I purposely use chores to teach my kids how to work hard and have good work ethic. Through chores, my kids also learn valuable life skills that will help them for the rest of their lives. Chores also ensure that the household workload is spread more evenly so that I'm not stressed out.
Some of these chores are done independently, and others are done as family work and/or sibling work, working alongside each other. Especially for young children, working together is an important part of teaching kids how to incorporate work into their daily lives.
Here is a current list of the chores being done by my 8-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter. My kids are expected to fulfill these responsibilities with no complaint. (There is more info about how I teach my kids to do chores and encourage positive attitudes here.)
Chores for Both Kids
I've included tags of FW (family work) for work that we do together as a family, and SW (sibling work) for work the kids do together.
Daily:
Make their own beds.
Help put away clean dishes from the dishwasher. (FW)
Take their dirty dishes to the sink.
Rinse their own lunch and snack dishes, and load them in the dishwasher.
Fold and put away their own clean laundry. (SW)
Fold and put away half of the cloth napkins and bathroom wipies. (SW)
Clean up their toys and any messes they make.
Anything else mom asks them to do such as putting dirty clothes in the washing machine, helping with cooking, sweeping under the table, etc.
Every-Other-Day
Give the dog fresh water.
Let the dog out before bedtime.
Give the dog a treat after going out.
Prepare their own (easy) breakfast a few days each week.
Weekly or Bi-Weekly:
Scrub a bathroom toilet. (FW)
Help mom make dinner one night. (FW)
Help bring groceries, library books, and other items from the car. (FW)
Help in putting away groceries. (FW)
Load their scooters into the car anytime they want to take them along to the park.
Help in packing lunches and water bottles on days when we will have lunch away from home.
Wash their own water bottles after any outings.
Pack their own backpacks if they want to bring books, coloring supplies, etc. on an outing from the house. Also, put all of those away upon returning home.
Help with trimming the grass in the summer, pulling weeds during our rainy season, and weeding our family vegetable garden. (FW)
Help with once/week flock maintenance chores for our chickens. (FW)
Water vegetable and flower pots.
Monthly
Help in Once-A-Month Cleaning Day. Because my kids are older now, we split up all of the cleaning day tasks nearly equally. The kids typically are each responsible for cleaning their room, sorting through their papers/projects from the month, and completing ~6 other cleaning day tasks (such as scrubbing bathtubs and sinks, dusting, mopping the floor, cleaning mirrors, etc.). (FW)
Chores for 8-Year-Old Son
Additionally, my 8-year-old son is expected to do the following chores. My son is a particularly responsible and detail-oriented young child, so he is doing more at his age than other 8-year-olds may be capable of doing.
Daily
Set the table for dinner with silverware and cloth napkins.
Feed the chickens. Collect and label eggs. (SW)
Every-Other-Day
Wash breakfast dishes and load them in the dishwasher. He is not required to do any hand-washing of plastics or to wash any difficult items (such as pots/pans).
Vacuum the living space large rug or small rugs by the doors.
Weekly or Bi-Weekly
Take out trash from all trash cans whenever necessary.
Take big trash can/recycling can to the street for trash day, and then put them away.
Monthly
Check and adjust water emitters for 8 fruit trees.
Chores for 11-Year-Old Daughter
Additionally, my 11-year-old daughter is expected to do the following chores. Because she is older and more capable than her younger brother, my daughter's chores tend to be a little more difficult.
Daily
Get drinks for dinner for the family.
Give the chickens fresh water. Collect and label eggs. (SW)
Every-Other-Day
Wash breakfast dishes and load them into the dishwasher. This includes hand-washing any plastic items and scrubbing any pots/pans that need washing.
Clean and organize the craft/project table.
Weekly or Bi-Weekly
Take dog for a short walk before we go on any long outings.
Take out recycling whenever necessary.
Take elderly neighbor's big trash/recycling cans to the street for trash day, and then put them away.
Monthly
Make dinner for family when mom goes to book club.
Clean fish bowl as necessary.
More Resources For Children's Chores
Want to read more about children and chores? Check out these resources:
Are chores an important part of your household culture? Do you have any tips to share about kids and chores?
Links to Amazon are affiliate links. If you use these links, your price remains the same but I may earn a small commission. Thanks for supporting this site!