Most chore charts on the internet were written by people who don’t live with the kids they’re assigning chores to. They list “clean your room” for a 4-year-old (a 4-year-old does not know what “clean” means) and quietly skip the teen years entirely. The result is a wall chart that looks great on Pinterest and falls apart in week three.
This guide is the opposite. It walks through every age from 2 to 17 with chores that match what kids at that stage can actually do — based on AAP guidance and Montessori practical-life standards — plus a five-step setup that’s lasted longer than three weeks in real households. There’s a printable version at the bottom.
Why age matters more than personality
It’s tempting to say chores are about character — “some kids just won’t help.” In practice, almost every chore chart that fails fails because the chores were the wrong difficulty for the developmental stage, not because the kid was lazy. A 4-year-old isn’t refusing to clean their room; they literally cannot perceive a room as a unit yet. A 12-year-old who “forgets” the dishwasher every night often has the working-memory load of an adult job and no system that helps them remember.
Match the chore to the stage and most behavior problems disappear. The bands below come from pediatric and child-development sources, not from a Pinterest aesthetic.
The full age-by-age chore chart
Use the band that matches your child’s developmental stage, not their birthday. Most kids slip up or down one band; a young 6-year-old is often closer to the 4-5 list, and a mature 8-year-old can handle items from the 10-12 band.
Ages 2-3
Toddlers are imitators, not workers. Chores at this age are about routine and motor skills, not productivity. Expect to redo most of it — that is the point.
| Chore | Category | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Pick up toys into a basket | Cleaning | |
| Put dirty clothes in the hamper | Laundry | |
| Help wipe spills with a cloth | Cleaning | |
| Carry their plate to the counter | Kitchen | |
| Feed pets with a pre-portioned scoop | Pet care | With supervision; let them pour, not measure. |
| Place books on a low shelf | Cleaning | |
| Throw nappies in the bin | Self-care | |
| Help match socks at laundry time | Laundry |
Ages 4-5
Preschoolers can finish a 1-2 step task on their own. They love feeling competent — give them the same chore most days so they can master it. Skip rotation; skip variety.
| Chore | Category | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Make their bed (loose definition: covers up) | Cleaning | |
| Set the table with non-breakable items | Kitchen | |
| Clear their plate after meals | Kitchen | |
| Put away their own folded clothes | Laundry | |
| Brush teeth without reminders (mostly) | Self-care | Adult brushes again at night until ~age 7. |
| Water houseplants once a week | Cleaning | |
| Wipe a table or low counter | Cleaning | |
| Sort recycling into the right bin | Cleaning | |
| Pull weeds from a garden bed | Outdoor | |
| Feed the pet on a schedule | Pet care |
Ages 6-7
Early-school kids can chain 3-4 steps and remember a checklist. They also start caring about fairness — this is when "but my brother didn't!" becomes the dominant sound in the house.
| Chore | Category | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Empty the dishwasher (with reachable shelves) | Kitchen | |
| Fold and put away their own laundry | Laundry | |
| Pack their school bag the night before | Self-care | |
| Vacuum a small room with a light vacuum | Cleaning | |
| Take out the kitchen recycling | Cleaning | |
| Help prep a simple meal (sandwiches, salad) | Kitchen | Knife use only with supervision. |
| Sweep a floor or porch | Cleaning | |
| Walk the dog with an adult | Pet care | |
| Wipe down bathroom sinks | Cleaning | |
| Sort their own laundry by color | Laundry |
Ages 8-9
Pre-tweens can be genuinely useful. They can plan a small task, time it, and finish without supervision — if expectations are clear and the chore is the same most weeks.
| Chore | Category | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Load the dishwasher | Kitchen | |
| Run a load of laundry start to finish | Laundry | With written reminder of settings. |
| Clean their own bedroom on a weekly schedule | Cleaning | |
| Take out the trash bins | Cleaning | |
| Vacuum the living areas | Cleaning | |
| Make their school lunch | Kitchen | |
| Walk the dog alone (if local rules allow) | Pet care | |
| Clean the litter box | Pet care | |
| Rake leaves or shovel light snow | Outdoor | |
| Help cook a real meal once a week | Kitchen | |
| Earn-and-track their own allowance | Planning |
Ages 10-12
Tweens can run a chore module without supervision. The shift here is from "do this task" to "this is your responsibility" — they own the outcome, not the steps.
| Chore | Category | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Plan and cook one weekly family meal | Kitchen | |
| Manage their own laundry on a weekly cycle | Laundry | |
| Mow the lawn (push mower, with training) | Outdoor | |
| Babysit a younger sibling for short windows | Planning | Adult in the house, not the building. |
| Clean a bathroom top-to-bottom | Cleaning | |
| Take responsibility for a pet (feed, walk, vet reminders) | Pet care | |
| Maintain their own school + activity calendar | Planning | |
| Make grocery list contributions | Planning | |
| Wash the family car | Outdoor | |
| Iron simple items like pillowcases | Laundry |
Ages 13-17
Teens should be doing the work an adult does, on the schedule an adult does. The goal in this band is independence by age 18 — every chore here is a life-skill checkbox before they move out.
