Household Chores - Kids

This is a list that my husband found off a Christian dad's website. It has really been helpful to me to have this.

2-4 year olds
help dust
put napkins on table
help put away toys
put laundry in hamper
help feed pet

4-7year olds - "Help" is the important word at this age. Many of the chores will be done as a helper and slowly kids can graduate to doing them independently!

set the table or help set the table
put away toys/things
help feed pets
water plants
help set table
help make bed
dust
put laundry in hamper
help put dishes in dishwasher
water the garden
help wipe up messes
help with yard work (rake with child's rake or plant flowers, etc.)
help clear table

8-10 year olds
make bed
water plants
clean room with direction
set table
dust
vacuum
feed pets (depends on type of pet and how your comfortable your child is interacting with the pet)
help make dinner
put laundry in hamper
help wash the car
help wash dishes
help load/empty dishwasher
rake leaves

11 year olds and older
take garbage out
set table
clean room with direction
vacuum
mow lawn
feed pets
water plants
put laundry in hamper
help with laundry and eventually start doing own laundry
help make dinner/make small meals on own
help wash the car/wash car
clean room
make bed
help with yard work
shovel snow
wash dishes/load or empty dishwasher

I also made a chore checklist that I print off every Monday for my 3 girls 9,7 and 3. This helps them know what to do without me nagging. I keep it in a basket in the kitchen. This has been a life saver. Also we have not started to hand out rewards or even money b/c I have a huge issue with giving them a reward or cash if I had to remind them to do their chores or constantly tell them to get back on task for 3 hours until the jobs are complete. Their daily chores are

Make bed
Clean bedroom
Clean their side of the bathroom (not major just put up toothpaste and toothbrush and hair stuff)
Clean playroom
Straighten closet
and on a rotating basis they have either
either empty the dishwasher, dust with a swiffer not with pledge, or vacuum the family room downstairs b/c we have a dog and I am trying to keep dog hair to a minimum.

That is all they have to do it takes (if done promptly) 30 minutes. If they lollygag around it of course takes longer. I do not know what to tell you in regards to rewards or cash but this system has helped out more than you know.HTH.

I am evil mom and I do "pay" my kids for doing chores around the house but this is an allowance and they only earn it if they do the chores and they are not under the impression that they should not help because they live here and this is their home. Even if you do not attach it to chores, I would recommend an allowance at some point, for example, like in school, if they have behaved well that week, teachers sometimes give a carrot, so the allowance is part of that, behave poorly and the allowance is gone.

Many people frown on the allowance as one woman mentioned because the children should not be paid for contributing, good behavior, or whatever, but we live in a world that is to a large extent dictated by money and whether people learn to manage it. Kids having money teaches them valuable lessons about how much things cost, about making choices about what you want to buy with the money you have, or saving the money period or for something in particular.

Figuring out that if you spend your allowance on candy or little toys you won't appreciate a week from now illustrates that you then don't have the money to buy the video game you want. I determined that a weekly allowance half my children's age would not break me but was something that would actually be meaningful to them to have versus forfeiting if they are not pulling their own weight.

Also, I thought this was totally nuts because of the amount but after I thought about it, it made a lot of sense. A woman posted to the parenting forum on plenty of fish with a thread that was focused totally on allowance, whether people thought they were appropriate, what they had kids do to earn it, etc. One woman said that when her kids hit high school, they changed the way they did things.

The kids got what seemed an exorbitant amount of money, something like $500. I almost fell over but I read her explanation and the reason they converted to this system. When your kids are older, they will nickel and dime you to death. Admission to the football game, a hotdog at the game, without realizing it, you can easily dole out this much money to your kids and they learn nothing about responsibility or making choices.

