8 chores you can get your kids to start doing

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Are you a working parent that feels like you struggle to balance work and home life? Or maybe you are simply looking for a way to get your kids to help you do some household work. Either way, encouraging your little ones to take part and participate in household chores is an important step of parenting. Creating simple chores for kids can build a sense of responsibility. As well, chores for kids can start to build independence and self-sufficiency.

Sorting out simple things in the house can get children to learn a lot. Also, it can help them develop important skills that they need in their future life. If you too are keen on getting your kids to help you out with it, here’s something to help. 

Read below to discover some of the best simple (yet effective) chores for kids.

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Empty the Wastebaskets

This is a great starter chore for one of your children. Have your child empty the wastebaskets in all the rooms of your homes. This is a simple yet effective task you could assign to your little one in the beginning. It can help inculcate in them the value of cleanliness. A lot of children have a hard time getting past “gross” chores by showing them that this is simply part of life, cleaning up after ourselves. 

This is also a great opportunity to teach recycling. If you are helping your child at first, you could show them what could be recycled instead of thrown away.

Water the Flowers

Watering the indoor and outdoor plants is another simple task you could get your kids to do. This will also help develop his interest in gardening and plant life. You never know who in your family is the next green thumb until you try this! This could also teach them the responsibility of keeping something alive.

Don’t have any plants? Buy a small, simple indoor plant to have your child help keep alive.

Help in the Kitchen

Assign your kid some simple tasks in the kitchen- getting the spoons, adding the salt, putting away the groceries or wiping the kitchen counter clean- it’ll get him or her more interested in cooking too! 

Fix Breakfast

Fixing a breakfast of milk and cereal is a pretty simple task, and if your kid is old enough to be in the kitchen and do it without your supervision, you can get him to do it. Eventually, you can also get him to butter the bread too! 

Pull Out the Weeds

Pulling out the weeds from the garden can teach him not just to participate and be a helping hand at home, but also to distinguish between plants and weeds, and get him to learn more about gardening. 

Bring in the Mail/Newspaper

This one is another super simple chore. Not only is it simple, but it is almost every day so it teaches your child consistency with routines and responsibilities. This little chore is the perfect one to start out with if your kid isn’t involved in any household chores yet. Plus, what kid doesn’t love mail? You may not even want to explain it as a responsibility just in case it ends up being the highlight of their day!

Clear the Table

Clearing or setting up the table for meals is another great task you could get your little ones to do. It can again, be a good way to get them more involved in the kitchen and learn how to place the cutlery and in fact, also get them to enjoy mealtime even more. 

No matter the age though, start with plasticware instead of glass. While it is important to teach independence, we want to do this without broken glass everywhere!

Fill Pet’s Food Dish

If you have a house pet, you know how much responsibility they are. Whether it is a huge horse or a small turtle, there is a lot of responsibility that kids learn while taking care of a pet. Now,  your kid may not be old enough to take your pet for a walk alone. They may not be old enough to clean the litter or even grooming for that matter. However, it does not mean that you should wait to teach your child responsibility about owning a pet. The easiest chore you could actually get him or her to do is to refill the pet’s food dish. Explain to your child this is the most important task to make sure the animal gets fed. This encourages him or her to take up a responsibility regarding an important member of the family as well. 

Clean his or her Room

Having a child clean his or her room is one of the most basic tasks you could assign your kid with one of the longest reaching benefits. Cleaning his or her room could be as simple as putting his toys in his toy basket, putting the dirty laundry in the laundry hamper, and cleaning her study table. 

However, teaching a child to clean their room- and to keep it clean!- has long-term benefits that they will thank you for one day. It is amazing to see how many kids go to college with no idea of how to maintain basic self-care requirements that fall under a room that is clean. If you teach them as young as possible that a clean room is expected, it will help them stay organized and focus for whatever comes their way.

The only catch in this one? Your room has to stay clean too.

If you are promoting your children to have clean rooms, but yours is always a mess, you are giving conflicting information. You are teaching them that keeping their room clean is a “kid thing” that they won’t have to worry about once they live on their own.

Comment below: What chores for kids do you recommend? What has worked for your kids and what has not worked?