Chores & responsibilities for children 2-8 years?

Having made a tiny army of messy monsters I feel it only right that they help me tidy the mess that us six make around the house. But what chores can 2 year olds to 8 year olds do?

I have a few queries regarding chore for the kids.

  • Should we pay kids for doing little jobs around the house?
  • Should they be called chores?
  • What age can they start “chores”
  • What is appropriate for their age.

Having researched around the Internet there are many different ways in which families work out chores.

What works for one family may not work for another.

There are families that use lolly sticks to put chores on. Some write the jobs out on a tick sheet.

Some pay their kids with like a wage packet for each chore.

As I said before. Not everything will suit everyone.

So what’s best for me right now?

I have two sets of twins as you may know.

One set now nearly 3  years  old and one set are 8 years old.

The littlest twins are now understanding that we tidy things away. Though they don’t always (read very rarely) listen or tidy without lots of help.

Here’s my plan.

The little twins can learn about keeping our home tidy and clean. Their jobs (with help) will be…

  • Tidy away toys.
  • Put socks and vests away into baskets.
  • Practice dusting and wiping.

The littlest two love getting praise and stickers for dong well. So we have printed off a House points chart from Twinkl. They think its great getting a point (sticker)for doing a job.

The big twins have a list of things they should be responsible for.

Morning list

  • Open curtains
  • Make bed
  • Personal hygiene (teeth, face etc)
  • Eat all breakfast
  • Put pots in dishwasher
  • Quick bedroom tidy
  • Take down water bottles etc

Evening list

  • Put away toys
  • Get out clothes for the next day
  • Get books, water bottles etc for bed
  • Personal Hygiene routine

Weekly list

  • Strip bed.
  • Put away clothes.
  • Hoover own bedroom

Other Jobs to share!

  • Empty Dishwasher
  • Dust
  • Hoover downstairs
  • Load Washing machine

Routines are now in place and we are trying to keep our home tidy to help with our wellbeing while we are spending all of our time in it.

Im sure there are other jobs that we can share responsibility for but these are the main ones I can think of

What are your little ones responsible for?

Have I missed anything off the list?

Nina x