| Chore | Category | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Run a full week of their own meals if needed | Kitchen | |
| Do all of their own laundry start to finish | Laundry | |
| Clean shared spaces on a rotating schedule | Cleaning | |
| Manage a budget (allowance + part-time income) | Planning | |
| Drive siblings to activities (with license) | Planning | |
| Mow, shovel, or rake on schedule without reminders | Outdoor | |
| Run a full grocery shop with a list | Kitchen | |
| Fix simple household issues (clogged drain, bulb, fuse) | Cleaning | |
| Schedule their own appointments (doctor, dentist) | Self-care | |
| Plan + cook a meal for guests | Kitchen | |
| Maintain a part-time job | Planning |
How to set up a chore chart that survives the first month
Most chore charts collapse in week three. The five steps below are the difference between a wall decoration and a system that’s still running in November.
Step 1: Pick the right age band
Use the band that matches your child's developmental stage, not their birthday. A young 6-year-old is often closer to the 4-5 list; a mature 8-year-old can handle items from the 10-12 band.
Step 2: Pick three to five chores, not ten
Most chore charts fail because parents try to teach everything at once. Start with three repeatable daily tasks plus one or two weekly ones. Add new chores only after the first set has been automatic for two weeks.
Step 3: Show, then watch, then leave
Teach the chore in three sessions: do it together, watch them do it (without correcting), then let them do it alone. Skipping the middle step is the single biggest cause of "they always do it wrong."
Step 4: Make completion visible
Use a chart, app, magnet board, or whiteboard — anything that lets the child mark "done" without asking you. Visible progress is the actual reward; the points and prizes are scaffolding around it.
Step 5: Review weekly, not daily
Sit down once a week (Sunday evening works for most families) to talk about what worked, what was unfair, and whether to swap chores. Daily nagging kills motivation; a weekly checkpoint preserves it.
Paper chore chart vs chore app
Both work. The deciding factor is where your family already lives — on the fridge, or on the phone. A laminated paper chart is unbeatable for ages 4-7 because young kids respond to physical movement (sticker, magnet, X marked off). An app starts to win around age 8 when kids have their own device and the parent wants the chore reminder to show up wherever the kid is — not just at home.
If you’re considering an app, the 12-app family organization buyer’s guide compares the most-used options. The short version: most calendar-first apps (Cozi, FamilyWall) treat chores as basic to-dos with no motivation for kids; most chore-first apps (Joon, Homey, OurHome) lack a real family calendar. A handful of all-in-one apps (Kyrio, Hearth Display) try to do both.
Should you pay kids for chores?
The honest answer is “some of them, not all of them.” The hybrid model most researchers favor: a small base allowance that’s not tied to chores (the family-citizenship part — you don’t get paid to make your bed because you live here), plus optional paid jobs above and beyond the basics (mowing the lawn, washing the car, babysitting). That way kids learn responsibility and money management — the two things chores are usually meant to teach.
Tying allowance entirely to chore completion has a known failure mode: kids start bargaining. “What’s in it for me to fold the laundry?” For families leaning toward an allowance-only system, a kids debit card like Greenlight or GoHenry handles the money side well — but you’ll still need a household app for the chores side, since Greenlight’s chore tracking is a thin add-on.
Common mistakes that kill chore systems
- Too many chores. Five is plenty for elementary kids. Ten is a cleaning audit, not a chore chart. Cut hard.
- Vague chores. “Clean the kitchen” is a project. “Empty the dishwasher” is a chore. If you can’t draw it, the kid can’t do it.
- Adult-only completion. If the parent has to mark the chore done, kids treat it like grading. Let them check the box themselves and audit weekly.
- Inconsistent consequences. Skipped chore today, no consequence; skipped chore tomorrow, lose screen time for a week. Pick one rule and run it.
- Restarting from scratch every Sunday. A real system survives a bad week. If your chart is on its third reboot this year, the chart isn’t the problem — the difficulty level is.
Printable chore chart
For a wall-friendly version, hit your browser’s Print button on this page. The layout is print-styled — no ads, no nav, just the age tables and chore lists. If you want a single age band only, jump to that section first ( Ages 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-12, 13-17) and your browser will print whatever scrolls into the viewport.
For families who want a digital version that updates as the kids grow, an all-in-one family app beats a paper chart by year three — kids check off chores from their own phone or tablet, and you don’t reprint the chart every time someone’s birthday changes the band.
Frequently asked questions
At what age should kids start doing chores?
How many chores per day is too many?
Should chores be the same every day or rotated between kids?
What if my child refuses to do their chores?
Should I pay my kids for chores?
Are chore charts effective for ADHD kids?
When should kids do their own laundry?
How do I keep the chore system going past the first month?
Looking for a single age? See chores for 4-year-olds, chores for 6-year-olds, chores for 8-year-olds, chores for teenagers, or the ADHD chore chart guide.