Doing chores around the home is so much easier when every member of the family helps. Chores are also a great way to teach children key skills, that will serve them well later in life. Stuck for ideas for chores to get your little ones started? Download our free chore chart to help you get started, then explore our tips on the best chores for kids:
- How to choose and delegate chores for kids.
- How to motivate your children to do their chores.
- Top chore ideas.
- How to organise your chores by day.
Getting your kids involved in child-friendly household chores will not only help you on a practical level but will also help them learn about sharing the responsibility of cleaning equally and working as a team to keep the home tidy. They live in and use the home just as much as you do, so use our guide and free printable chore chart to get everyone working together to complete their chores.
1. How to delegate chores for children:
When it comes to setting up a chore chat, it’s important to remember a few key factors about choosing chores for kids:
- Are you happy to supervise? Some chores will need adult supervision, whilst others can be completed without you watching.
- There are lots of chores for children that are suitable from school age, but make sure that any chores you select are age appropriate.
- The more confident and responsible they become, the less supervision they’ll need, and the more chores they’ll be able to help out with.
- The most important aspect to get right is to clearly explain what’s expected.
- Visual chore charts for kids are a really useful way of making sure everyone knows what to do each day.
- Keep it to one chore per day and break it down into bullet points to help your child remember what they need to do.
Tip
Keep a supply of strong and absorbent Plenty kitchen towel somewhere lowdown where the kids can easily and safely reach it – it’ll help encourage them to take responsibility for wiping up after themselves.
2. How to make your kids’ chore chart motivating:
It’s all well and good organising the chores onto a chore chart for kids, but how do you encourage children actually do the chores on there? Here are a few ways to motivate little ones to stick to the kids’ chore chart:
- Kids love to be praised, and often respond well to reward, so add this aspect to your chore chart for kids.
- Ask your child to show you when they’ve finished their chore, so that you can award them a tick or a sticker on their chore chart when they’ve done a good job.
- Get your children to colour in or decorate the chore chart so they have had a hand in its creation.
- Make sure the chore chart is placed in a prominent position to remind them.
- Set aside time as ‘chore time’ and set the example – make sure you’re doing some chores at the same time to encourage them to do theirs too.
- Use our free printable chore chart which has tick boxes and let your children tick off their own chores – sometimes it’s the simplest of actions that excite the younger family members.
3. Chore chart ideas for kids:
Chores for kids will most likely be done after school, so here are a few top tips for making the most of the time when working out which chores happen when on your chore chart:
- After school you’ll want quick tasks that leave plenty of time for homework and family time.
- More time-consuming chores, like laundry and food preparation, can be saved for the weekend so that they can be enjoyed together at leisure rather than in a rush after school.
- Encourage your children to get started ASAP. The longer you leave it, the closer you’ll get to bedtime. The more tired your children get, the less likely they are to want to complete chores.
4. How to arrange a chore chart day-by-day
Once you have used our chore chart tips to delegate each chore to a different child, they will each have their own individual list of tasks to complete. Now it’s time to show you a few ideas for how to day-to-day chores to fill out your kids’ chore chart:
Monday: Tidy Bedroom
Tidying their bedroom may be just one chore, but there are a couple of areas you should encourage your children to focus for Monday’s chore chart:
- Pick up everything from the floor/bed/desk that shouldn’t be there.
- Put toys and other items away where they belong.
Tuesday: Water Plants
Whether you have beautiful flower beds lining your back garden, or a house full of beautiful house plants, this is one of the easiest chores for kids.
- Fill the watering can with water (remember, not too much!)
- Slowly carry it to each plant and give each a little water.
Wednesday: Organise the Toy Box (or boxes!)
- Check each section contains what it should.
- Move toys to their correct boxes.
- Put away any toys that should be in the toy box.
Thursday: Dust
Obviously, this may not be an appropriate chore for anyone with a dust allergy, but most children should be able to partake in this addition to our chore chart.
- Move everything off the surface you’re dusting first.
- Dust and wipe down the surface. Older children may be able to use furniture polish.
- Put everything back where it belongs.
Tip
If your children are likely to forget where everything goes, why not take a picture that they can use as a reference point?
Friday: Clean Pets
Pets are part of the family, but sadly they aren’t able to take responsibility for chores on the chore chart. Taking care of their furry friends is a great addition to your list of chores for kids.
- If you have pets, clear out beds, bowls, and cages.
- Brush fur and give dogs a bath.
Saturday: Gardening
Whether you have a green finger or not, gardening is a great activity for all the family to enjoy together. Here are a few ways your children can help with this section of the chore chart.
- Help pull weeds and plant flowers. (Make sure they first know the difference between a weed and the flowers you’ve been nurturing for months!)
- Clear away leaves.
- Help wash the car on sunny days.
Sunday: Help with the Laundry
Traditionally Sunday is known as the day of rest, but with a family it’s likely you have a lot of laundry to get through from school uniforms to a basket full of underwear. Here’s how this can become one of the easiest chores for kids.
- Gather up dirty clothes.
- Sort into colours and whites.
- Press buttons on machine – even the youngest members of the family will enjoy this part!
- Help to hang the washing out.
- Pair socks and fold clothes once dry.
Every day
You now have a few ideas for chores each day of the week, but some chores happen every single day. Here are a few daily chores to remember to share between your family members’ chore charts.
- Set and clear the table.
- Load and unload the dishwasher if you have one, or do the washing up in the sink.
- Feed pets.
- Put dirty clothes in the laundry basket.
- Wipe up spills.
- Make the bed.
- Make sure the kitchen roll is stocked up.
- Put empty kitchen roll tubes in the recycling.
All you need now are a stack of printable chore charts for kids, and luckily enough, we’ve got a free chore chart for you to download right here! Enjoy whizzing through your chores quickly and happily as a family.
On the lookout for more cleaning and organisation tips? Try our house cleaning schedule.
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