morning and night without reminding.
- Pick their own outfits and get dressed on their own
AGE 10 – till they leave for college 😉 :
- Currently Avery and Poppy earn $20 per week for their chores.
- Each week they switch between being in charge of upstairs or downstairs. The whole house is cleaned on either Friday or Saturday.
- During the weekdays they switch off on folding laundry and putting away dishes.
- Everyone helps clean the kitchen each night after dinner.
- This is a great time to teach them how to properly clean a bathroom.
- If they don’t complete their chores, they don’t earn their $20 and still do the chores anyway. I can tell you that has happened maybe 3 times in the past 4 years. They figured out real quick it wasn’t worth cutting corners..
- I am often asked “don’t you have a house cleaner?” The answer is yes, we do. She comes every other week to deep clean. Even if she came every week I would still have my kids do chores because I believe it’s good for them to know how to take care of a home.
This may seem overwhelming at first. Overall, daily tasks shouldn’t take more than 15-20 minutes.
On the designated day we clean the whole house, if we all work together it can be done, top to bottom in a little over an hour including decluttering rooms, drawers and backpacks. If you keep on top of your home each day, even for just a few minutes your weekend cleaning will go so much faster and more efficiently!
- This DYSON CORDLESS VACUUM is amazing. All of the attachments and modes make it effortless to clean any mess in your house. Worth every penny.
- Love this DYSON BALL VACUUM for bigger messes and carpeted areas! The power is great and the quality will last you so long.
- This CONAIR STEAMER is my favorite for steaming clothes and easy enough for kids to use.
- MICROFIBER CLOTHS are a must have for cleaning any surface! We use ours all over the house.
- This SHARK STEAMER MOP makes mopping so easy! I love the way it gives my floors a deep clean without much effort.
- I’ve loved this O-CEDAR SPIN MOP for years! The quality is amazing and is another awesome, easy mopping tool.
- This CALDREA MULTI-SURFACE COUNTERTOP SPRAY is my favorite. It gives a great clean and smells so good!
- Love this BAMBOO DISH BRUSH for cleaning dishes. The bristles give a great clean and it’s comfortable to hold.
- These CLEAR STORAGE BINS are great for organizing your pantry, cleaning supplies or kid’s toys.
- I love this COLLAPSIBLE DISH DRYING RACK! It goes over your sink and can easily be stowed away when you’re not using it.
- I think these LINT DRYER REMOVERS are such a smart idea!
- I love using one of these CLEANING CADDYS when my girls and I clean! Perfect for storing all the essentials.
$20 a week ???? My girls get $5 ???? or $1 for everyday they actually do their chores.
that’s alright, whatever works. Avery and Poppy are 13 and 14. I figured they ask for more than $20 per week to hang with their friends so $20 is enough to do stuff with money they’ve earned and then they have to really decide if a shake for $5 is worth it;)
That’s true. My older girls are 15 & 13 and they definitely ask for more than $20 a week. The $5 is more of me teaching them to earn/save. It basically goes to their savings at the end of the month. Maybe I should start giving them a flat rate each week instead of them asking for $ all week. Good idea!
Love this!! My parents were huge on chores and my husband and I are pretty OCD as well so I love learning tips from the pros since our oldest is still only three! Where did you get your giant gold mirror?! I’m completely obsessed with it.
Love love love your work ethic your instilling in your girls. Such a valuable life skill for them to learn early on. Hard work=reward.. even if it’s just the satisfaction of a clean home. Even if they occasionally complain about it I imagine one day they’ll be sharing how proud they are that their mom taught them how to properly take care of a home and pass that standard on to their own children.
I love this!!!! We have our 3 year old pick up her toys, take things to the sink, put rubbish in the bin and clothes in the hamper- and our friends and family can’t believe it. You’ve made me very confident in our parenting choices. And given us a great guide for age appropriate chores when she gets older. Thanks!!!
Wow, I love this!!! I started following you after stumbling upon the ‘no sleepovers’ post… my mom had the same exact rules for us when we were little. I’m 21, got married over two years ago, and now have a beautiful baby girl of my own. Clearly, things aren’t the same as when I was growing up but that won’t stop me from raising my kids the way I was brought up.. because for that I am thankful for to my mom daily!! Chores were always a part of my life.. I grew up with 5 other siblings and a single mom who couldn’t afford an allowance for us but we did it anyway and got rewarded for it in other ways ♥️ Now I’m confident in taking care of my own home… I actually love cooking and cleaning!