What chores do your younger kids do?

pjlippert

pjlippert

Cathlete
Hi again,

As part of channeling my 7 year old son's energy (along with the other mediums we're working on for his issues), I am upping the chores he will do every day. Here's what I have so far. Any other ideas you have I'd like to hear about. Also, do you give an allowance at this age? If so, what is it based upon- chores, above and beyond chores, etc.?

Feed the fish
Feed the dog
Clean up the dog's poop (inside on poop pads not outside)
Dishes into the dishwasher (I may regret this one!)
Folding and puttnig away his laundry

These are in addition to the expected things like keeping his room somewhat tidy, making the bed, etc..

Thanks!
Pam
 
My son will turn 5 next month. He feeds the dog and cleans up his spot after a meal. He also has to clean his room and put his coat away when he takes it off after coming in the house. He will also wipe the table off if he makes a mess, pick up orts off the floor if he drops something. Little things like that. He still pretty young though. As he gets older I will have him doing more for sure! :)
 
My 7 yo dd will wash the windows with a paper towel and Windex and also empty the dishwasher. I prefer for her only to do the silverware, but she insists on doing everything sometimes and has done fine. Oh - she dusts sometimes, too.

We don't do allowances and my dd complains about this endlessly because she says all of her friends get one. We didn't do allowances with my teenage boys and they survived, so I guess she will, too. :p

Erica
 
In addition to the things you have listed, once a week my kids help with cleaning - they dust, sweep (swiffer), vacuum (the 10 year old does this one), and pick up the living room. They are supposed to pick-up the living/dining/kitchen areas of their "stuff" every day, but inevitably things build up over the week. They actually do a decent job cleaning!

We do give an allowance, which has helped a LOT with the random begging for stuff when we are running errands. Want a new <random toy>? Sure - how much allowance do you have? The rule of thumb we go by is $1/week/age in years - so your son would get $7 a week. To get their allowance they have to do their weekly chores. If they do extra, we'll usually give them something extra. And if they slack off, they get nothing. That helps keep them motivated. :)
 
My children do their own laundry (bedding and towels, too) and have since about the age of 8 or 9. They are now 14 and 11. If they need something ironed they usually do it themselves. My husband does his own, too. This has been the most helpful of anything that they could do around the house.

We don't do allowances.
They unload the dishwasher, dust, mop, and vacuum...of course, I have to ask them or remind them to do it. My 14 yr DS will cook and bake. The mess left behind is another story.

The only thing that we pay our DS to do is mow the lawn.
 
My DS is too young IMO to get an allowance yet but I intend to give him one when he is older...as long as he EARNS it. I got one growing up. I think it's a good way to begin teaching your child about money and that you have to EARN it. That if you want something, you have to work for it because things are not (or should not be) just handed to you in life. JMHO on the allowance idea...:)
 
My 2 and 3 yo girls LOVE to help me. They love to empty the dishwasher. They hand me everything out of it or put the plastic things on the counter. They also like to wash the table after dinner and they like washing the sliding glass door. I am sure that this will change in a few years and they won't want to help so I am taking advantage of it now. However, when it comes to picking up their toys they aren't that good about it.
 
Fit_mommy said:
My DS is too young IMO to get an allowance yet but I intend to give him one when he is older...as long as he EARNS it. I got one growing up. I think it's a good way to begin teaching your child about money and that you have to EARN it. That if you want something, you have to work for it because things are not (or should not be) just handed to you in life. JMHO on the allowance idea...:)
Click to expand...

Yes, but there's also the argument that you do work around the home because it is your family home and you are part of the family and it is your home, too. We don't get paid to do our chores around the house and the children should be expected to contribute to the well-being of the family home, too.

I don't think there is a "right" way to do it, but I just wanted to offer a reason why we don't do it that way.

Erica
 
EricaH said:
Yes, but there's also the argument that you do work around the home because it is your family home and you are part of the family and it is your home, too. We don't get paid to do our chores around the house and the children should be expected to contribute to the well-being of the family home, too.

I don't think there is a "right" way to do it, but I just wanted to offer a reason why we don't do it that way.

Erica
Click to expand...

I totally see your point. The kids should not be taught that they need to be paid to do chores around the house they live in. They should be expected to help out regardless. It's just a good way to teach them about money. That's all. :)
 
Hello Pam my 7 and 9 year olds
make their bed
fold and do their own laundry
garden work (rake leaves and dead flowers)
clear the table
dusting
get the mail
garbage
wash dishes
feed the dog, pick up poop
We don't do allowances but I save money every month for each of their accounts.

They also cat sit the neighbors cat when she's away
 
I gave my son some choices on what the chores would be so he would feel like he had a say in it.

For a few years now he does the following 2-3 x's a week: dust living room/family room, sweep kitchen floor, steam kitchen floor, pick up outside dog poop. He does his own laundry since age 8.

We don't give an allowance...yet...not sure if we will. I feel like he does these chores because he is part of the family. However, he is required to "earn" extra money for things like football camp, etc. and he does this by doing extra chores like yard work, cleaning floor boards and plantation shutters, etc.
 
pjlippert said:
Hi gals,

Thank you for your ideas and keep 'em coming!!

Pam
Click to expand...

