What Does Your Child Do in Reguards to Chores/Help Contribute to the Family?

Updated on August 22, 2012
S.S. asks from Allen, TX
19 answers

What does your child do in reguards to Chores/Help Contribute to the family? I am looking to make a little helper chart to have her start learning responcibilty. I would love hear what you ladies have in mind.

So far I have

1. Make my bed
2. Brush my teeth ( She doesn't like it ) ( Thats why we are working on it )
3. Get dressed by myself
4. Clean my room
5. Feed the cat ( She loves this )

Any other suggestions?

( we are not calling it a chore chart )

1 mom found this helpful

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So What Happened?

please note;

( Shes 6 )

I am very aware that " Brushing Teeth " and " Getting Dressed "
are not chores. My chart will say " Hi my name is ______ and this is how I contribute to my family.

Getting dressed and brushing teeth before school is a rough thing in the morning so by adding it to her chart I figured when she does great I could put a nice mark beside it or a sticker on her chart so we know she's making good choices in the morning.

Thank you moms for the lovely responces thus far. Its helping a bunch ; )

Featured Answers



answers from Seattle on

Here's what my 8 year old child does:
clean her room
make her bed
do her laundry - that includes putting it away
clean up dirty dishes and put them into the dishwasher
unload the dishwasher
take out the trash
clean the bathroom

Here's what my autistic 5 year old does:
clean his room
brush his teeth
dress himself - to the best of his ability
throw away trash
wipe down tables
put away his shoes once inside - we don't wear shoes in the house
put his backpack and coat in the correct places
put his dishes in the sink - they're plastic because I never know how hard he'll put them in :) hehe

1 mom found this helpful


answers from San Francisco on

Make my bed.
Help clear the table after dinner/put own dinner dishes in the sink
Put away my clean laundry
Empty the bathroom trash can
Clean the litter box
Put clean silverware away from the dishwasher

1 mom found this helpful

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answers from St. Louis on

I don't like making my bed so I would feel like a hypocrite if I demanded that of my kids. Besides one would raise the BS flag pretty quick.

I don't go with lists of chores, it is just too boring for all of us. In our house if I ask you do something you do it.

4 moms found this helpful


answers from Kansas City on

I might get flack for this...but I don't think brushing their teeth is a chore.

My kids seven and four: Yes the each do these.
Clean their room
Make her bed (not always required)
Put their laundry away (yes my four year old knows where to put things)
HELP clean their bathroom (dirty clothes off the floor, empty the trash can into the kitchen trash, pick toys off the floor and put them in the bin once bath is over)
Rinse dishes and put in the dishwasher

The rest is have fun and be a kid. We don't do all these daily...they love to vacuum & mop too. (I usually re-mop but they do help).
ETA: We do not give allowance as well. Everyone knows that when the things around the house are done...it's fun time...this includes movies, games, zoo, saturday out for ice cream...

2 moms found this helpful


answers from Dallas on

My son is six. He has to keep his room neat (not perfect, but neat). He helps clear the table after dinner. It's my son's job to empty the compost container into our compost bin outside. This summer it became his job to empty the vacuum and skimmer baskets of our pool. And when my hubby mows, my son helps with yard work - usually pooper scooping and/or sweeping grass off the side walk. If the trash isn't too heavy, he helps take it out. And he helps me bring the trash bins from the street on trash pick up days.

My daughter is three. She has to keep her room neat, again, not perfect, but picked up. She helps clear the table after dinner. It's her job to set the table. And she also has to help when my hubby does the yard - she usually helps pick up trash and big toys out of the yard. She is also responsible for feeding the dog.

Both kids also help me with cleaning their bathroom each week.

In our house we don't consider getting dressed, brushing teeth or bathing part of their chores. It's a chore for me to make sure it gets done :), but those things should just be part of their daily routine, not a "chore". This may be semantics, but it's how I feel.

We don't do allowance in our house. This is just what they are expected to do. None of these chores take very long at all. Many of them are not daily. For the most part, our kids are really good about doing what is asked of them.

