Parents: Teach responsibility with this chore list for teens

Sharing household chores with other members of the family is important to keep things running smoothly. And for parents, encouraging kids and teens to complete household tasks also can help teach valuable life skills.

Even very young children can be assigned age-appropriate chores — but the older your kids get, the more responsibility they can take on (and the more they can legitimately help you out). 

In this guide, we’ll cover a chore list for teens to help parents of older kids and teens decide which tasks to delegate.

Chore list for teens and tweens

In general, chores can be split up into daily tasks, weekly chores, monthly tasks, and occasional/seasonal chores. Here’s a list of chores to help parents build a chore chart and stay organized.

Daily chores for teens

• Wash the dishes

• Wipe down countertops

• Walk the dog/care for other pets

• Help with cooking

• Load and/or unload the dishwasher

• Sweep floors

• Pack lunch for school or snacks for activities

• Help take care of younger siblings (and babysitting when parents are out)

Weekly chores for teens

• Do laundry

• Weed the flower beds or tend to the garden

• Mow the lawn (in the spring and summer)

• Take care of other yard work

• Cook dinner independently

• Tidy up their room

• Vacuum

• Take out the trash

• Clean the bathroom

• Change the sheets

• Get groceries (if the teen has their own transportation)

Monthly chores for teens

• Help deep-clean the house

• Clean out the fridge and freezer

• Clean the car

• Wash bedding, like comforters and blankets

• Clean baseboards

• Dust hard-to-reach areas

Occasional and seasonal chores for teens

• Spring cleaning

• Move furniture and clean hidden spots

• Wash windows

• Clean patios and sidewalks

• Clean outdoor furniture

• Take out/put away seasonal items

• Clean gutters (with parental supervision and with safety in mind)

This category of teen chores can vary significantly with the seasons. For instance, summer chores might include a lot of yard work, while autumn tasks might include asking teens to rake leaves or clean out the gutters (safely!).

How to use chores to teach important life skills

As parents, you want what’s best for your kids — and you also want them to help out around the house! As it turns out, when it comes to chores, you can work toward both at the same time.

Chores can be a great way to teach many skills, including:

• Time management

• The value of hard work

• Work ethic

• Responsibility

• Problem-solving

• Independence

These life lessons can be valuable at any age. But as kids get older, the importance of learning real-world skills, responsibility, and work ethic becomes even more important. And many of these skills can be learned at home.

To use chores to teach your kids, consider these tips and strategies.

Ask for help, and emphasize the reasoning behind assigning chores.

Teens are old enough to start understanding more about the real world. In many cases, it helps to explain the reasoning behind chores.

For most families, the reasons are simple: It takes a lot of effort to run a household, and every little bit of help, well, helps!

Consider tying chores to allowance earnings.

For many families, linking chores and allowances can be beneficial. This can be a way to encourage teens to help out, to allow them to earn some extra money, and to teach valuable financial skills, all at once.

There are a couple different approaches to managing chores and allowances. Some parents use an all-or-nothing approach. If kids complete all their chores, they get their full allowance. Others use a partial payment system, or even a bonus system — wherein the more tasks kids complete, the more they can earn (up to a limit).

Greenlight makes this super simple. The Greenlight money app for teens offers the ability for parents to manage chore lists — and tie those lists to allowances — right in the app. Meanwhile, teens can benefit from a debit card, money management tools, and financial literacy games.

Work together.

Teamwork is a key lesson that completing chores can help instill. If teens feel like part of a team, they’re more likely to complete their chores with a positive attitude.

If you can, try to find times where the whole household can work productively together. Perhaps after dinner your kids can clean up the kitchen while you tidy the living room or clean the bathroom.

For bonus points, consider timing these co-choring sessions with a small treat afterward, like family movie night or some ice cream!

Create a responsibility chart.

Particularly for households with multiple kids and teens, creating a responsibility chart is helpful. This is a document that outlines everyone’s individual responsibilities — along with a system to check off tasks and track progress.

You might even consider adding your own responsibilities to this chart. This helps you stay organized, and also reminds kids how much you’re also contributing to the family.

You could keep this chart digital using an app like Greenlight, or create a printable chart to post on the fridge or somewhere else that’s highly visible.

Give teens independence and real-world experience.

While traditional chores like taking out the trash or doing the dishes are certainly helpful, teens might enjoy (and benefit more from) certain tasks outside of the house.

For instance, if your kids have drivers’ licenses, you could ask them to head to the grocery store to pick up groceries for the week. By sending them along with a list and your debit card, you show that you trust them to make responsible decisions — and also give them the real-world experience of managing money, shopping at a supermarket, comparing prices, and preparing for a week of meals.

Other similar chores, like running errands or even picking up siblings from school, give teens the sense of independence that they crave — while also saving you time.

Track chores and pay allowances — all in one place.

Now that you have a comprehensive chore list for teens, you can start getting your teens involved around the house. To manage your teens’ chores and allowance, download the Greenlight app.

Greenlight is an all-in-one money app for teens. It comes with a debit card, tools for spending, saving, and investing, and valuable educational tools and games.

Parents can access the Greenlight app, too, where you can assign chores, set spending limits, transfer funds, and much more. Try Greenlight for one month, our treat.