New Year’s Resolution: How to Get Your Kids to Help With Chores (The Best Chores Per Age Group)

Toddlers should be able to make their bed with the help of a parent. Making your bed first thing in the morning is a great way to start the day with a sense of accomplishment. Your young ones can also learn to fold their blankets and fluff and place pillows on their bed.

Related: 10 Ways You’re Making Housework Tougher Than It Needs to Be

Children have special bonds with their pets and can be part of your furry friends’ care routine. Your toddler can help fill water bowls with supervision to ensure there aren’t any unexpected puddles of water on the floor.

Related: 7 Natural Cleaning Tips for Pets That Actually Work

Some of the greatest messes come from scattered toys. It’s important to encourage kids to play and use their imagination, but it is just as important to encourage them to pick up after themselves. Four and five year olds can be responsible for putting toys and gadgets back in their respective places.

Related: 15 Clever Toy Storage Ideas For Any Kids’ Room

Your little one can help you out in the laundry room by sorting through the laundry. You can teach them how to set aside clothing and items by their colour and to read labels to ensure items are washed and dried in the appropriate cycle. This is a great skill for kids between the ages of four and five.

Mealtime is a family affair. For kids too young to cook in the kitchen, they can help out by setting the table. Ensure you can spare some attention to supervise them balancing delicate dishes or handling sharp cutlery. This chore is perfect for kids aged four or five.

No one likes a dusty home: it can trigger allergies and impact your family members’ overall health and wellbeing. Family members starting at ages five and six can help with vacuuming. This is a great opportunity to promote attention to detail, showing your young ones how to spot often overlooked spaces that are prone to gathering dust.

Related: 15 Ways You Can Teach Your Kids to be Organized, Highly Functioning Little Beings

Trash piles up fast in a family home. To stay on top of your garbage, enlist your kids to help bag up your trash and take out the compost and recycling.

Related: 12 Foolproof Ways to Keep a Kids’ Space Spick and Span

Kids can have fun outside while helping keep the yard clean. If your child is too young for more complicated landscaping tasks, they can still pitch in by raking the leaves and keeping the yard tidy. This is a great chore for kids aged seven and eight.

Related: Why Fall Cleaning is More Important Than Spring Cleaning

Cleanup after cooking a big meal doesn’t always have to fall on you. Younger family members can help out by washing dishes or rinsing plates, bowls and cutlery before loading them in the dishwasher.

We often forget to check our smoke detectors, which can prove deadly in the event of a gas leak or fire. You can keep a regular testing schedule by putting this task on a chore wheel for your kids. Checking your smoke detector requires getting up and balancing on chairs or ladders, so this task is probably best suited to kids over eight years of age and should only be done with an adult present.

Windows

free from streaks and smudges can really up the cleanliness of a home. Preteens can help with washing windows and keeping them free from dust and pesky thumbprints.

Related: Our Editors Can’t Live Without These Amazing Cleaning Products

If you have a preteen at home, they can help with yard up keeping by getting handy with the lawn mower and weed whacker. The lawn mower can be hard to manage, so it’s best to leave this chore to kids over 11. Ensure that a parent or older family member is on hand when they’re first learning to operate the yard tools.

Teen years are a great time to pass on cooking skills or hand down favourite family recipes. Kids in high school can help out at home by preparing their own lunch or cooking meals for other family members.

Related: 10 Clever Ways to Get Your Kids More Involved in the Kitchen

If your kids have their own bathroom, putting them in charge of cleaning up their own mess is a great new year’s resolution. They can also be in charge of a family powder room. Nothing teaches you the hard work of cleaning like scrubbing a toilet.

If your teenager is looking for a way to earn an allowance or some spare spending money, have them do a routine deep clean of some of the household appliances, like the microwave or fridge.