Chores for a 4 year old- What Kind?

Mom2nj

Member
I was wondering what chores do you give your 4 yr old if any. We are trying to get the kids to pick up their toys before bed. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Just wondering what everyone else is doing. I think my 4 yr old needs some small responsibilities and my 2 yr old will follow.
 
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AdventureMom

Senior Community Member
I was JUST thinking of posting this message myself! We do have chores for Nolan but have an issue with compliance... :rolleyes:

Here are some things he does:
- takes his dishes to sink after eating
- lets dog out/in
- feeds cat in the morning
- helps put bunnies in their cage when we leave house/go to bed
- help clean up something he spills
- "sweeps/mops" - LOL! more of a training exercise :p

I'm not much a housekeeper so putting away toys is one that DH is more adamant about and will sit down and help him put things away...
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
DD1 doesn't really have assigned chores other than putting away toys and books when she's done using them, and helping to clear her dishes from the table after meals. She likes to help set the table (unbreakable dishes, lol), sorts clothes and matches up socks to help put away clean laundry, and sometimes she likes to help me dust when I get around to doing it. She has been begging to vacuum but I don't trust her with the Dyson just yet and I'm afraid she'll run the vacuum over her little sister accidentally or deliberately. :rolleyes: I tried to get her a toy vacuum cleaner but she reacted negatively to any we looked at in the toy department so we passed. DD2 follows me around with a "popper" push toy imitating me when I vacuum.

ETA: D'oh, I forgot DD1 makes her own bed.
 
Last edited:

skipspin

New member
My DD is 3.5 and here are some of her "jobs."

Making bed (if it's really messy she needs a little help)
Feeding the dog (I only open the door)
Feed the turtle
Clean up toys in her room
Taking dishes to sink
Emptying small trash cans in bathroom/bedroom (maybe every two weeks)
Putting TP in cabinets in bathrooms (maybe once a month)

Most of the jobs she actually likes. Of coarse, she doesn't always love picking up her toys, but usually I just tell her she can't do whatever she wants to do next (paint, movie, snack) will her mess is cleaned up. Sometimes I help if it's overwhelming. She also usually dresses herself while I am in the shower if I set her clothes out, but it's not really something I tell her she has to do, just a suggestion.
 

scatterbunny

New member
Great topic! Last summer we had a great daily schedule and chore system going, but when kindergarten started in the fall our schedule, of course, went out the window and so did the chore system. So did my own personal cleaning schedule, for that matter. :rolleyes: Life has been really chaotic ever since, so hopefully homeschooling (she's been out of public school for a couple of weeks now) will allow us the time and energy to regain some family order and peace.

I'm going to go "supernanny-style" and make a rules list and a chore/reward chart and see how it goes. I know I am highly motivated by a daily schedule and menu planner, so hopefully having a rules list and chore/reward chart will help me be more consistent with my expectations and discipline.
 

southpawboston

New member
I was wondering what chores do you give your 4 yr old if any. We are trying to get the kids to pick up their toys before bed. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Just wondering what everyone else is doing. I think my 4 yr old needs some small responsibilities and my 2 yr old will follow.

lol, we have our 2-yr old picking up her toys already... well, sometimes :) i think all the above comments are good. i have nothing to add. i think the important thing to do is to either make it fun, or use a reward system like scatterbunny mentioned.
 

broken4u05

New member
When i am with my godchildren i make the older 2 put their dishes in the sink and help me with the dishwasher. putting things in and out. I also have them clean their toys alittle. It is hard because their parents do nothing with them. But they love to help me clean and feel good about themself after too. O they are 3 and 4. And the twins already "help" put toys away. But it is not much. they are 15 months
 

Jewels

Senior Community Member
My 2.5yr old helps:
-clean up his toys
-set the table
-make his bed
-put the cutlery away (well not the knives)
-vacuumes the couches (usually after I finish, he wants to too)
We are just starting with a few chores here and there and it is more him wanting to be my helper that got this started :)
 

