chores for 5 year olds

[kristijoy]

Hi gals! I feel like my son (5 year old pre-K) is ready now to really start learning about money and responsiblity. I want to give him a little allowance (to use/save for those little bits he always wants at the store) and chores/responsibilities at home. That way when he sees something he wants, it's not just Mommy saying 'yes' or 'no' but he can start learning he has some responsibility for choosing and earning/saving.

So my questions is:

How much would you give a 5 year old a week? I was thinking $2-$3.

What kinds of chores do your 5 year olds do?

Thanks!!!

[Misty Cato]

My 6 year old gets $1-3 a week, depending on how his chores go.

When he was 5 he did the following:

Pick up his toys each night
make bed
set table (I set out everything in a stack and he set up the place settings)
help clear table
take folded laundry to the appropriate bedroom and put his own laundry in his dresser

[ChristyHC]

My ds just turned 6 and last year we set up 5 morning chores for him to do and 5 evening chores.
Morning:
*Empty dishwasher (anything that is too high for him to put away he just stacks on the counter)
*Bring down laundry - I tell him which basket from upstairs to bring down that day as we have one in each of the bedrooms, or he will gather towels, sheets, or whatever I'm going to wash that day.
*Tidy his room
*Brush teeth
*Make his bed
Evening:
*Pick up toys in living room
*Pick up things off kitchen floor
*Vacuum kitchen with a little hand vac
*Clear table after dinner
*Brush teeth

I don't know about money - we have been letting him earn video game time. He gets 5 minutes for his morning chores and 5 minutes for evening and then 5 minutes for each additional chore he helps out with during the day.

[JenTapler]

My son is almost 5 and we use the MyJobChart.com site for tracking and managing "rewards". We don't really give him money just yet, but he has to "earn" things like TV and computer time each week by earning "points" on the site. He has some chores he does each day - feeding the cats, helping set the table, brushing his teeth without complaint (this is something we struggle with), reading a book, putting his things away, etc. That website lets you customize your jobs AND set up the point value - you can assign a monetary value to the items. The cool thing is that it puts the responsibility on the kid. Dean (my son) does his chores, tracks them himself, and can see his points adding up. When he wants to redeem them for TV or Computer time, he can and then it deducts the set amount of points. For us, we've set it up where each of his "jobs" gets a set number of points and then 30 minutes of TV or Computer times "costs" him 50 points. He decides. (Of course, we have a maximum limit too for TV or Computer time in any given day). Prior to doing this, he was wanting to watch WAY too much TV and now he will literally go weeks without watching any TV. Not because it's a punishment or anything, but because he LOVES to earn points!! So he'll see his points adding up and want to go do more stuff to earn more points and there's just not time for TV (it's pretty cool!). Of course, at his age, there are lots of things he's earning points for that aren't really chores, but positive behaviors we want to reinforce (we have things on there like Good Manners, Kind Deeds, etc - so at the end of the day if he's exhibited those behaviors we'll give him the points for them. It's cute to see him going out of his way to earn those points!!). It's also a pretty cool math lesson to see those points adding up and then to see them subtracting when he uses them for computer or TV time. And of course, we're not like crazy strict about this (he sometimes gets TV time even when he doesn't have enough points or if we're watching a movie or something as a family. But he hasn't really picked up and that and we're OK with it. The point if the whole thing is to try to instill some early responsibility and work ethic and I just like the bonus lessons that we're getting through this specific website).

I can see us continuing to use this site for a really long time as he gets older. You can set it up for older kids so that they're working towards earning a specific item - you can link it to products on Amazon and they can "shop" for things when they earn enough "money". You can also set it up so that they donate their earned money to charity. It's really cool - I can see lots of lessons to be learned with this I think!!

[Milmomma]

My kids (4 & 6) clean their rooms, make their beds, sweep the kitchen, (mop the kitchen once a month with a bucket and scrub brushes, this usually just means lots of soapy water on the floor and them all wet, but they love it) sort the recycling, fold and put away their clean clothes, clean off the table, set the table, make their own lunches, my 6 yr old has home work nightly.
[My 6 yr old is learning to do the dishes and help cook]

We have chore charts on the fridge and dry earse markers. They don't get any $ right now, I want them to contribute to the family.