2 moms found this helpful


answers from Grand Forks on

I wouldn't have "brush my teeth" or "get dressed" on the chore chart. Those items are self care, they don't really contribute to the family.

I have a "morning checklist" for my boys:

1. eat breakfast 2. clear table 3. brush teeth 4. wash hands/face 5. get backpack and lunch ready 6. morning chores

With the checklist instead of asking if they have done this or done that I can just ask "did you finish your checklist?"

The morning chore list is 1. make your bed 2. feed the cat 3. feed the fish

The evening checklist is 1. empty lunch bag 2. check agenda 3. homework 4. brush teeth 5. wash face 6. evening chores

The evening chore list is 1. put away your laundry 2. put away toys/electronics 3. feed the fish

Those are the only regular chores they have right now, and the ten year old does most of it. They are expected to help with raking leaves and shoveling snow etc. as well.

2 moms found this helpful


answers from Des Moines on

My 7 year old does...

- picks up room
- unloads dishwasher
- puts her clean clothes away and does help with other laundry
- empties bathroom garbage
- picks up baby sisters toys(awesome)
- makes sure the cats and dog have water
- picks up sticks in the yard with dad when he needs to mow

I know some people don't like paying their kids to do stuff that needs to get done to help with the family, but we pay her $2 a week. We want her to learn to be responsible with money & she loves saving it! And she's so helpful with her little sister that I think she deserves it!

2 moms found this helpful


answers from Portland on

My son's responsibilities: (he's five)

Dress self
Take laundry to washing pile
clear table for self after meals
Brush teeth, get self dressed for school
clean up toys
do his eye exercises (sees an eye therapist)
Open backdoor for kitty (cat's items are in basement, which has no handrail, so we do not ask him to feed the cat)
take care of school items/coat when coming home from school
Take a quiet playtime each day
Bring water cups to table
Help take out recycling/trash
Bring trashcans out of their rooms to be emptied
put clothes away after folding
Dress self for bed/laundry taken to washing pile
Help water/clear toys outside
Help put groceries away
Watching for crosswalk signals (to practice)

I agree that while some jobs are not 'chores' but self-care, my feeling that if the child is viewing it as something less than pleasurable, it is still a 'chore' to them.:)

1 mom found this helpful


answers from Houston on

My son is now 8 but at 4yrs old I started letting him set the table, Dry Dishes, Pick up trash or any sticks in the yard, water the flower bed.

He loved it and still does it now

1 mom found this helpful


answers from Savannah on

How old is she? Different chores or responsibilities for different ages, ya know?

My 2 year old: we don't have a chore chart, but these are what he's regularly responsible for and what he does regularly--

1) Play nicely / be kind
2) Practice using the potty
3) Dress myself
4) Place napkins and forks on the table before dinner
5) Eat my food
6) Bring my plate by the sink
7) Feed the cat (1 scoop)
8) Take the bathroom bags out on Mondays and throw them in the kitchen trashcan
9) Pick up toys and put them in the toybox before Daddy comes home, and before bed
10) Put dirty clothes in the laundry basket: colors in the blue bag, whites in the white bag
*He also likes to "help" me cook, swiffers the kitchen and entry, and vacuums (I go behind him when he's asleep, or we take turns), he likes to empty the dryer into the laundry basket and push it to the living room (those are his choices and things he wants to do).

