Chores for Toddlers & Preschoolers
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Anyone who has been a parent longer than three days is by this time exhausted. It’s hard work when the life of another person rests in your hands. You are responsible for making sure he is fed, clothed, and safe. And, of course, your task goes beyond just basic physical needs. There’s the fun part of loving and cuddling and teaching him about the world.
Oh, and teaching him what it is to be a responsible human being.
Hopefully, you and I are acting in ways that are a good example of that. Most of the time.
Learning through practice
But there’s also that bit about giving your child opportunities to practice. Most of us learn through hands-on experience and practice. So, it makes sense that as our children move through the different stages of development that we give them opportunities to practice different life skills.
- cleaning up after themselves
- making the bed
- folding towels
- wiping windows and counters
While I know all this in my head, I am sometimes hesitant to assign a task to a younger child for fear he will mess it up and I’ll just have to do it again anyway. In those instances, I’ve either made more work for myself or for one of my older children. As a former oldest child in a large family, I know what a bummer this is.
Why do I have to do everything?
And for some odd reason, we firstborns all started pulling our own weight at a much younger age than our siblings. When I was his age…. (You know the drill.)
Find the youngest capable person
Years ago I heard a parenting and homeschooling speaker suggest that you delegate tasks to the youngest child who can tackle the job, whatever that task is.
If you need a new diaper for the baby, ask the toddler, not the teenager to go get it. If you need someone to take out the trash, find the youngest, able bodied person to do the job. If the counters need to be wiped, assign the task to the shortest person who can still reach the counter top.
This has been a wonderful reminder to me not to relegate my older children to more tasks than they need to do as well as a great challenge to consider what my younger people are really capable of.
I still need (or prefer) to do a lot of things myself, but learning to delegate tasks to my children helps them and me. And if I’m remembering to teach the littler kids, we all benefit.
More Toddler Tips
What works for you?
Leave a comment below and let us know what works for you.
We’ve just started working on “cleaning up the toys and book” with my 19 month old. She gets it pretty well and even spontaneously cleans up at times without being asked. I think we’ll tackle folding wash clothes next (plus it’s adorable when she tries to say it!). She also is pretty good at wiping down windows that I’ve sprayed. Practice, practice, practice!
Lindsey @ ErieFamilies.com
If I’m happy with a few random spots being SUPER clean, my 2 year old loves to spray Mrs. Meyers on the floor and scrub it. He hasn’t gotten the hang of spreading it around yet, but he really goes to town on the spots he chooses!
This is really really good for busy three year olds who get into mischief and into “stuff” like my son. Whenever I ask him to help with someone he gets very excited and feels special. I am trying to do this more now as his older sister went off to 1st grade and he feels a little “off.”
I am a firm believer in delegating household tasks and chores to the children. It’s an important part of being a family, and if you homeschool, like we do, it is essential! Mom is juggling so much as it is. It is great to have their help around the house. Sometimes it is hard to accept a “less than great” performance. Nonetheless, it helps everyone. 🙂
I ended up buying disposable wipes designated for wood and stainless steel (even though I hate them) because my boys kept trying to steal the baby wipes to clean the wooden cabinets and tables as well as the stainless steel appliances. I figured they might as well use the appropriate cleaners.
What a great idea (youngest, capable person)! I only have 2 kids and the youngest is only 15 months but there certainly are some things she can help with (in fact, she and my 3 year old helped wash the car yesterday). I’m an oldest too–so I’m for sure going to keep this in the back of my head.
I’ve really been wanting to get my kids more involved in household tasks and chores, I’m afraid I’ve waited much too long, because my twins are in 2nd grade now, and it’s hard to get my son to understand why they should pitch in- although my daughter is almost always a big help!
I think one of the reasons I’ve waited so long is because I think back to my childhood and what the chores were, and the only one I remember for little kids is emptying the trash, and we produce so little trash (big recyclers) that the cleaning lady does that once a week. There’s never a dining room table to set – we don’t have space, so we eat in the living room – and I’m not comfortable having them in the basement where the laundry machines are unsupervised. I appreciate some of the ideas listed, like wiping down the table for the little ones – the toddler can wipe down our coffee table – and giving the tasks to the youngest capable child.
What is funny is when I ask my 7 y.o. son to do things, his twin sister tries to jump in and do it instead – I may have to have a talk with her about *letting* him do his own share!
I do have a great video on my blog about teaching my toddler to recycle though, I try to teach him these little things!
thanks!
Alicia
I would have my children
1. Bring the laundry to the laundry room
2. Clean the floor/ mirrors with squirt type cleaners or just water
3. fold clothes/ put away clothes
4. wipe down table and counters
5. help put the laundry in the drier, this transition to doing laundry about age 9.
6. help cook and clean in the kitchen
Chores for kids are beneficial in all sorts of ways! We utilize a family chore chart, and revisit it about every 6 months to accommodate for new skills and capabilities of my kiddos.
I am working so hard on remembering that as my kid’s abilities grow, so do their responsibilities … my daughter is so ready to be helping with meals and I have just put it off because she’s still my baby. But both of my young kids help regularly; I am very blessed by their great help!