To ask what can your 8 year old do?

[Username172828]

Trying to teach my son to be more independent. He expects everything done for him and now it's time for a change. He makes his bed every morning and will put his clothes in the wash basket. He know how to make himself toast and a drink. He still doesn't know how to tie his shoelaces and will not get himself a snack even though these are easiky accessible. He can dress himself but I still pick out his clothes. Will you tell me about your 8 year old please?

@user64332 I feel like I had too much done for me at a young age so I am trying to get the balance of independence and care which is tricky! My daughter used to whinge about having to do certain things e.g. make her own drinks (I still offer them when I am doing drinks for myself) but she is starting to love the fact she can do things independently. A lot of things haven't me easily to her so we introduce new things 1 at a time or she will ask to do something e.g. she asked to make her own lunches recently. I find lots of praise and reminders about when something needs done by helps a lot. Good luck!

Really enjoyed reading this thread. I'm only pregnant with my first now so 8 years old is a long way off but I honestly have no idea about young children and found this really interesting!

This has really opened my eyes! We will start on getting his own snacks and drinks. I'm fed up f hearing "I'm hungry" every 5 mins

This is a really interesting thread as I have an 8 year old ds who I often think we baby a bit as he's an only. It's good to compare.

He can: dress himself including choosing clothes (but I often choose them because he looks a fright in the clothes he chooses) get ready for bed and brush his teeth.
Get a snack or bowl of cereal for breakfast and will bring me breakfast in bed if I ask. Put his clothes in the washing machine, tie his own laces, wash up after an "easy" meal. Mop the floor and wipe down surfaces.

He can't do any form of cooking, he's very clumsy (suspected dyspraxia) and I just don't trust him with heat sources. Chop fruit and veg or spread butter on toast or make his own bed..... we have a few things to work on I think!!

www.scouts.org.uk/cubs/activity-badges/home-help/

Known quite a lot of 8yos manage this.

I have an 8 year old and a 9 year old. They both make their beds, lay the table, clear up, and empty the dishwasher and wash and dress themselves. That’s about all the 9 year old can do. The 8 year old can make a pot of tea, make and cook pancakes, scrambled eggs and cook simple meals, use the washing machine, Hoover, wash the car, change a lightbulb, plant a plant etc I often ask 8 year old for help not 9 yo so the gap is widening. I’m trying to address it. I tried to teach 9 yo to light a candle last week with limited success.... each in their own time I think..

DD (7) will strip her bed, tidy her room, help me fold bed linen, put her clothes in the wardrobe, make toast and scrambled egg, get snacks and drinks, dust and hoover (not amazingly well admittedly) and let the dog up the garden first thing in the morning including unlocking the back door.

She also sets the table and tidies up with me after dinner.

We have a dishwasher so don’t really do the dishes but she does know how to.

I think she does more than her friends but I am very determined that she will be able to look after herself.

DD hasn’t learned to tie shoe laces yet-mainly because she hasn’t had shoes with laces- but now she has a pair I expect her to be able to do them very soon.

DS (7) is not allowed to make toast ever since he burned himself on the toaster but he is allowed to make scrambled egg and is quite capable of going to the fridge and extracting what he wants. He helps me cook a lot and I often get him to read the recipe and help with the actual cooking.

He helps with chores, knows how to turn the washing machine on and the drier. He will help with hoovering, moving clothes, will set the table, pour himself a drink, answers the door and retrieves parcels (when both me and DH were on conference calls and didn't hear the door). It's a gradual process.

Mine was 9 a couple of weeks ago. Only got his 1st lace up shoes a few weeks ago so can't really do those himself yet.

Gets his own breakfast everyday, mostly lunch too, tries to make banana omelettes but does tend to burn them a bit!

Helps himself to too many snacks but I can't complain about the amount of fruit he eats.
Can cut things up, cheese, apples and mangoes being his favourite, but also peel carrots and slice rolls/hot cross buns open for toasting. Doesn't always get the timings right on the microwave, 10 minutes for porridge!

He gets his own clothes out and dresses himself usually before I am up.

