Clutter Busting: Chore Lists for Children

It is nearly impossible to get a teenager who has never before been required to do chores, to help out around the home. That’s why I think it is absolutely essential to start children very early to help out with the household tasks.

As parents, we have to remember that these little boys and girls will someday be in charge of their own households and it is our responsibility to prepare them for this. Here is how I recommend creating chore lists for your children and how to get them involved and excited about doing chores; yes - it’s possible!
Create a list of core chores with your child.
Sit down with your child and ask him to help you come up with a list of chores that he can do to help around the house. There should be some core chores; making the bed, putting clothes in the hamper, putting dishes in the sink after meals, feeding their pet, etc. These core chores are absolutely required. I truly do not believe that children should be rewarded for doing these bare minimum tasks.

2: Come up with the reward chores.
Reward chores can include whatever tasks you feel are appropriate for your child’s age. Some examples of what I use for my 7 year old are washing the steps, hosing down the porch, dusting, sweeping, etc. Refer to your own weekly chore list for tasks. For these reward chores, a fun idea is to put them on individual pieces of paper, fold them up, and place in an old coffee can. Each week the child can pick his/her own chores out of the can as a game. You can even include some free/fun chores to make it more of a fun game! Be creative!

3: Decide on rewards.
As I do believe that some chores should just be required, I also believe that exceptional behavior should be rewarded. I like to use a monetary reward, but I also enjoy using other rewards such as having a board game night! Monetary rewards can be as easy as 25 or 50 cents for every bonus chore completed per week. You should also make it quite clear to your child that the core chores must be completed as well in order to receive the reward.

4: Remember - It’s all in the translation.
We all know that what children consider clean and what we as parents consider clean are two completely different things! What I would suggest is to help your child clean her room. While doing this, help her to come up with a checklist as to what cleaning her room entails. An example of this would be clean off the desk, put clothes away, toys put away, make bed, etc. After you are completed with this, take a picture of the clean room. Give your child the list and a picture so when you tell him to clean his room you can ask him to refer to his list and picture.

5: Age Appropriateness
Most of the above examples would be for school age children and up, but younger children can most definitely learn to help as well. Having your toddler by your side as you help them put away their toys is far more beneficial to the child than cleaning up after they go to bed. You can make this part of your daily activities. Preschooler’s love to be praised and often can make wonderful little helpers.
6: Visual Aids
If your child works best with a visual aid (as does mine) you can create a chore checklist for them to hang on the refrigerator, and buy a pack of stickers to place on the chart. Please see attached my example of this chore list.
7: Praise
The most important aspect of this whole process is to praise your child. Hugs and kind words of appreciation are worth their weight in gold to your children.

- Betsy