Chores for 3 and 4 Year Olds

I think it is great to start early with chores, I did it with my daughter who is six and she is always volunteering to help me as well as others.I started her out with picking up toys and paper, as well as putting away her dishes either in the sink or the dish washer. When I folded her clothes, she would put them in the drawers. At six she folds her own clothes and can wash dishes which I assist but she does a wonderful job alone. She puts clothes in the washer and can clean her room very well. Hope this helps. It helps to teach responsibility. When she is with my grandmother who is 78 years old she helps her with any and everything!

Good for you!!! How about emptying waste paper baskets, wiping off the table, load their cups and plates and forks, in the dishwasher, 'dusting' with the dust wipes, and cleaning mirrors with the wipes. (so they don't have to spray anything)

J.,

First think about what your children are doing everyday already. Do they take their toys out of the toybox or off the toy shelf? YES , then they can put them back in the shelf or on the box. I used to sing the song
PUT YOUR TOYS AWAY
PUT YOUR TOYS AWAY
HELP YOUR MOMMY HAVE A HAPPY DAY
PUT YOUR TOYS AWAY
PUT YOUR TOYS AWAY
HELP YOU MONNY HAVE A HAPPY DAY

This song just made cleaning up FUN!
Also if they can take their clothes out of their drawer then they can put them in something also -like a clothes hamper or a laundry basket located in their room for dirty clothes. At the end of each night before bed time stories all toys must be cleaned up and room straightened up before story time,,sing the song tomake it go faster. Ups a TIMER to make it go fast or have a race my kids loved that! "Who can pick up the toys the fastest? Ready Set GO!

Also they can and should be taking their dishes off the table each night if your is a family that still eats meals at a Family Dinner
Table. If you just have meals in the car from a drive through then they should be able to take the empty bags and wrapper to the trash can after each trip.

Kids love to vacuume! Get a SHARK or some of the light weight simple push vacuumes that you see on TV and let them learn and feel like they have mastered a task and ability. YES,,,,, they will not be as good as you at vacuuming but that is not the goal here. The goal is to teach at a young age that families help each other to become strong. Children work towards the good of the household.
'Responsible children have chores at a young age to learn how to become responsible. I always hear from my now grown children's bosses that they are so rewsponsible far beyong their peers and I know that it is because i gave them chores at a very young age and then as they matured so their their chores. The best chore that they loved to tell about is the shoppping chore. They each get to choose a meal and shop for it themselves. This was when stores had little children shopping carts that children pushed (now they have carts attached to their mom's carts) They got to shop for their favorite dinner and they got to "COOK" their dinner with Mom. At first you must help with dinner selection or you will be having cookies, ice cream and jello with Sprite to drink for dinner. But once they learn about food choices they loved their shopping chore.
I am sure if you think about it you can come up with great chores for your little ones. Dusting is a great one as is feeding the dog or helping Daddy take out the trash cans on Trash Day. It is not that they will be great at it but it is that they are part of the family and families work together.

Keep Mothering,
C.

My son will be 4 in November. He puts his clothes in the hamper and he helps me collect all the clothes throughtout the house to take to the laundry room. We use his grocery cart to transfer the clothes and he thinks its great. He helps separate the clothes and then he puts them into the washer while I put in the soap. I take the clothes out of the washer and put them on the dryer door and he pushes them in. When they are done he helps me get them out. He hands me stuff from the dishwasher and he helps feed our two dogs. He is supposed to clean his own room however, I have found he just shoves everything under the bed so now we do it together with me telling him where everything goes. When I clean bathrooms he wipes the counters down with wipes. I give him baby wipes and then I just go over it with a clorox wipe when he is done. He loves to Swiffer the floor so I let him. If we are picking up I will give him things and tell him where they go and he will run off and put it there. Yes emptying the dishwasher takes longer and so does the laundry and cleaning the bathroom but he really wants to help so I let him. His new favorite thing is the vaccuum. He wants to do it by himself but it is too heavy so right now we do it together.