He can unload the dishwasher, not quite so great at loading it. He can hoover, again not always perfect but as long as he's tried, that's fine.
He's packed his own case for going away the last couple of years and is surprisingly good at it, far better than the 13 yr old, me or dh check what he's packed and rarely have to alter it.
He is the youngest of 3 so I guess he has grown up quicker than the other two, we just expect him to be able to do what the others do, so mostly, he does.

At 8 my DD’s (now teens) were both a bit of a mixed bag.

Never tidy and had to be reminded to do more or less anything like washing and teeth brushing but could do them all independently.

They could make themselves drinks, cereal, toast etc.

They could work the TV by themselves.

They could dress themselves but had no sense of matching anything unless clothes were picked out for them.

Their reading was ahead of average and schoolwork too, though DD2 was quite sensitive would still get upset at things that most kids of 8 would brush off, though this changed with puberty.

Their speech and vocabulary were both very mature but at 8 both still wet the bed and wore DryNites at night.

They could both bake with a little supervision and follow a recipe with minimal direction.

They learned to tie their laces around the age of 7 if I am remembering right.

My 7 year old

Can lay the table, slice veggies and fruit, open tins and make breakfast.
Bake a cake
Shower and wash herself, but I dry her long hair.
Dresses herself including laces and choosing clothes, makes her own bed and tidies her room each day.
She makes and distributes all the feeds for the horses each morning including their medicine, changes rugs, turns in and puts out animals to the fields, general yard duties.

She can go in to a small shop say a post office and order, buy and pay for stamps or post a parcel- obviously I supervise outside!

She hasn’t run the washing machine, or dusted, but has attempted to hoover and mop. She hasn’t ever washed up either!!

Oh god, my 9 year old's incompetent!!

At 8 my dc could

Make breakfast (cereal/toast)
Dust (loves doing that weird child)
Washing into washing basket (could probably do a load if I asked)
Make a cup of tea
Make beans on toast, scrambled eggs
Heat soup
Shower independently
Fed cats/dogs (dry & wet food and water bowls)
Can make own snacks fruit veg etc

I’m sure there is more I just can’t think of it all now

I am also trying to get my 8 yo more independent. He gets himself dressed, I usually put out his uniform for the morning but that's more to speed things up. He gets his own snack and must carry at-least one thing of his own to school. He gets his own and snacks and sometimes gets his own drink.

Most of the time he has to put his own dirty table wear on the side or in the dishwasher. Lay the table when asked.

He has to put his own clothes in the washing basket, tidy his room with help and put his clothes away with help. He also brushes his teeth independently with me checking on him on and off to make sure he does it properly.

Shortly I am aiming to get him to pack his own school bag, put shoes/coat away in the right place and when he's older cook dinner once a week and empty the dishwasher.

My 6 yo is more willing to help than my 8 yo and is probably more capable.

She feeds the cats, makes her own breakfast and lunch. Dresses herself and does her own hair, gets ready, does own teeth. Helps me cook like mixing and weighing ingredients and melting chocolate/butter etc which supervision. She makes her own bed and helps washing up. Sets the table regularly and puts her tableware on the side/dishwasher. Sets up the laptop for her homework, gets own drinks and snacks and has supervision tidying her room and tidying up after herself. She could do more but she can't reach things.

Also- with my 8 yo I have just started letting him be more independent out and about. Letting him go unsupervised to the toilet, when in sight, give him money to buy his own ice cream/sweets when kept in sight. Car keys to open up the car and get in himself whilst I finish getting ready.

My 8 yo is very independent, but I think that’s because she’s the oldest. She’s had to be. My 7yo on the other hand still likes someone to dress him every morning and follow him to the loo!

Both can prepare their packed lunches, simple ‘snack’ meals - cereal or toast, salad, jacket potatoes, scrambled egg type stuff - and bake. They can tie shoelaces, tell the time and keep their rooms tidy. Will help with cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming when asked. Shower themselves including washing hair, 8yo can brush & style (ponytail, bunches or plaits) her hair.

Reading that, they are quite independent really. They are lucky they don’t find physical stuff tricky, are well coordinated etc. I think it massively helps that they are close in age so they have constant competition and role modelling going on. I am also quite lazy so if they want stuff done they know they need to do it themselves!

