34 age-appropriate chores for 10-year-olds, by category

Part of growing up is gaining more responsibility, and a good way for your kids to start learning that responsibility is by helping with the household chores. While you might have to work up to teaching your children how to wash dishes, there are plenty of age-appropriate chores that your kid can help with.

This guide reflects general child-development guidance on age-appropriate responsibilities. Adjust tasks to your child’s individual maturity and safety needs. Most 10-year-olds can take on chores in all of these areas with practice.

Basic cleaning tasks: starting off simple

This is a good place to start for daily chores for a 10-year-old. Some of these tasks may include:

• 1. Dusting

• 2. Vacuuming

• 3. Taking out the trash

• 4. Wiping down surfaces and appliances

Some messier chores, like mopping or cleaning toilets, might be too much at first, but they are good jobs to work towards.

Organizing personal and shared spaces: encouraging order

Many of the things you do to encourage order in your home you might not even consider chores. If these tasks aren’t second nature to your kids yet, you can help them build the habit.

Some of these activities may include:

• 5. Making their bed

• 6. Putting away toys, shoes, backpacks, etc.

• 7. Returning TV remotes and other technology to a shared spot

• 8. Organizing video games

• 9. Putting away toothbrushes and other personal care items to keep the bathroom tidy

#1 family finance and safety app.

#1 family finance and safety app.

Teach your kids and teens to earn, save, and invest with Greenlight.

Try Greenlight today

Meal preparation: cooking with assistance

A 10-year-old can’t cook a full meal yet, but they can safely help with several meal-prep tasks that build kitchen confidence. Age-appropriate meal-prep chores include:

• 10. Slicing soft foods like bananas, strawberries, mushrooms, and cooked chicken

• 11. Peeling carrots, potatoes, and apples with a Y-peeler

• 12. Cracking and beating eggs

• 13. Stirring batters, whisking dressings, tossing salads

• 14. Shucking corn and snap peas, tearing lettuce, plucking herb leaves off stems

• 15. Setting the table

• 16. Clearing dishes from the table

• 17. Rinsing dishes and load the dishwasher

Getting your kid involved at mealtime can help make it more fun for everyone and encourage a love of time spent together.

Laundry duties: understanding fabrics and care

Your 10-year-old is probably not going to start doing their laundry from start to finish right off the bat, but you can get them working towards that responsibility.

Show them how to take care of different types of fabrics and how to use the right amount of detergent and softener. This might be a lot for the typical 10-year-old, so to start, try:

• 18. Putting dirty clothes in a hamper

• 19. Matching socks

• 20. Folding clothes

• 21. Putting away clothes in their proper places

Few people love doing laundry, but learning these skills early on will go a long way later in life.

Pet care: responsibilities for animal lovers

It’s likely that getting a pet was your child’s idea, so include them in the responsibility of caring for it. Some simple ways kids can help with pet care include:

• 22. Handling meals

• 23. Changing litter boxes

• 24. Giving baths

• 25. Going on short walks (with non-reactive, smaller dogs)

Some aspects of pet care will be a bit too complicated or challenging for them, but involving them in pet care at a young age will help them gain an appreciation of what it takes to care for others.

Gardening help: connecting with nature

Whether you have indoor plants or a thriving garden outside, sharing your love of gardening is a great way to connect with your kids. Some gardening chores may include:

• 26. Watering plants

• 27. Pruning bushes

• 28. Pulling weeds

• 29. Raking leaves

• 30. Planting new flora

Gardening is a great way to get kids outside and teach them about growing food.

Groceries: learning to shop and organize

Grocery shopping is something even some adults struggle to do efficiently. Teaching your kids how to grocery shop is enormously important, and it helps you get through one of your most important weekly chores. Some ways you can encourage children to help include:

• 31. Organizing the shopping cart

• 32. Packing bags

• 33. Developing an efficient shopping strategy

• 34. Building a budget

For kids who don’t want to go to the grocery store, encourage them to come along by making a game out of it. They can find the cheapest item, look for hard-to-find items, guess the weight of fruits and vegetables, and more.

This is also the easiest chore to hand off in full. Let your 10-year-old own the shared grocery list on the family hub, adding items throughout the week so the trip is planned before you leave.