Mom2nj

Member
Okay, so I am not too behind :D
My DD does take her dishes to the sink after meals, we are pushing the picking up toys issue. I just organized everything into their own totes and they have to ask me to open them to get what they want. That has helped some. I think I am going to have her start helping me fold laundry, at least the little shirts and pants and match socks. One day at Meijers she folded a shirt very nicely and put it on the shelf, so I know she can do it, it's more WILL she do it. Helping with the dishwasher is a good idea and she will run the swiffer vac to pick up the everyday goldfish and pretzels crushed on the floor. Scatterbunny, when you develope your chart can you tell me about it. I have tried numberous ones, but seem to fail at them, and DD likes them and I think DS would like it too.
 

scatterbunny

New member
Sure, I'll let you know what I come up with! We've already tried a couple methods, but we end up not using them for various reasons. Hayley has a short attention span and if I don't reward her immediately for a task, she loses motivation to do anything. So we're dealing with that, trying to figure out a way to do a reward chart and make it "enough" for her, or how to tailor it to her needs.
 

AdventureMom

Senior Community Member
Well, we started using charts about six months ago. At first, the stars by themselves were okay. Then that got boring to Nolan. So we haven't used our charts in awhile (but they look nice on our wall and make us look like we know what we're doing as parents;)). Yesterday, Nolan had a meltdown in Target for a hotwheels set that I refused to buy for many reasons (too much money, too many toys, not to mention that we rehearsed in the car before going in - "We are not buying toys. We are not buying toys.") So today he mentioned that he sure did want those hotwheels... Since we were on our way to try out booster seats and I wanted him to cooperate, I came up with "earn 10 points and you'll get your hotwheels" and one point was for co-operating at the carseat store...:p It worked like a charm! I also have a friend whose kids are grown now but used a chart to wean her son. He was over three and would not wean (she was nursing him just at bedtime). One day, he saw a little drum set in the window of a store and wanted it really bad. She got so excited that she told him if he could go seven days in a row without nursing at nighttime, then he could have that drumset. He did it, was weaned, and then they had to listen to those drums for years... :eek:

I really like the idea of charts for chores and then something like an allowance or a daily/weekly thing. But the points for hotwheels are in addition to normal chores because we expect that of him. He's starting to understand that money buys things and might could go for a daily allowance - a weekly one is too stretched out for him.
 

scatterbunny

New member
Yes, we've been considering a daily allowance, too! And we also want Hayley to have a set of chores that she knows is expected of her to do daily/weekly, and if she wants to use her allowance to buy stuff, great, if she wants us to buy something for her, she needs to do "extra" stuff to earn it.

She also has meltdowns when she doesn't get something at the store. :rolleyes: And it's usually Hot Wheels, too, because I used to bribe her to be good during a shopping trip, by telling her she could get one Hot Wheels at the end of the trip. :eek:
 

Dillipop

Well-known member
DS will be 4 in May. He sets the table almost every night. He cleans up his toys, most of the time. He helps wash the kitchen floor (we use baby wipes mostly to clean the floor!) He takes his dishes to the sink. He rinses dishes and puts them in the drain after I wash them (we don't have a dishwasher, unfortunately.) He helps with laundry by loading or unloading the dryer with my help. He picks out his own clothes and gets dressed by himself about half the days. He puts things in the trash when he's done with them.

I don't know if I consider these actual chores, since we don't mandate that they are done everyday. But I think soon, we will make an actual chore chart and set out what is expected of DS daily.
 

Starlight

Senior Community Member
We don't do an allowance... No one gives me money to clean my own mess, so I don't feel right about giving one to my kids. :D

We don't have "set" chores, and the chores that I do require, I don't call them chores.

Ds (5 yrs) is expected to take care of his own dishes, atleast at breakfast and lunch (just putting them in the sink), ensure that his laundry is in his laundry hamper/closet, pick up his toys, set the table, and, with help, bring his laundry from the hamper to the laundry room, fold certain items (wash clothes, socks, etc), and kind of, anything else that I ask him to do.

He has his own little vacuum thing, and likes to help with that...

I used to require that he make his bed. Somewhere along the way, I decided I felt hypocritical. I don't make my bed... so why would I require that he make his? Yeah, yeah, I should make my bed. But it's difficult with this whole co-sleeping thing right now. Bed is on the floor, no real blanket. So... I'm not making my ugly bed. (Shhh, don't tell my mom!)
 

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