My 5 year old, again, doesn't have an official chart but he does stuff on a regular basis, it's just part of our routine:

1) Play nicely / be kind (help me with his little brother at times)
2) Dress himself and straighten his bed
3) Pick up after himself (and help little brother if they're in the playroom): toys and laundry
4) Help me carry cups to the table, and if a knife is used for that meal, he puts that on the napkin his little brother has already laid out.
5) After eating, clear his seat (plate and cup to the sink, trash to the trash)
6) Water the cat, tomatoes, bellpeppers, basil, and us (with the waterhose)
7) He stands on the bathroom counters and cleans the mirrors once a week
8) He gets down on the bottom shelves of the entertainment center and dusts those at the bottom
9) Read, school work, and do his best at the extracurricular activities he chooses to do
10) When I'm about to mow the yard, he'll run make sure the toys are picked up and put in the outside toybox so they don't get run over
11) Little brother removes bathroom and bedroom trashbags, big brother replaces with clean bags
12) Put away his own folded clothes (I fold)
13) Both he and little brother take things from the kitchen to the recycling bin in the garage for me

* He also loves to help me cook, helps unload the dishwasher (just the kids' bowls/plates and silverware), likes to swiffer and vacuum (they argue over who gets to do it sometimes, but now little guy can do it while big guy is in kindergarten). If he wants some extra money or something special quickly, he is all about doing extra chores (before school he helped me weed the gardens for a lunch box and 2 bey blades). And yes they absolutely get "money" --- not because they expect money for their responsibilities but because it is MY responsibility to teach him about money, how to handle it, how to save for things he wants, etc and I think the earlier the better! I've seen so many adults with money issues, that my kids WILL learn before they're school aged! In our house, it's NOT for money that they work. The chores will get done because that's what it takes for the household to run smoothly. If they do it well, without issue, they get an allowance. If they don't do it well, or if there's issues, it's still going to get done but they won't get paid for it. I don't get the people who think rewarding children with money makes them automatically not do anything without getting pay. That's not the case AT ALL----my family did it with my brother and I (and we are 2 of the hardest working, self starting people you'll ever see) and we both are doing it with our individual families now with great success.
As for the toothbrushing: I can see that it could definitely go on a checklist or chart if you want to do one, but our pediatric dentists in 2 states both say that a good rule of thumb is that parents still need to brush teeth until the child can write cursive. They just don't have the dexterity to do it properly and thoroughly (I let my guys do it first, then I get a "turn"). Not nit-picking, just thought I'd throw that out there...

1 mom found this helpful


answers from Boston on

Well, that's not a list that contributes to the family welfare in any way, except maybe feeding the cat. It's nice that she loves it but it takes 2 seconds.

The other things relate to her personal space or her personal body. Teeth brushing shouldn't be an option.

Things that help the family are
**setting the table (maybe just the silverware and napkins and trivets, depending on the child's age). Leave the breakables for older kids or grown-ups.
** sorting laundry - either separating darks and lights for washing, or folding hand towels and dish towels (stuff that's small and doesn't really matter much) or sorting socks (that's good for color matching and style matching as well as coordination.
** putting items in the recycling bin.
** depending on the age, returning bottles and getting money back at the bottle redemption center.
** putting away certain groceries (lightweight, unbreakable, lower cabinets) or bringing stuff in from the car.
** taking out trash - for little ones, sometimes just the smaller baskets and not the kitchen garbage.
** cleaning up bath toys - we always had one of those mesh bags that hangs on the faucet so the toys drip dry into the tub.

I saw a TV show on a family that does not give money to the kids - everyone helps out without expectation of pay. The kids make their own money by baking/selling cookies, older kids do videotaping and other techy things, babysitting, mother's helper, and so on. They understand that family is a privilege and a set of obligations, not something you do for pay. We always let my son keep the money from the recycled bottles & cans though.

1 mom found this helpful


answers from Dallas on

My kids are 8 & 11. They both have daily reminders like brush teeth, brush hair, shower, check backpack, make lunch, etc...... Beyond that the actual chores feed the animals, put away dishes, sweep floor, wipe off table, wipe/pick up their bathroom. We have chore charts that I made off of Excel spread sheet.



answers from Seattle on

My sons chart at the same age had the following (and yes, beyond chores, LIFE stuff, because teaching balance to an ADHD kiddo takes a looooong time)

Brush my teeth
Get dressed
Help with dinner
My dishes

Pick a Chore x2 (any chore, floors, windows, recycling, whatever)
My sheets & duvet & pillowcases
Field Day
Help with projects

Now... At 10 there's more, for sure. Once a week HE cooks dinner, and I help him, he also has to pay some of his bills, etc. but it works for us.

