Teaching Method: How To Assign Age-Appropriate Chores

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What teaching method works best for helping kids learn responsibility? One common method is assigning household chores.

As children grow, their chores should grow with them. Doing chores provides a wealth of benefits for children, beginning with teaching them the ability to prioritize. Chores can help children reach developmental milestones and teach them structure. 

Assigning age-appropriate chores can be challenging if you’re unsure what kids should be capable of doing at their age. Follow along for good chore ideas for kids based on their age. 

Teaching Chores To Young Children

Ensure that you teach your children how to do the chores you assign them appropriately or you will return and redo them once they are finished. Teaching them how to do the task and not just telling them to do them gives them direction and teaches them how to follow instructions correctly. 

When the chores aren’t done to your liking or standards, make them understand why they didn’t entirely complete the task the right way and how to do better next time. Young children might need guidance multiple times to get the hang of chores and remember how to do them. 

Be patient and model the correct way to do the chores until they fully grasp what they’re supposed to do. Do the task with them for a while, then let them try to conquer it independently. Spend enough time teaching the chore depending on the difficulty of it and their skill level. Children grow and learn at different rates and learn at their own pace. 

Appropriate Chores For Toddlers

Chores for toddlers can vary by the pace at which they learn and grow. Some two-year-olds are capable of more than some three-year-olds. It just depends on their growth and development. 

Use your judgment when assigning chores, but remember that often children are more capable than we give them credit for. They are still our babies, after all. 

For two and three-year-old children, appropriate chores can include dusting, putting their toys away and picking out their clothing. Sorting and folding laundry can fall into this age range and put away dishes when they can reach the cupboards. 

Suitable Chores For Adolescents

Once children get a little bit older and they have a better understanding of what is expected of them, they can start to tackle chores with a little more difficulty. Around the ages of four and five, kids should be able to handle watering flowers and pulling weeds, making their beds and putting away groceries. 

Once kids are over five but not yet tweens, they can start to have a little more responsibility. Giving children independent chores can teach them about responsibility and help them grow and learn new skills. Putting kids in charge of feeding and watering pets, keeping their messes cleaned up and getting their snacks and cleaning up afterward can assist in the culmination of motor sensory, executive functioning and communication skills.

Duties For Tweens and Teens

Creating a chore chart is an excellent way to teach tweens and teenagers about time management and responsibility. They should have their chores done before they can experience fun stuff they may have planned. 

Teenagers can be busy depending on their schedules and extracurricular activities. You can lessen the load of their chores due to their plans but don’t let them off scot-free. They must learn how to manage their responsibilities. 

You won’t be doing them any favors by doing everything for them. Help them understand why they must help so much around the house. A family is a team and must work together to live in harmony. Parents work full time and have social lives, but that doesn’t mean they get to opt out of doing necessary housework. 

Household chores will always be there and must be done by someone. Teaching teenagers how to manage their schedules and work around what they want and must do will set them up for future success. 

Assigning Chores To Children

Let kids be kids, by all means. Please don’t make them do everything around the house and interfere with their creativity and time to play. However, assigning chores to children can help them develop and grow their skills. It is not mean or hindering to assign children chores to do. It is a teaching method that benefits all parties involved. Use it.