Pam,
I don't have kids, but I'm responding to your "keep 'em coming". Sorry if I'm too far off the mark.

Several years ago, when I was teaching at piano camp (yes, there is such a thing), a parent asked me and a couple other teachers how to get her son to practice. It came out that apparently the best way is to tell kids they don't have to do a particular chore. The three of us recounted our teenage experiences. One man didn't have to take out the garbage; one man didn't have to mow the lawn; I didn't have to wash the dishes -- as long as we practiced.

Not sure if this applies to your family, but I thought offer it up in case it's helpful to someone. :)

Jane
 
EricaH said:
Yes, but there's also the argument that you do work around the home because it is your family home and you are part of the family and it is your home, too. We don't get paid to do our chores around the house and the children should be expected to contribute to the well-being of the family home, too.

I don't think there is a "right" way to do it, but I just wanted to offer a reason why we don't do it that way.

Erica
Click to expand...
We do the exact same thing. :)

My oldest is almost 13 and my youngest is 6. My oldest and middle child (11yo boy) can do everything that I do, and my youngest cleans off the table, up his messes, is learning to clean the toilet (since he pees on it) and LOVES to vacuum, so I let him vacuum. :p

Melissa
 
A piano camp, really? How cool!! Definitely an interesting take. I also like the idea of giving him a choice as to which chores to do. And oh yeah- cleaning up his own toilet splatter is brilliant!! Do they ever learn better aim or is it just a boy thing?

Thanks very much for giving me good ideas. I think I'm going to create a chore chart since he is pretty visual and it will serve as a reminder!

Happy Sunday everybody!

Pam
 
EricaH said:
Yes, but there's also the argument that you do work around the home because it is your family home and you are part of the family and it is your home, too. We don't get paid to do our chores around the house and the children should be expected to contribute to the well-being of the family home, too.

I don't think there is a "right" way to do it, but I just wanted to offer a reason why we don't do it that way.

Erica
Click to expand...

My kids did chores at a young age and were not paid for it because they were told these chores were part of being a family. THey had to keep their room clean, take out trash, feed dogs, cats, horses(and clean up after them), clean up dishes, vaccum the living room, they have their own bathroom and have to keep that clean. They are now 19, 18, and 15 and still do their chores.
 
DD is 14 and DS is 11 and they both get $5 a week if they do there chores....this is there money to spend going to the movies...video game...new shoes they have to have...extra clothes....i-tunes etx....

Always told my kids you have to earn it because in life no one is going to hand it to you. If they don't do the chores....no money...

DD - dishes after dinner, room, bathrooms, putting clothes away after I cleaned them, sweeping and mopping kitchen floor

DS - recycles, feeding dogs, vaccuming, dusting, ROOM (he a piggy)... putting clothes away....
 
Our 3 teenage girls don't get paid to help around the house, but THEY have divided chores based on what they do/don't like to do...I will say, helping switch laundry consists of at least 8 loads a day of tanning towels alone (add in us and 3 teenagers)...Our machines get a workout on a daily basis!

They ALL sort/put away their own laundry, take turns cleaning their bathroom (we clean our own), clean up after dinner...

17 year old-hand wash dishes, helps switch laundry/folds towels, dusts
15 year old-catbox every other day, is crazy about clean glass (our entire house is chrome, black and glass), washes wood floors once weekly.
13 year old-Vaccums every 3 days (hardwoods included), helps switch laundry/folds towels, loads/unloads dishwasher...

Once a month we have a "deep cleaning" day and really get in the nooks and crannies. 5 people in one house doesn't take very long.

The girls do NOT get an allowance, but work a few hours (or as many as we need) at the store for us and DO get paid for that. 2 are on payroll, the youngest is not (but gets paid), but will be when she turns 14.
MJ in MN
 
martijean1 said:
Once a month we have a "deep cleaning" day and really get in the nooks and crannies. 5 people in one house doesn't take very long.
Click to expand...

We do something similar to this in the summer. Once a week, we (my four kids and I) set the timer for 20 minutes and do a deep cleaning in one room. It's amazing how much we get done in 20 minutes!

Erica
 
We have a sort of hybrid system at our house (2 DDs, ages 9 & 10):

Chores that contribute to the family (i.e. not paid!):
pick up their rooms (or any others that have their stuff in them)
make their beds every morning
put their own dishes in the dishwasher at meals
take out the trash
feed the cat, dogs, fish and horses
clean up after the horses, give one shots, keep track of hay and grain (a LOT of work, but it's a privilege to have them!)

Chores that are paid - each chore is worth one or more "tallies" which is worth $1 - we tally them up and I pay them when I actually have the cash. LOL. It's easier to pay a $5 or a $10. Or if we are out and they don't have money, I'll buy them a certain item and deduct from their tallies:
unload the dishwasher
mop
load the woodbox (a high paying chore because we go through a lot of wood in Colorado)

Sometimes I will pay them to help out with my peace of mind. For instance, going through all of their closets, clothes and toys over Spring Break helped me out immensely, took 3 days, and was worth 10 tallies (to me!). Or if we have company coming, and I'm frantically cleaning, I'll be more generous when they help me out.

This has worked pretty well for us! Sometimes they don't have many tallies, other times they are highly motivated.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top