Good Luck

I'm sorry I don't have anything on this, but If you get any responses, I would LOVE for you to send them my way. Or, better yet, maybe you have some advice for me on chores for a 2 yr old. I pray that you get some helpful information because I DEPEND on these questions and responces daily to help me out. Thanks in advance & have a blessed day:)

Here are some chores I'v found suitable for my 3 yr old. She clears her plate after she eats and takes it to the sink. she can feed the dog, clean her room with supervision putting her toys back where they belong. If you don't have breakable stuff out dusting is always fun for little kids, esp with a damp cloth. They can take their dirty clothes to a hamper. help clear others plates and put stuff away. Now is the time to start!

Well, my son is 4. And he is in charge of making his bed. Picking up his clothes off the floor and putting them into his hamper. He is in charge of making sure all his toys are picked up and put away where they belong. I mean he has his own room so I make it to where he helps me out as much as possible, he thinks he's doing such a good job. He even tries to sweep and mop with our swifter wet jet. He even uses his water gun to help clean the tub... LOl. I think whatever helps you will teach them the beginning stages of responsibility... Good luck.

Like some others have already said....my kids (almost 7 and almost 4) love to dust! They put their clean clothes in their drawers, put away their toys. My DD (almost 4) loves to help me with laundry. We have a little step ladder and she climbs up and puts the clothes that don't have any stain pretreatment on them in the washer and then she gets to turn the knobs. She also loves to help with the dishwasher. They also loved to vacuum! We have a small stick vacuum and they actually fight over whose turn it is to vacuum!

They can pick up their toys (if they don't, you pick them up and put them away for a few days...they'll get used to the routine). They can dust (my kids loved that and still do). They can empty the small trash cans throughout the house. They can receive the clothes from you, out of the washing machine and put them in the dryer. They can push the clean clothes basket to wherever you want it. Then you can fold and have them put away the clothes that are reachable for them. You can teach them to fold washcloths. They can receive dirty dishes (that aren't breakable) from you and put them in the bottom part of the dishwasher.

These are a few that I did with my kids. Hope this helps!

My 4yr old makes her bed. she has been doing this since she was 2 1/2. now it is not prefect but if you do not mind that then it will not be a problem. My 2 1/2yr old is making his bed. The 4yr old showed him how. They pick up the toys and books and put them away each night. I have the front load washer and dryer and they will load them. Now i have the items together for them. it is not something that they do by themselves. My 4yr old will set the table she gets the froks and napkins out. When dinner is over they will put any left over food in the trash and the plate in the sink or the dishwasher. We also have a small vaccumm cleaner for the stairs and they love to use it and vaccumm the stairs.
at the end of the week we give them two dollars. I know that is low but they are 2 and 4. They give their 10% at church on sunday and they can save up the money for a toy that they want and they also once a month take money to the bank for their savings account. It has helped them learn how to make choses with money.

I have my 4 year old put away the silverware. After I remove the knifes and sharp tools like the pizza cutter I have him put them away. He even puts the ones that might still have food or spots on them back in the sink to "Do Over". He loves it and it is a great way to teach him about the many responsibilities that will come.

My little girl is 2 and we just started some basic chores. We add a new one only when the previous one is a part of her life. So far, she can:
pick up her toys after she plays
help set the table
put her clothes away (in the dirty bin or in drawers)
take her plate to the sink when she is done
load the silverware in the dishwasher

I would just start little and see what they can do. Sometimes it is hard! But if you start early, it really pays off!!! Good luck!

p.s. check out flylady.com for more ideas.

Remember to PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE... Chores are fun for lil ones when there is extra PRAISE.. That's the good attention we can give our kids.

My 2 year old loves to help empty the dishwasher - he can put the silverware away, stack the plates on the open door for me to put away, and stack all his plastic cups. He also likes to help make the bed, put away laundry and set the table. Maybe it is just him, but he loves knowing things have a place and putting them in that place, so I try to use that to my advantage.

Definitely get them involved while they still think it is fun! I think one of the reasons my son enjoys chores is because we do them together, so maybe try to start it out as a fun "together time." The ones that can be done independently (like making a bed), try to make a big deal about how proud you are they can do it all by themselves.

