AkoroChores by age
Pick your child’s age. Each list opens in the chart maker, ready to edit and print.
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia suggests 10 to 20 minutes a day for elementary school children, and the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests adding one new job at a time. Children get there at different ages, so go by what yours can do.
Chores for 5 year olds
The job is often done with you, and it won’t be perfect.
- 🛏️ Make their bed, with help
- 🧸 Put toys away
- 👕 Put dirty clothes in the hamper
- 🍽️ Set or clear the table
- 🐈 Feed a pet, with you checking
- 🪴 Water the plants
Chores for 6 year olds
From about six, children can have a say in which chores they do.
- 🛏️ Make their bed
- 🍽️ Clear their own dishes
- 👕 Put clean clothes away
- 🧽 Wipe the table
- 🧺 Sort the laundry
- 🗑️ Empty the small wastebaskets
Chores for 7 year olds
Sweeping and wiping are now theirs to do alone. Cooking still needs you beside them.
- 🧹 Sweep the floor
- 🧽 Wipe counters and the table
- 🧦 Put laundry away
- 🐈 Feed a pet
- 🍳 Help with simple cooking
- 🎒 Help pack their school lunch
Chores for 8 year olds
Most lists add the dishwasher at this age.
- 🍽️ Load or empty the dishwasher
- 🧹 Vacuum
- 🛒 Put groceries away
- 🎒 Pack their school lunch
- 🧺 Fold towels
- 🗑️ Take out the trash
Chores for 9 year olds
Keep the jobs from age 8, and add these.
- 🍳 Help make dinner
- 🧺 Fold laundry
- 🌱 Rake leaves
- 🐕 Walk the dog with you
- 🧽 Mop the floor
- 🍽️ Load or empty the dishwasher
Chores for 10 year olds
Whole rooms come in at this age. The lawn mower doesn’t: see age 12.
- 🛏️ Change their bed sheets
- 🧽 Clean the kitchen
- 🧹 Clean the bathroom
- 🗑️ Take out the trash
- 🌱 Help in the yard
- 🍳 Make a simple meal
Chores for 11 year olds
Show them a job first, and watch them do it once.
- 🧺 Do a load of laundry
- 🧹 Clean the bathroom and toilet
- 🚗 Wash the car
- 🍳 Cook a simple meal, with you nearby
- 🧽 Clean the kitchen
- 🛏️ Change their bed sheets
Chores for 12 year olds
The American Academy of Pediatrics says at least 12 for a walk-behind mower, after teaching and supervision, and only with the strength and judgment for it.
- 🍳 Cook a full meal
- 🚗 Wash and vacuum the car
- 🛒 Shop for groceries with a list
- 🧺 Do their own laundry
- ⭐️ Help with younger brothers and sisters
- 🌱 Mow the lawn, once they’re ready
Should chores earn money?
Should allowance depend on chores? sets out both sides.
Keep track without the paper
Akoro gives each child their chores: every day, on certain days, or extra jobs any time. Tick one off and its reward goes straight into their balance, or leave the reward out. Chores are part of Akoro Pro.
Sources
- Raising Children Network: chores for children
- American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: chores and children
- American Academy of Pediatrics: chores and responsibility
- American Academy of Pediatrics: lawn mower safety
- University of Arkansas Extension: appropriate chores by age
- Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: chores and kids