In this post you’ll find an epic household chore list and some tips designed to help you teach your children how to clean, contribute, and learn the value of hard work.
“I just don’t want to do anything that I don’t want to do.”
My eyes nearly rolled back in my head as I tried to ponder this statement from my child.
“Yes, I know, “ I said calmly, “humans are made to just want to do what we want. But that doesn’t mean you can get by without helping.”
Sometimes, bless ’em, our kids make huge messes and don’t want to clean up. They would rather wallow in squalor than spend 30 minutes doing chores.
To be honest, many adults would prefer this as well.
However, our role as parents is not to let them engage in behaviors that aren’t helpful, but to help give them the encouragement and motivation to do what’s best for them.
Sure, cleaning isn’t rocket science and won’t make you a millionaire… but a clean and de-cluttered environment is good for the brain.
Research says so.
How to Get Kids To Help With Chores:
So, before I get into the household chore list, here are some helpful ways to get your kids involved.
4 Reasons It’s Hard for Moms To Teach Their Kids To Clean
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How To Keep A Tidy House With Little Kids – It’s Possible!
How to Raise Cleaning Machines: An Epic Household Chore List An Epic Household Chore List
Alright, now we have got a handle on how to get the kids involved, here’s how we can start teaching our children to contribute around our homes. It won’t always be easy, but it’ll totally be worth it.
Mealtime and Kitchen
We’ve got a lot to do to keep our families fed and the kitchen at least fairly tidy. Here are some kitchen chores.
- Set the table
- Sort silverware
- Clear kitchen table
- Organize junk drawer
- Dry and put away dishes
- Load dishwasher
- Empty dishwasher
- Put groceries away
Here are a few more…
- Wipe off table
- Clean counter tops
- Help deep clean kitchen
- Organize pantry
- Help write grocery list
- Fold napkins or paper towels
- Clean refrigerator
- Wipe down kitchen chairs
Bedroom and Playroom
These chores pertain to each bedroom in the house and any specific play areas including playrooms, corners, cubbies, or even outdoor areas.
- Put toys away
- Restock diapers and wipes in baby’s area
- Make the bed
- Straighten bedroom
- Vacuum under beds
Sometimes these will take supervision.
- Organize clothes in dresser drawer
- Put books away on shelves
- Organize books
- Organize toys
- De-clutter toys
These checklists include all the tasks that need to be done in various rooms so that your little one can use pictures or text to help them complete a group of chores in one area.
Learn MoreLaundry and Clothes
Laundry… the bane of mom’s existence at times. But never fear, you can get a system and keep it.
- Match clean socks
- Put dirty clothes in hamper
- Separate whites and darks
- Fold washcloths
- Fold towels
It might take some training sessions for your kids to get these right!
- Sort clothes out to return
- Organize coat closet
- Wash laundry
- Hang and fold clean clothes
- Wash bedroom sheets
- Put detergent in washing machine
Help prepare your kids for life, one skill at a time. Simple, easy skills every month!
Learn MoreBathroom
You may have one or quite a few, but bathrooms can get dirty quick.
Before or after bath time is a good chance to do some of these chores, and it makes for a much more relaxing night bath when you’re staring at a clean bathroom. :)
- Replace toilet paper rolls
- Clean bathroom counter
- Clean toilet
- Wipe out bathroom cupboard
- Empty bathroom garbage cans
- Clean toilets
- Refill tissues in bathrooms
- Clean tub
Food Related
Our children eat multiple times a day (multiple!) so let’s get them involved in helping.
- Prepare snacks
- Peel fruits or vegetables
- Make salad
- Scramble eggs and serve
- Make toast and serve
- Prepare simple meal
- Make sandwiches
- Pack lunches
Printable chore cards for kids
Pets
Got an animal or a few? Here are chores relating to pets in the family.
- Feed and water pets
- Walk dog
- Clean up litter boxes or cages
- Brush pets
- Give pets bath
Floors
Throughout the home there are various things that need to be done to keep the home up.
- Wipe the baseboards
- Use hand-held vacuum
- Dust mop floors
- Vacuum rugs
- Mop floors
Check off critical household, social, and hygiene skills for your child so they’re prepared (not petrified) of growing up!
Outdoors
If you have an outdoor area, you’ll know there are chores aplenty that kids can really help with.
- Carry firewood
- Water outdoor plants
- Weed garden
- Rake leaves
- Hose off patio
- Sweep porches
- Mow lawn
- Bring in mail
- Put away yard toys
- Wash bike
Car and Garage
The car… we don’t want ’em driving it, but we can help them learn to to take care of it.
- Sweep out garage
- Wash the car
- Wash car tires
- Vacuum inside car
- Get rid of old things that aren’t used
Walls, Windows, and Surfaces
What every home is made of! Here are some chores you can get your little ones involved in.
- Spray and clean window glass
- Wipe window sills
- Spray and wipe glass surfaces
- Polish furniture
- Dust picture frames
- Wash walls
Miscellaneous
Here are some chores that may happen all around the house or don’t have a specific category I could give them.
- Throw any loose trash away
- Water houseplants
- Take out trash
- Change light bulbs
- Dust furniture
- Change overhead lights and lamps
- Shake out small rugs
- Take out recycling
- Flatten cardboard boxes
- Crush cans
- Remove labels from recycling
Get 101+ chore cards to help your little one build life skills, confidence, and their hard work muscles.
Learn MoreIf you want your child to learn the value of hard work… the best thing you can do is to get them involved. This means they can tag along with you, have some type of chore system of your own, and simply to get busy doing it.
Now, to be fair, they may whine and complain, but children love to feel needed and part of something larger than themselves. If you would like a copy of these printable chore cards to be used in your own home, you can find them here.
Sources:
- Involving kids in household tasks has a positive impact later in life
- Chores are associated with self-competence, self-efficacy, and prosocial behavior
- Longitudinal Harvard study shows chores are bigger predictor of good mental health as an adult (moreso than social class, family problems, and other factors)
This is an incredible post with some great advice. Thank you for sharing Rachel
How do you use the chore cards? What’s your system with your kiddos. If there’s a practical put in use post – please let me know. :) Thanks!
Hi Tina, so we use it in a few ways. Sometimes I assign each kid certain chores and they always do those, others we just pull out the bag and let kids choose which chores to do. Especially when you are starting out with little ones it’s a good idea to have visuals, seems to add to the excitement!
I purchased these about 2 years ago but they have been destroyed. is there any way I can reprint them at no extra charge? I cannot find them in my email account. Thank you . Donna
Yes, you can re-print them! If you can’t find yours, contact cs@amotherfarfromhome.com and Melody will help you out :)
What happens when you have these routines set up for them, to do their chores for example but they consistently sneak away and don’t do them. I find myself CONSTANTLY redirecting one of my kids in particular who just won’t stay on task (its stuff like vacuum back of car and get it inspected) not hard stuff. Any advice on how to keep them on task without making yourself crazy!