Chores/responsibilities for 4.5yo

[Pepe]

Hi! What sort of chores/household duties/personal responsibilities do your LOs have? At what age did you start having them do these various tasks? How did you introduce/implement them as new responsibilities?

Thanks!

[Musubi]

Hi!

DD1 is 2 years and almost 9 months old. She likes to help out (for the most part) so we've taken advantage of that. She takes her clothes to her room after they're folded. She will sometimes put them in her drawers, but she'll at least put them on her bed. She also helps a lot when we clean her room. All of her toys are in bins so it's easy for her to put them away.

[mazajo]

My 4yo DS puts his dirty clothes in the laundry basket and puts his clean clothes in the drawers and he cleans up his toys every evening before bed. Usually I help him clean up his toys but not always. He's perfectly capable of doing it on his own. We've been doing it since he was physically able to go pick up that block and put it in the basket or whatever, probably just a little over a year old. I've always tried to be very matter of fact about, I don't call it a chore or a job, I don't reward him (other than saying he made his room look very nice) I've always tried to make it just something we do, like clean up toys, get jammies on, brush teeth.

I think I messed up with my older kids when they were little because I didn't think they were able to do so much and it was just easier to do it myself and then as they got a little older I made it into to big of a deal and met with much resistance.

I've done things differently with my 4yo and I like the results He may not be the most efficient helper around the house but he's by far the most enthusiastic. He'll often ask to help dust furniture, do laundry, ect, and I'm happy to let him.

[LovinLiviLou]

I use the same chore list for my 3 and 6 year olds. The 6 year old helped show her younger sister how to do some things, but they both are fairly good at doing their chores.

Every Day –
Clean up after yourself (put toys away and take dirty dishes to sink after meals)
Put dirty clothes in clothes hamper
Put away clean clothes after they are folded

Weekend:
Empty trash from the bathroom
Wipe down the bathroom counter (just with water and a rag)
Help dust and fold clothes

Admittedly, we're not the neatest of families, but this list has worked well for us to at least get some motions going. Another tip - my kiddos LOVE spray water bottles. I give them each one and some cloth diapers, and they will clean the windows, baseboards, floors, dust, etc.

[crl]

I expect DS to put his dirty clothes in the hamper and put his dirty dishes by the sink and put away his toys at the end of the day. The first two he's been doing by himself since he was about 3. The toys I helped with until he was about 6 and then I declared that he could do it by himself. It's a struggle to get him to do it some nights, but I refuse to get stuck putting away his stuff so I'm sticking with it.

I also expect him to sweep the stair case once a week. It's wood so he just uses the little whisk broom and dust pan.

Catherine

[4Marmalade]

These are things we expect my 4.5 year old dd (and 7 year old ds) to do:

-put dirty clothes in the laundry room
-tidy her room (we might need to help if it's particularly messy)
-put her clean laundry away
-help set and clear the table
-empty and put away her school backpack

These are things I can ask her to do and she can (not necessarily to proper "clean" standards but helpful nonetheless and she enjoys it):

-bring the recycling bins downstairs
-water plants
-empty the dishwasher
-dust with a feather duster
-vacumn her bedroom
-mop

We did start a "chore" chart about a year ago for both older dc's but after a couple of months of tracking it they just started knowing what was expected and we no longer use the charts.

[Alyantavid]

Mine aren't quite that age, but these are their chores:

3.5 year old
set table
make bed
help put away clean clothes
put away dirty clothes
pick up playroom/toys
get dressed and brush teeth

almost 8 year old
clear table
make bed
put away clean clothes
put away dirty clothes
pick up playroom/toys
get dressed and brush teeth
homework

They also have jobs on the weekends when I'm cleaning.

[sweetcheeks]

My 4.5 and 6.5 YOs have pretty much the same chores...

Put dirty clothes in the hamper
Help fold laundry (they put all their shirts, which all hang in the closet, in a nice pile and help match socks)
Make their beds
Clear table
Pick up the play room, toys, books
Help dry dishes and put them away

Also in the warmer months, my oldest also takes the recycling and garbage out to the bins. We don't have him do it in the winter b/c of the ice and snow. He also has his homework he has to do nightly.

[madskye]

My 4.5 year old

puts dirty clothes in the hamper
wipes her toothpaste out of the bathroom sink
sets out the napkins and silverware, helps clear the table
feeds the dog dinner

[Surfacing]