How to manage chores for a 10-year-old on Greenlight Family Hub

Thirty-four chores across seven categories is a bigger list than most kitchen whiteboards hold. Greenlight Family Hub is a shared touchscreen that keeps the family digital calendar, chores, and shared lists in one place, so a 10-year-old can see what’s their responsibility today and what’s coming tomorrow.

When you connect chores to allowance and make payments automatic to their own Greenlight debit card¹, watching a balance grow after a week of work can be very motivating for a 10-year-old.

Set up a 10-year-old’s chore routine in four steps

1. Pick two daily chores from cleaning and organizing, and one weekly one from laundry, pets, or gardening.

2. Hand over a whole category they can own. Pet care and the grocery list are the two that most 10-year-olds might really enjoy.

3. Choose the reward: allowance to their debit card, gold stars on their chart, or another special treat.

4. Reassign chores anytime from anywhere with the Greenlight companion app.

Family Hub’s free plan includes the shared calendar, chores and task management, lists, photos, and star rewards. Family Hub+ adds the “Hey Greenlight” family AI assistant, smart scheduling, and family safety features. Learn more about Family Hub.

Helpful tips to get started

Handing over chores goes more smoothly when you set things up right from the start.

• Start with a family meeting. Sit down together and explain which chores need doing and why, rather than posting a list on the fridge. Kids are more likely to follow rules they helped set.

• Let them pick a few tasks. Give your child a say in which jobs they take on. A kid who chose dishes over laundry should actually do the dishes without having to be reminded.

• Demonstrate the chore before you assign it. Walk through it once together, then watch them do it once. “Clean the bathroom” means something different to a 10-year-old than it does to you.

• Be specific about what “done” looks like. Say “we need all four counters wiped and the sink empty” instead of “clean the kitchen.” Clear standards prevent the argument later.

• Pick a consistent time. Tie chores to something already in the routine, like after breakfast or before screen time, so you’re not reminding them every day.

• Embrace imperfection. Your child will take twice as long and do half as good a job at first. Redoing it yourself teaches them their effort doesn’t count.

• Decide upfront whether chores earn money. Some families pay for extra jobs and treat basic ones as household duty, while others don’t pay at all. Either works, but changing the rules midway causes friction.

• Add one or two new chores at a time. Let each become routine before layering on the next.

A little incentive goes a long way. Reward ideas include sticker charts, special outings, or surprise treats. You can also begin paying your children for doing their chores, which is a great way to get them motivated and introduce them to the concept of money and budgeting. With Greenlight, parents can set chores and pay allowances, and kids can keep track of their weekly chores, check them off, and learn about earning, budgeting, and saving.

Make chores part of the day. Chores, schedules, and lists live on one shared display with Greenlight Family Hub.

FAQs

What chores should a 10-year-old do?

A 10-year-old can handle basic cleaning (dusting, vacuuming, washing windows, wiping surfaces, taking out the trash), tidying (making their bed, straightening shared spaces), simple meal prep, and setting or clearing the table.

They can also , fold and put away laundry, care for pets (feeding, walking, changing litter boxes), tend the yard (watering, weeding, raking), and help plan and pack groceries.

How many chores should a 10-year-old have?

Two daily chores plus one weekly task is a realistic baseline. At 10, most kids can also own an entire category, like pet care or the grocery list, rather than a set of one-off jobs.

Should you pay a 10-year-old for chores?

Many families start paying for chores at this age. With Greenlight, you can tie an allowance to chore progress and pay it directly to your child’s debit card, which makes earning, saving, and spending a personal choice.

There are families that don’t pay allowance for chores at all, and instead use non-monetary rewards like sticker charts or outings. What matters most is consistency. Pick an approach and avoid changing the rules midway, which tends to cause friction.

What’s the best way to track chores for a 10-year-old?

Keep the list where the family can see it. Greenlight Family Hub is a shared touchscreen showing each child’s chores next to the calendar and shared lists. Your child checks chores off, and you assign or rotate them from the companion app.

¹The Greenlight® prepaid card is issued by Community Federal Savings Bank, member FDIC, pursuant to license by Mastercard International.

The Greenlight Family Hub requires WiFi connectivity and is available for use with all Greenlight plans. Some features require a subscription. See Terms for more details.