Chores for kindergarteners: Fun & easy tasks to try
Chores are a valuable way to teach kids responsibility, boost confidence, and shape good habits. But it can be difficult to know when your child is ready to start helping out around the house and what chores are appropriate. Believe it or not, there are plenty of household chores for kindergartners that can get them helping around the house and maybe even burn some of that excited energy. Here, we provide examples of chores that kindergartners can do and offer some advice on how to make chores fun and valuable for your child.
Why chores matter for kindergartners
Every child will one day be an adult. It's never too early to start teaching kids about expectations and responsibilities, especially when they're on the brink of starting school. Some of the key reasons why chores are so important for young kids include:
Learning responsibilities early helps shape good habits.
They can teach independence and teamwork and build your child's confidence.
They make it easier to teach life skills like problem-solving and patience.
But perhaps most importantly, household chores help you check off the daily tasks needed to keep your house running every day and make your child feel like a contributing member of the household, which makes family life more enjoyable for everybody.
Be a financially smart family!
The best age-appropriate chores for kindergartners
There are a lot of kids' household chores, but not every one will be appropriate for kindergartners. With the chore list we provide below, you can develop a chore chart that will get your child involved in household tasks.
Daily chores
Making their bed without supervision
Helping to set and clear the table for meals
Picking up toys after playing
Helping to cook and prepare food
Washing and drying dishes
Feeding pets or watering plants
Weekly chores
Helping to carry and put away the groceries
Dusting around the house
Pulling garden weeds
Watering plants around the house or garden
Sorting laundry between whites and colors
Emptying small trash cans into the primary one
Monthly and seasonal special tasks
Raking leaves
Sweeping a walkway with light snow
Changing light bulbs
Making chores fun: A game-changer for kids
Let's be honest: Chores are rarely fun even for adults. Your kids probably aren't going to be excited about a sudden list of chores they have to do every day. Regardless of your kid's age, you should do what you can to make chores fun. After all, if they're fun, then your kindergartner will be a whole lot more eager to do them.
Some ideas for making chores fun include:
Use chore charts with stickers or rewards that give your child a sense of accomplishment after completing a chore or a week's worth of chores.
Turn tasks into games like a race against a timer or dance-cleaning.
Provide praise and recognition to give your child positive reinforcement and assure them that they're doing good work.
Celebrate your child's progress with little rewards like some extra screen time or a trip to the ice cream shop.
Introducing an allowance: The first financial lessons
Chores are a great avenue to give your kindergartner their first lessons in money and finance. Chores are essentially work, which provides a clear relationship between labor and earning money. By introducing chores, you can also introduce a small allowance to demonstrate to your child that they're not just working to work, but they're doing it to earn their very own spending money.
From there, you can begin to teach your child early budgeting skills and encourage them to think about ways to save, spend, and share their money. One useful tool that some parents use is dividing an allowance up into three jars: spending, saving, and charity. Each week, a small amount of money goes into each jar and can only be used for that designated purpose. It's up to your child to decide what each purpose means for them.
Our parents' guide for chores and allowances offers more inspiration, and the Greenlight chores and allowance app for kids can help you create chore lists, manage allowances, and more.
Safety first: Tips for creating a secure chore environment
Safety is the most important thing when it comes to introducing your child to chores. Whether you're creating chores for 6-year-olds or 16-year-olds, it's absolutely paramount that you prioritize their safety and well-being. One way to do that is by ensuring all the tasks on their chore chart are age-appropriate and supervised, but there are other steps you can take, too.
Always choose non-toxic, kid-safe cleaning tools.
Have your child practice chores with you or an older sibling before letting them do it on their own.
Teach boundaries to your child around every chore so that they understand what's safe and what's off-limits, especially when working in the kitchen or the yard, where dangerous tools may be involved.
Start with very simple chores and slowly work your way up to more involved ones, especially when starting with young kids.
Take the time to communicate expectations very clearly to make sure your child knows exactly what's expected of them with any chore.
Greenlight: Helping families raise money-smart kids
Introducing your kids to chores is a great first step on the road to raising responsible, self-sufficient adults. Chores help build personal responsibility and confidence, but also offer a great introduction to money management and fiscal responsibility. Plus, you'll also get some much-needed help around the house.
With the Greenlight app, you can get the resources you need to continue supporting your kids' financial literacy and even manage their chore lists. Register for the Greenlight app and get the support you need to empower your kids' growth.
Turn chores into $ lessons. Assign tasks, set rewards, and teach responsibility with Greenlight’s money app for kids and teens. Try Greenlight, one month, risk-free.†
†Valid for new customers only. Subject to identity verification and minimum load requirements. Your first monthly fee will be billed to your parent wallet seven days after successful registration. To receive a refund of your first monthly fee, you must request to close your account on or before the day immediately preceding your first Monthly Billing Date. See the ‘Account’ tab of Settings by tapping the gear icon on the Greenlight app home page to confirm when your risk-free trial ends. See Terms for details.
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