[haydensmommy217]

I do about 1-3 dollars on how well he does

his chores are:

Pick up his toys each night and straightens up playroom and bedroom.
make bed (attempt too some times cant tuck sheets in)
set table ( silverware napkins salt and pepper)
help clear table
Empty dishwasher (does the silverware and hands me the plates and cups)




should have he totally help with putting away his laundry

[ayaandjudah]

great question! I think 1-3 a week is more than enough for a 5 year old.

Some chores can include:

bringing plates to the sink after dinner
folding their own laundry
making beds
sweeping

you'd be surprised what they can do. My 6 year old loves vacuuming......FINE BY ME!

[kristijoy]

Awesome gals! This was just what I was thinking. I had thought of clearing off the table...but the laundry is just brilliant!

$1-$3 depending on how it goes is an excellent idea. I do want to start giving him some money, so that he can start learning to be responsible with it, rather than Mommy just buys me stuff!

[CA Dreamer]

On top of the regular daily chores, my ds2 has had the job of replenishing the rolls of paper towels in the various places that we have them throughout the house.... bathrooms, kitchen and the tv room since he was about 3-1/2. It is his job to help me unpack the rolls into the closet where we store them and he is supposed to 'keep an eye' on the paper towels and get a new one whenever he sees one getting low. I think it has helped him to have a general responsibility for the household - and also something that he has learned to monitor on his own.

[ChristyHC]

Oh, I thought of 2 more chores by 6 year old does (with the help of my 3 year old now too) that I love:
*Bathroom cleaning: I give them each a clorox wipe and they wipe down the counters, sink, and toilet. They don't do a stellar job, but it helps tidy things up between bigger cleanings and means I don't have to clean them as often.
*Trash. I sit somewhere with a big trash bags and a bunch of shopping bags that we line the trash cans with. He runs around grabbing trash cans and bringing them to me. I empty them and replace the bags as he keeps gathering and then he returns them to the various rooms. Keeps me from having to go all over the house for trash and he has fun doing it - we race to see if I can empty and reline faster than he can bring me another.

Oh, and for most chores at this age, remember that rarely will it really save you time for the kids to do the chores. You could definitely do them faster and better, but it is great training for the kids and lets them know that this is part of what being a family is about - everyone pitches in.

[dana]

these are some great ideas everyone! my oldest (just turned 5) is starting to do some chores (make bed, bring plate/cup to sink after eating, clean up toys, etc) - but so far we haven't been very organized about it ... i'm excited to put a real plan in place w/ some sort of reward

[Leah]

Our kids have a chore chart that they follow everyday. Their ages are almost 10yrs., 8 yrs. and 5.5yrs. We do not pay the kids for doing chores, as we believe that it's just part of being a family. But we do give them money for "treat" days at school, buy them little things here and there and we have fun nights for them as well.

Here are some of the things that our 5yo. does:

Unload cutlery from dishwasher (either everyday or as needed - this is his job)
Tidy (shoes, etc.) front entrance
Dust living room (glass on tables - easy)
Tidy his room
Put away his folded laundry
Tidy bathroom (wipes mirror and vanity/sink)
Tidy toys in basement
Help with supper or supper clean-up
Feed the cat

These are things that are done on either an everyday or every other day basis.

I love my chore chart - best thing ever for our family!!

[ashleywb]

We started with up to $3 a week and 3 chores:
make bed
tidy room at night
clear dishes from the table

I also bought my daughter a really cool bank that is divided into 4 compartments - give, save, spend and invest. We gave it to her when she started earning an allowance and it has been a great tool for helping her learn about managing her money. I got it on line - sorry I don't remember where but I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find - or you could always make one.

[Andrea G]

My 6 yr old has been doing chores since he was 4. The chores he does are:

wipe down the kids bathroom with clorox wipes
empty bathroom garbages
empty dishwasher
make bed
clean room
clean the playroom downstairs

He's better at his chores than his older brother! I love that my boys help.