Chore Patrol: Age-Appropriate Household Chores for Preschoolers

Involving your preschooler in household chores can be a great way to teach him life skills . But what can your preschooler do? Check out our age-appropriate chart for tasks you can assign to your child and the skills that go one level up when he accomplishes each chore.
 

Ages 2 to 3
Tasks

   - Help make the bed
   - Pack away toys and books
   - Take laundry to the laundry room
   - Help feed pets (except dogs)
   - Help wipe up mess
   - Dust with socks on his hands

Skills

   - Understanding basic numerical concepts
   - Counting
   - Learning the concept of before and after
   - Determining shapes
   - Being able to follow simple directions

 

Ages 4 to 5
Tasks

   - Clear and set the table
   - Dust the room
   - Help out in cooking and preparing food
   - Carry and put away groceries
   - Mop small areas
   - Line up shoes by pair or place them back on the shoe rack

Skills

   - Organization and classification
   - Learning about ordinal numbers
   - Determining patterns
   - Understanding basic measurement
   - Understanding quantities
   - Understanding directions
   - Matching

 
Ages 6 to 8
Tasks

   - Take care of pets
   - Vacuum and mop (with help)
   - Take out trash
   - Fold and put away laundry
   - Prepare a simple schedule for the family or himself

Skills

   - Grasping the concept of time and measurement
   - Analytical skills
   - Grouping and sorting

 
When you’ve figured out what tasks to assign to your child, consider ways of introducing the concept of household chores to him.


SOURCES:
● Bernadette Benitez, M.D., section chief, Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Asian Hospital and Medical Center, Muntinlupa; associate active staff, Department of Pediatrics, Makati Medical Center
● Maricar Gustillo-De Ocampo, Ph.D., education consultant and faculty member, Assumption College, Makati
● Funtastic Mathematics by Galileo Enrichment Learning Program, 2008