The kids were given that money at the first of the month. From that, their gas (now this would probably be half the allowance with gas prices), clothing, lunch, school activities, dates for the boys, everything was to come out of this money. If they needed to buy their year book at the end of the month and their money was gone, they were out of luck. If they had to pay for prom and spent the limo money, they were out of luck. If they knew prom was going to run more than $500 they needed to budget two months' allowance to cover it. They found out in a sheltered environment, what it was like to be an adult and you get the paycheck, period, and can't go to the employer and say but Mr. Brown, I can only get it this week....

We have discovered handipoints.com. It's a city and they get a cat (similar to webkinz) you assign chores, grade them and they get points inside the website for things like outfits, and more places to explore. They also get bonus points and you can save those up to buy things in the "real world". They have savings goals, for instance my son is saving up for a new Wii game. He has it in his savings goals area and so reminds himself that is what he is aiming for.

We also do an allowance. Now I know this is controversial, but I DO tie it to their chores, because they also get rewards through their saved bonus points. I want them to understand that they do have to work to earn their money, it's not just given to them. Much like how my DH goes to work. If he doesn't do his job, he doesn't get paid. Yes, chores are an expected thing around the house, but they are still a job. No work, no money. My DH is expected to go to work everyday, so I expect my kids (and myself) to work around the house for their job.

We also do something fairly interesting with their allowance. They can spend it however they would like, it is their money. BUT if they place it into their savings account and leave it there for a minimum of a year we match it (we match it when they deposit it). My son has saved over 3/4 of his money this year. And 5 dollars here or there doesn't hurt near as much. Plus he knows it going for things like a car when he is 16. My daughter is still getting the hang of it, but still managed to save over half her money this year. We haven't started the youngest with an allowance yet, but we will shortly since she just turned 4 and we like to start early. I do make them buy most of their toys on their own except for birthdays and Christmas, or the occassional reward for saved bonus points. And when we go to the movies, they buy their own snacks. I want them to understand that one day they will be in charge of all their money, so spend and save wisely.

Tam,

My kids are 21, 16, 9 and 7. I found a wonderful program for my younger two children at a book fair/convention in May. It is called Accountable Kids. The website is www.accountablekids.com. They are wonderful! I no longer have to hound them to make sure things are done. They have their own board with cards on it that they need to do every day. It also helps me keep them from watching too much tv or video game time. They earn cards throughout the day and can use them for those things. We have Sunday's where they still do their cards but they don't pay or earn tickets for things. A free day. It has helped so much. Of course, they still have their moments where all of a sudden this chore thing is a horrible idea. But that doesn't last long. The understand it helps them and things run smoothly when they do them. Check it out. I would recommend it to anyone!
T.

I just started doing chores with my 6 & 3 year old. I kept it simple at first. Right now, they have to make their beds and put all their clothes in the laundry basket. Plus, my 6 year old checks the bird's food every day, refills the dog's water bowl, and puts the silverware away from the dishwasher (after I pull out the steak knives, spatulas, etc.). My 3 year old puts food in the dog's bowl, takes the newspaper to the recycle box (his favorite chore), and collects any cups or water bottles from upstairs. So far, they get really excited to do it. We'll see how thrilled they are to make their beds before school next week though.

I've also made a chart that has 100 squares for each kid. They earn stars for doing their chores, but they can also earn them for doing extra stuff throughout the day, doing something nice for someone, etc. They also can lose a star for bad behavior. Once they fill their charts, they get a reward. I just started this, so I haven't worked out the kinks yet, but so far, it's really worked.

We use accountablekids.com and love it.

I dont give my kids money to do chores, this is their house and they are responsible for helping. They arent going to get paid to clean their apartment when they grow up.

Accountable Kids rewards kids with tickets that are used for tv, video games, sleepovers, etc. It teaches kids that these things are privelages they get when they help and do the things they need to. So instead of feeling intitled that they can just do whatever they want, they can watch tv after bathing, teeth brushing, cleaning their room, etc.

Our kids get a weekly allowance and that can be increased by doing extra things that arent part of their daily stuff.

GL! Different things work for different families. Hope you find what works for you!