8yo dd can dress herself including shoelaces, buttons, zips etc.

She can wash herself, including her hair (but needs help turning the shower on/off as her hands aren't strong enough). She can't dry her own hair yet or put it in a ponytail.

She can help herself to a drink/snack/sandwich/toast and makes her own packed lunch in the morning. She would not be able to independently follow a recipe though.

She has her own laundry basket and is able to 'put a light/dark wash on' if I ask her to. She can hang her own clean laundry up in her warbrobe. She can't strip/make her bed (but is able to tidy it up).

She can make a call on a mobile phone and sometimes walks by herself to the corner shop to buy sweets.

Oh and she can set/clear the table, sweep the floor and vacuum.

Mine can dress himself and his baby sister. Get his own breakfast every day. Can pack his lunch if asked but I prefer to do it. Use microwave and heat things up, make hot chocolate. Make me tea. He can cook a fried egg on toast, scrambled egg and a steak. I'm sure he could do stuff in the oven too. I make him tidy after himself getting snacks etc. He can tidy his room. Feed animals. Do his own bath. Open car, get toddler in and do his straps. Take toddler to the toilet. Read stories to little siblings. Tidy playroom etc. Empty and stack dishwasher.

He's not always the tidiest or best at cleaning stuff but can do most stuff sufficiently.

My DS is independent. Always put it down to being an only child (so far, currently 30w pregnant).

He gets himself up in a morning, sorts his clothes out. Will get his own breakfast sorted and. Put his dishes in the dishwasher.
Puts washing in the basket and makes his bed.
Can make a brew (loves a brew) and things like scrambled eggs.

He takes himself to bed, similar to getting up but still likes me to go in before lights out to tuck him in.

On the flip side, he still loves having help to get dry after a bath.

He's 8 going on 80 and will check the weather on his iPad each day and choose clothes accordingly - and then give me a 10 minute rundown about the weather for the day and why he's picked his clothes.

He's a funny little soul but he makes me smile.

Thank you for this thread.
I really thought my kid was finding it difficult to do simple things, but maybe I've been Expecting too much.
I guess it's over the top to expect a nearly 7 year to be able to tie laces.
This is normal I guess.

My 8 yr old can:
Make own bed, strip it and put sheet and pillowcase on. The duvet cover is too tricky.
Tie shoelaces. This has taken almost the full year of being 8 to master though.
Wash, dry and put away dishes.
Make breakfast.
Make lunch.
Help cook tea.
Put away own laundry.
Sort family laundry into appropriate piles.
Hoover
Dust (though gets distracted and only wants to dust the ceiling with a feather duster)
Shower and wash hair independently
Have a go at drying hair. Probably could do it but we have different ideas about what the end result should look like.🙈😂
Organise school bag.
Make packed lunch (with guidance)

My 8 year old can't:
Find anything anywhere. At all. Ever.
Keep hair in a bauble. Ever.
Brush hair so that it's tug free.
Stay clean for more than 30 secs.

My 8yo can:-

• tie laces
• choose clothes and dress themselves
• shower themselves inc hair (I do a quick scalp check for suds before they come out)
• make sandwiches / toast/cereal/omelette /drinks inc tea/ chops veg / bakes with me supervising.
• make bed, tidy room, laundry away (hates it but can do it)
• help with ad hoc chores, some with support
• clear and clean up after herself inc dishes
• strip the bed (cant put fresh sheets on yet)
• basic gardening and pet care (we do litter)

Oh and do own hair. Its improving but not as meat as I would like yet.

Puts her dirty clothes in the wash and if I fold clean laundry she will hang hers up and put away. On the whole keeps her room tidy and will give it a dust once a week. Will strip her bed but I remake it. I hoover her room cos she is a bit too short for the hoover and she found it really hard work last time she had a go.

Can make toast, scrambled egg/baked beans/cheese on toast and could make her self a sandwich and salady bits for lunch. She can clean the sides down after if I remind her too. Can make her own drink and can use the kettle if I'm supervising.