Posted: 5/30/2017 1:52:15 PM EDT
My daughter (5 and 1/2 years old) came up and asked if we could come up with a chore list for her to. She said she wanted to help out around the house. I thought it was a one time thing, but for the past three days she has been on me to come up "with a list" and just left my office by handing me a piece of paper and a pencil to "help me get started..." 
Anyway, the things I've thought of are: Making her bed Turning down her bed Setting the table for dinner Feed the Dog and that's about all I got. 
I had list when I was little older than her where I checked it off daily/weekly and got a small allowance. She has not asked for money or anything in return, although I'll probably do something to reward this behavior. We don't live on a farm so that type of stuff is out. I've thought about adding things in like "Read a book" or "Brush your teeth" to teach hygeniene and personal growth, but those seem a little goofy to me. So what says the minds of ar15 ... 
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Quoted:
don't hand her a can of pledge and a rag. My parents made that mistake when I was about her age. I "dusted" the linoleum landing at the front door/bottom of the stairs. Bout killed my dad. Man, that floor looked gooooooooooooooooood. 
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| The 8 year old recently said "It's just your opinion that people should clean up their own stuff. Go on the internet and look it up.". So I would suggest adding general habits to the list such as throwing away your own trash, picking up items on the floor in your room, putting clothes away if the are clean or in the hamper if they are dirty. She might already be doing those things but it will still be a great checklist and reminder that those things are to be done. |
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My 4.5 year old earns his allowance by dusting the floors with a swiffer, sweeping the garage, wiping down the kitchen appliances, and cleaning his room.
He can handle most all of that unsupervised, once you get him started. He likes to rinse dishes and load the dishwasher too, but I always help him with that. |
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Loading/Unloading dishwasher;
Recycling (can crusher is a favorite) Garbage; Dog bathing, feeding and grooming; Laundry - mainly carrying stuff around; General clean up. They have 4000 sq ft to make messy and the parents don't have a hand in it unless the kids can't reach something. They both serve as assistants to parent projects too. Runners, tool kids, filling vehicle tires, car washing, watering things, nuking fire ants with amdro, loading mags, . I'm an anti-ipad dad. There is always something better for them to be doing. |
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Quoted:
don't hand her a can of pledge and a rag. My parents made that mistake when I was about her age. I "dusted" the linoleum landing at the front door/bottom of the stairs. Bout killed my dad. Man, that floor looked gooooooooooooooooood. 
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| Sweep entire house with a kids sized broom, clean walls, cabinets windows trim, pull weeds in garden around landscaping, kids loves planting a garden teaches them to reap what they sow. Never paid my kids a allowance with money, but let them know what it takes financially to live. |
| Sweep entire house with a kids sized broom, clean walls, cabinets windows trim, pull weeds in garden around landscaping, kids loves planting a garden teaches them to reap what they sow. Never paid my kids a allowance with money, but let them know what it takes financially to live. |
| Our kids (7,11, and 14) have Responsibilities and then Chores. Responsibilities are things you have to do just to live in the house, clean your room, put up laundry, clear your dishes from table, etc. Chores are "extra" things you can do to earn money like, mow lawn, clean kitchen, clean other parts of house, take out trash, etc. It works pretty well for us. |
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OK ... so here is the "list" I have so far. I think I'm going to cap it here and see how she does then possibly add more later. Don't want to overwhelm her and have it in order from when she wakes up ...
Make Bed Feed Dog Breakfast Water Plants Check the Mail Set Table Feed Dog Dinner Clean Up after Eating: Breakfast Lunch Dinner Clean Up Playroom Pick up Clothes/Shoes Turn Down Bed Clean Sink after Brushing (we have the hardest time getting her to do this and flush regularly) 
Thanks for all the suggestions. As she get's older, I think I will add more on. I'm probably being selfish with some like "wash the dishes" ... she does that from time to time and actually likes it but it is because she gets to play in water, takes her about an hour and I have to come through later and clean up all the water.
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Quoted:
Sweep entire house with a kids sized broom, clean walls, cabinets windows trim, pull weeds in garden around landscaping, kids loves planting a garden teaches them to reap what they sow. Never paid my kids a allowance with money, but let them know what it takes financially to live. Man this Daddin' thing is not easy! 
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I think most children would benefit from the chore of supervising the servants. Train them to be leaders and not table bussers at Olive Garden.
JK - a lot of good suggestions above. We have the kids sweep the floors, fold and put away their laundry, set the table, dust, wipe down the baseboards, help with the yard work, wash the kitty nose marks off the windows. And other, sometimes one time , various tasks.
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| My 4 year old daughter feeds the dogs twice a day, lets them in and out when needed, picks up her toys/cleans the toy room, helps unload the dishwasher (silverware that doesn't include knives), clears the table of dishes after meals, and has recently started helping me pick up dog poop. She doesn't get an allowance, these are just things to help the household and she says it is being a "part of the team". |
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Quoted:
My wife just asked about this ... "what are we going to pay her?" I said nothing at first since she hasn't asked for anything. I thought about maybe a dime or quarter for every check mark, but then thought in the real world, you don't get paid for a half job you don't complete. Then I thought about just giving her $5 for the whole list if she completes say 90% of everything, but I don't think she is ready for that either. Man this Daddin' thing is not easy! |