KIDS CHORES

Okay, so I am a big fan of kids doing chores. Cam and the girls all started doing chores around the house when they were in Kindergarten and even before that they helped me with things around the house as they could based on their age.

I wanted them to know and understand from a young age that everyone in the house contributes, whether you are cleaning up after dinner, picking up your toys or helping fold towels (etc!) we all play a part in getting stuff done around the house.

Now, there have been seasons for instance when I was a SAHM that I did more but now that everyone is a little older and that we have 2 full time working parents I definitely make sure everyone is doing their fair share and picking up after themselves. But, I just wanted to mention that there are seasons where what I do now, didn’t work as well for our family with younger kids, me not working, etc.

I think the thing about chores is that you have to work them to fit the season of life you are in and your family dynamics, I am just sharing what we do now. Our kids are 19, 11 and 9 and all in school all day and Joe and I both work full time. We also don’t pay our kids for any chores, it is part of being responsible and contributing to our home functioning well.

I won’t get into what Cam does, because he is 19, works full time and goes to school full time…he helps where he can around the house and also watches his sisters for us as needed so I am going to focus on what Savannah and Paisley do at ages 11 and 9 and they are pretty much the same thing….

Everyday chores -

Note, besides their own rooms, they usually do everything together and knock them out quickly by dividing and conquering.

1. Make bed + pick up room

2. Empty dishwasher and do dinner dishes

3. Vacuum floors after dinner

4. Wipe down tables/counters after dinner

Weekly chores -

1. Fold/Hang put away laundry (I wash them but they put them away)

2. Water plants

3. Help to clean the house (once a week we all take 1.5 hours to clean the house together. We blast music everyone takes a few chores and we knock out all the deep cleaning quickly)

The girls will also help with bring my packages to the post office or UPS and especially love when I stand outside and let them bring them in alone at USPS 😂 I don’t know why this makes them so happy but they love doing it and it is fun for me too!

We have chore charts hanging in their room for the summer because during the school year, it feels more part of a routine whereas summer our schedule is all over the place. Here are a couple templates I found on Canva that I like.

Do your kids do chores at home? I would love to hear what your family does!