OT Chores for Littles (3-5)

[mmschool]

I will direct this question to those who have pretty organized chores systems. Our eldest is just starting to be old enough to be really helpful. I am wondering - what age do you start formal chores rather than just being "helper"? What sorts of chores do you assign to your youngest workers?

My three year old was a great assistant baker until I had to give up baking because of a complicated pregnancy. I think she could handle some little things, and I would love to get some routines in place when she is young. She goes with the flow when I train early, but she fights me on the things I put off!

Lena
dd 3 - LHTH
ds 1

[Kims]

My 3yo had to empty all the trash cans in every room.
My 6yo can straighten rooms and does a great job. He also folds all the wash cloths and small towels. I am thinking of adding more.
I would have them doing more but I have two teens that help too.

[daybreaking]

We use chore charts twice a day, after breakfast and after dinner. There are other tasks they do, such as picking up toys before bed, but the chore charts are their "official" chore times. For my 9yo ds, I have just have the chores listed. For my 4yo dd, I have a chart with pictures of her tasks.

Here are her current chores:

After Breakfast: brush teeth, get dressed, hang up pajamas, make bed, pick up bedroom, carry dirty laundry to basement (with 9yo brother's help), dust baseboards (a different room each day), vacuum downstairs, help Mommy start laundry, put away stray items

After Dinner: help clear table, wash chairs, sweep under dining room table, empty "under sink" recycling bin into larger bins in the garage, wash hands, put away stray items

[MelInKansas]

Putting away silverware (or putting dirty in dishwasher)
Take own plate and silverware into the kitchen after meals
Putting things back in the fridge (if they are not breakable)
Put dirty laundry in hamper
Throwing away trash when we are cleaning up
Putting shoes away (sadly she also drags them out so this is more cleaning up a mess she has made)
Spot cleaning the kitchen floor - all 3 of my kids LOVE to do this with just a wet rag
Pretty soon she can help set the table before meals

the above are things my 2YO does independently (for the most part) or just with a verbal reminder. Then there are the things she can join me in, though her help isn't particularly "helpful," I let her take part so she can start to learn about these jobs.

Starting loads of laundry, putting laundry in the dryer
Sweeping the floor
Wiping the table
Cooking - stirring, dumping in measured quantities of things, shaking cinnamon on, sprinkling shredded cheese on, of course when we make pizza all of the kids get involved in that.
Grocery shopping - if I can make my kids a part of that then it goes a lot better, although I generally prefer to shop without my kids as I can do it so much faster and with a lot less stress. They have their own list, or they get things, or they put them on the conveyor belt.
Putting groceries or anything else away

I hope these ideas help. I am not a terribly structured chore person. I should say, we have a scheduled chore time every day, but what we do on those days is mostly determined by me so I usually have to make sure especially my 2YO and 4YO are close by so I can direct them. I try to just get things done on an as-needed basis so I don't do certain chores on certain days of the week (except of course the never ending cooking, cleaning up after meals, tidying, dishes, laundry).

I made a little board for my older 2 when they were 3 and 1. Or maybe it was 4 and 2? It had pictures of their chores and hooks next to the pictures, and they got to hang a little tag on the hook when they did that chore. I think it was dishes, dishwasher, clothes (putting in hamper all day), potty learning for the younger one, picking up toys, etc. It was a nice tool and I always intended to paste new pictures on as they grew and their chores changed but I haven't kept up with that.

[KristinBeth]

I am not structured enough to have a chore chart, but every day my 5 year old makes her bed in the morning, picks up toys after playing with them, and helps little sister pick up her toys when she forgets. The following things are not on a chart but she'll do them when I ask: sets the table for herself and her sister (shatterproof plates ), swiffers or dusts, wipes down the dining table with a wet sponge, packs her bag for swim lessons, puts clothes from the washer into the dryer and starts it, folds washcloths and hand towels, and washes windows or mirrors.

My 2 year old picks up toys, puts away silverware (minus knives), puts clothes in the hamper, rolls washcloths into a ball ("folding" ) and brings things to me when my hands are full. For some reason she's added "yes, Mother" when I ask her to do something, even though I've never wanted her to call me Mother.

[MomtoJGJE]

We do lots of chores early on. I can tell you what my 2.5yo does

She cleans up toys, garbage, clothes, dishes in whatever room is her job for the day... she folds washcloths and hand towels... she puts away silverware. She wipes the table and spots off the floor. She can pour her own drink and get her own snack. She gets napkins and silverware for meals. She wipes off the front of the appliances.

As they get older they get more complicated chores... basically once they "master" a chore that is passed down to a younger one and they move up.

It's been really neat lately to watch Jayden teach Grace how to do laundry and to watch Julianna teach Evie how to wipe down the table.

[Tracee]

Around 3-4 years old, we started with morning and night chores, which were basically beginning to take care of yourself. It was get dressed, brush your teeth, clean up your toys, take your breakfast dishes to the sink, etc. At night, it was the same sort of thing. Then, at 5 we started with them helping more around the house. They still had to do all the other stuff, make their bed, clean their room, get dressed, take their dishes to the sink, but now they had chores they had to do around the house. This is what my 5 year old boy/girl twins do. Girl - Take out the recycling, feed the guinea pig, and wash out the bathroom sink. Boy- Straighten up shoes(we have shoe area where we all take off our shoes), empty the trash cans in the bathrooms, and straighten up the pillows on the couch. My 5 year old ds chores are a lot easier than my dd, because we could barely get him to dress himself. Here is a picture of our chore chart. It is super simple. It's laminated and has magnets on the back, and we have it on the refrigerator. When they have completed a chore, they put a laminated, magnetic X on the chart.






HTH,
Tracy

[mmschool]

Thanks for all of the great ideas! I think the first thing that I need to do is decide on some clean up times. She can definitely at least start helping more with toy clean up. I am thinking of adding clearing meal dishes for herself and her brother. I bet she could also move laundry from washer to dryer and that would save me some stooping (always nice in the last phase of a pregnancy). I wouldn't have thought of all those things myself - thanks again everyone.

Lena

dd3 - LHTH
ds1

[MelInKansas]

Sounds like you're doing well getting started! I actually love that I can have my young children do things that minimize stooping for me (pregnant here too, but even when I'm not getting down to the floor is always much easier for them than me!) Also one thing I am thankful for in having chore time is that it makes ME do regular chores. I feel like I am winning the battle instead of losing it because we have chore time every day (and my children remind me that its chore time because they get to play educational computer games after they do their chores). So instead of just getting by I am gradually improving things around the house. I hope you find it helpful too!

Keep us posted on how it goes!

[doubleportion]

Jessica (aka Mom4Him) has a great post on her blog about it.
http://ourfamilyforhisglory.blogspot.co ... -that.html

Edie