He gets a base amount in allowance if the list is completed, and then a bonus for doing so with good attitude.



answers from Albuquerque on

My dd pretty much does these things, too (besides making the bed). I've thought about doing a chart, just haven't gotten around to it...
She is (3.5y/o) and also helps out with: dumping her laundry basket into the big one, put away her folded clothes, brush hair, recycling (move from small bin in kitchen to large bag on back porch), and general straightening up (cups & dishes to sink, dirty clothes/socks to laundry basket, & other random stuff that gets left laying around the house).



answers from Dallas on

Our 6 year old's chores are:
Set table
Clear table (just her dishes at all meals)
Brush teeth & hair in morning and night
Clean up room
Get backpack and clothes ready for school (the night before)
Put away shoes and socks (b/c they get left all over the house)
Clean out back of car - where she sits in the minivan... she's always leaving things back there!



answers from Topeka on

As above beginging on appropriate age level plus 1 takes out trash the other replaces the trash bag/bags,clean up after yourself if you make a mess at the table I expect you to clean it up the table crumbs,clear off plate in trash the floor crumbs,vacuum when asked the older 2 take turns,keep your bedrooms tidy don't take food or drinks outside the kitchen unless your going outside,wipe the wet floor after showers,dirty clothes have a place put them there,shoes go in the shoe bucket,what you take out put it away after your finished,rinse dishes after I wash them when asked.If you see something on the floor and it doesn't belong there trash it put it away or give it to someone if you don't know where it goes,take out the clothes from the dryer place in basket the other bring the basket to front room so for mommy can fold if I need them to put away their clothes I will tell them toThe outside they need to hellp their dad put away toys gather trash in the yard if any.This is just a list of what we do around here it doesn't happen everyday in any order except bathes,teeth& dinner in the evening & follow morning schedule too but they know they are to help around the house take responsibility for their things and earn what they want.


answers from Jacksonville on

Did I miss where you said how old your child is? Mine are 11 and 14, and probably do a lot of things a 4 year old or a 2 yr old or a 6 year cannot do.



answers from Chattanooga on

My 2 year old does the following...

1. Puts her dishes in the sink when she's done eating.
2. Holds the dustpan when Mommy sweeps.
3. Gathers up her laundry and puts it in the hamper. (Also, hands Mommy the clothes from the hamper to go into the washer...)
4. Picks up all her toys before naptime, and before bedtime.
5. 'Dusts' while Mommy vacuums.
6. Feeds the kitty every morning.
7. 'Scrubs' the bathroom floor while Mommy cleans everything else.
8. Wipes down her table after she eats. (Our apartment is too small for a dining set, so she has her own little table to eat at.)

Some of her 'chores' are more busy-work, and not actually accomplishing much. (like a 2-year old is really going to do a good job dusting. lol) but I figure it's good to get her used to being expected to 'help out'. Of course, right now she's only 2, so of course it's fun for her. I'm pretty sure that when she gets older, it will be a bit more difficult to get her to help out. lol.



answers from Las Vegas on

For now, I think that is enough. Now, if she follows through, then add more as a kind of reward :) My son who is ten really doesn't have a ton of chores, but he does have to do his best in school, make his bed and he does enjoy helping with cooking.... He is by no means spoiled and will do whatever I ask him to do... therefore, I don't have a list of things for him to do ... just things done as I need them.. He also plays the accordion and knows that he must practice.. Note, it is his choice to play an instrument and knows that with it comes the responsibility of practicing.. So far, it's been enough... he's a good natured kid and follows directions quite well.. To me, that is good enough.. Additionally, I do ask that he read every day for at least 20 minutes... It can be whatever he enjoys.. which most of the time is about cooking and or other countries. as long as he is reading, I don't mind what it is.. well except playboy.. :) hahahah

good luck

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