If you have a little one at home there’s a LOT of work to do! Preschool kids come with a lot of cleaning and clutter. But just because they are little doesn’t mean they can’t help out by doing chores.
Your little one has plenty of opportunities to help around the house!
Giving them simple chores is a great way to start teaching them that we all have a part to play in a family. We all live in this house. So we all help take care of it.
Sure, it’s faster if you did them yourself. But if we set the expectation that they help out earlier on, we hopefully avoid *some* fights later on.
Plus your child’s future roommate, partner, or spouse will be FOREVER grateful you taught them to help out!
Here are five chores your preschooler can do.
Match Socks
Let’s be honest . . . matching socks is the WORST!
This is a great job for little ones to do. Not only does it help you with laundry, but it allows them a chance to practice skills like color identification and comparing or contrasting items.
Some adult socks might be more difficult early on. But your child can definitely pair those colorful patterned socks you got at Target last week.
Set the Table
This one can be a bit tricky. But it’s a great chore for your kid if they want to help with dinner but the recipe isn’t safe for them to participate in.
If you’re worried about your child carrying breakable items, set them all on the table.
Make a stack of plates, napkins, and a pile of forks or spoons. Then have your child place the items at each seat one by one. This allows them to help but avoids them carrying plates across the kitchen.
Putting Away Clothes
Even if your husband seems to have trouble with this task, your preschooler can definitely do this chore.
Have a specific area for each type of item in your child’s drawer.
This avoids confusion for your child because they know where everything goes. You might need to help them open the drawer, but they can carry the clothes and put them away.
I also separate my daughter’s items as I fold them. Then she can take them pile by pile to the correct place. It just speeds up the task a bit and makes it easier for her.
Unload the Dishwasher (one of my daughter’s favorite chores!)
I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes letting kids help makes the process take longer. And that is definitely the case with chores like this. But my daughter enjoys doing it!
As we unload she hands items to me and I put them away.
I make sure to remind her to remove one piece at a time. That way we avoid overloading her small hands and dropping things.
She is also in charge of unloading silverware.
We pull her step ladder up to the silverware drawer. After I’ve removed any dangerous items, she separates everything else into the correct spot.
Feeding Pets
This is one chore my daughter does every morning.
She does it all on her own. We have a measuring cup in the bin that is the perfect size so she knows our dog needs two scoops.
Just be cautious with animals.
I always put our dog in the bedroom while my daughter gets the food out and serves it up. Even the sweetest dogs can get aggressive unexpectedly, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Preschoolers may seem a bit small for chores, but I promise they can handle the responsibility.
We want our children to grow up and become helpful partners, contributing members of their community, and responsible adults.
And that lesson can start right in our home.
Originally published February 2022.
The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ABQ Mom, its executive team, other contributors to the site, its sponsors or partners, or any organizations the aforementioned might be affiliated with.