At 3 and 4 it is hard to give the chores for them to do all by themselves. I make mine pic up there play room and put the toys where they go. I also let them "help" while I am loading the dish washer and doing clothes. They like to put the dirty ones in the washer and think they help fold them. They also like to help sweep and mop. Of course they are really helping but its a start. The have the play brooms and mops and vaccums which are great. My kids also will wipe the tables, floors anything if you give them a wet rag. Hope this helps.

I have a little boy that's 4.5 and a girl 3.5 and they like to do the clothes. I use severl different hampers, for dirty clothing and when it's time to wash clothes my son will roll the hamper to the washer and as a team she will hand the clothes to him and he will load them. I have to pour the soap for them but I've taught them how to turn them on and everything. They will even put them in the dryer. Now we're just working on learning to fold them. I'm even considering getting a stool for the kitchen so the 3 year old can learn to wash spoons and forks. Oh and one more thing. You may want to get one of those light vaccum cleaners. My son loves to use the broom vac to clean the family room and kitchen.:-) I'll also give them rewards for doing it to encourage them. Something like a quarter for each task that they can save until the end of the week and buy something they want. Good luck it's so much fun watching them:-)

J.,
Great idea! Children love to help around the house. I am a Montessori teacher. In Montessori classrooms we teach three, four, and five year olds how to do practical life activities. You can teach them how to sweep and dust, but it helps to have materials that are their size (little broom and dust pan). They can put their clothes away and may be able to help you fold them (may have to accept that it won't be quite as neat as the way you do it). They can be taught how to make their bed. They can clean their room. They can set the table. They can fill up the pet's food dishes. They can dry silverware and put it away. They can put their dirty dishes in the dish washer or bring them to the kitchen after meals. I think the choices are limitless as long as they are taught and given lots of encouragement and a lot of cushion for doing it the best that they can even if it isn't quite the way you would do it. They will feel so good about helping!

My daughter is 21 months, and we started doing chores, she loves because every time she does something she is asked, she change to put in her piggy bank (even a penny make her sooo excited), but we have her bring dirty dish towels, and her dirty clothes to the laundry room, she picks up her toys, throws trash away (for whatever reason that is her absolute favorite, lol), she puts her plate and fork in the sink... basically it is tideous things that take me 2 seconds, but it is helping her learn to help around the house, and she gets rewarded so it is making it fun.
Good Luck!

they make small hand brooms that are perfect for little hands to go around the kitchen and sweep up, and also, the hand vaccuums are great too, they have cordless ones that stay on the wall until you use them. my son loves to help with dinner, he gets to season and stir, or if there are ingredients I went to the dollar store and bought little tiny bowls perfect for putting the ingredients in and then letting him add them to the bowl/pot. Meatloaf is a favorite meal :) and if they can listen well, I have my son spray the cleaner in the bathrooms (always under my supervision) and then he backs up so I can wipe it all down. I usually use a Greenworks cleaner for daily cleaning so there is virtually no smell and do my own deep cleaning without help from them. He understands chemicals can hurt him and make him sick and that's what we call them all, chemicals (since the harsh ones are mostly chemicals). And he loves to help throw clothes in the washer and from the washer to the dryer and help with putting the dishes in the dishwasher.

My 2 1/2 year old daughter as all the other posters mentioned, loves to dust. She also loves to sweep, so I let her get involved in that by holding the dust pan and taking it to the trash. She also puts dishes in the sink, picks up her toys, and carries things to the garbage. She will also help me get clothes from hampers and carry them to the laundry room and switch clothes from the washer to the dryer. She attempts to fold towels, but is not quite coordinated enough for that yet. She also carries the dog food bowls over to where they go and puts them down for the dogs. She can let them out and close the gate to the fence, too. Your boys are a little older, so I am sure they could do even more than she does. I would definitely make them clean up their own toys, take dirty dishes to the sink, try dusting, and maybe even try to have them make their own beds. Like one of the previous moms said, it is mainly little tedious 2 second tasks, but she is learning resposibility and having fun while doing it. Hopefully the routine can start and continue before she is old enough to realize it isn't that much fun! Watering plants can be a good one, too. Good luck!

All great suggestions so far. Another one that we do is that my daughter, soon to be 4, feeds the cats every morning. She also loves to help prepare dinner, she thinks it is the best treat of her day, it trumps playing with toys, watching tv or a movie, hands down!

A.