what chores does your 4 year old do?

[booyhoo]

having being raised by a martyr mother im keen to teach ds that the family home is everyones responsibility so im wondering what jobs children of a similar age do.

im thinking making his bed, putting his washing away, tidying his own toys(which he does already)helping with dinner, helping to wash dishes.

are there any others that your children do?

i try and encourage dd to take up her underwear to put in her drawer when sorted and would expect her to tidy up after herself but that's it.
Pretty much same as i expect of ds 7

DD is 4 and a half. I've really only just started getting her to make her bed and tidy her toys (I think I should have been insisting on the latter much earlier!).

I also get her to put her clothes back after she's raided her drawers (which seems to happen at least twice a day).

I have a 4 and 3 year4 old and they help around the house

Put their dirty clothes in the wash basket
Put ironed clothes away
Fill the washer
Pass me the clothes to hang on the line
Put their pots in the dishwasher
DS2 helps wash the breakfast pots
Toy tiding
they both have their own feather duster nad will follow me when I clean
DS1 will use the dustbuster thing and clean up any spillages
They pull their bedding over the bed

basically they do anything they are capible off.

I want both of the boys to be able to take care of themselves

DH is great at cleaning and stuff, so they have a good role model

I think that's quite a lot to expect at such a young age. I would expect helping with tidying toys, possibly helping with cooking (in a fun way), possibly helping with laying the table, and putting some washing away.

ds lays the table for meals, tidies his toys, puts his clothes in the washing basket etc .... not sure what other chores he is old enough for yet?

Message withdrawn

Lay table
Clear table
Tidy up toys
Bring bike and scooter in
Unload washing machine
Put clothes away
Read to sister at bedtime

DS is pretty bad at all these things, by the way, but I am grateful for the way my MIL has trained DH so well and she started pretty early....

wow teamonster i cannot imagine asking any of mine to put their ironed clothes away , may as well not bother here if i did that
they do bring their plates into kitchen when finished and put dirty laundry in basket

thanks for quick replies
so what im thinking seems pretty reasonable then. i should say, i dont mean actually making the bed completely but throwing the duvet back. he does already pt his dirty washing in wash basket, lay the table and does occasionally ask if he can hoover. i promise i dont ask him to hoover he just likes it.

From the age of 2 DC's have;

helped with meals
pushed highchairs into dining room/laid tables
unloaded washing machine
loaded tumble dryer
cleaned tables/windows
tidied toys
swept and mopped floors
dusted

etc.

They have always wanted to do what I am doing so I let them! The windows are smeared to hell, the floors have been flooded with water, tumble dryer turned on with no clothes in etc etc but it's all about responsibility and learning.

Tbh i think a 4yr old is to young to have chores.

If they are wanting to help out i have no problem with it.

My 4yr old puts her toys away at the end of the day.

I have bad memories as a child having to do chores

I think starting young is good I'm only just starting to get my 10 yr old to help and it's a battle!!

I was never expected to do set chores(or anything)when I was younger and I think thats why I struggle now, so start as you mean to go on!

My 5 year old gets 50p a week pocket money for making her bed every day, putting her clothes in the laundry basket and doing 1 job a week of my choosing - normally tidying her room.

Definitely setting the table (there are lots of skills involved in this, aside from it being useful for you), making a cup of coffee in the Nespresso machine, helping with cooking, helping with shopping (again, lots of skills involved here if you send your children off around the supermarket to find things), making beds, tidying toys, tidying the sitting room at the end of the day, sorting washing, hanging washing out...

my 3 1/2 year old dd, helps around the house as part of her play, as well as helping me.

such as......
putting clothes away, dirty clothes in laundry, emptying dishwasher, setting table, emptying dishwasher, always picking up toys and putting them away.
she always helps with her pony too if she is out at the stables with me (if you ride her, you care for her)
feeds the dogs

I dont really have to force her, and its all about getting her to have respect for the family home, and teaching her responsability.

TBH She has never complained

mine are 3 and 5

I expect them to tidy their own toys away (at 5pm, they have to have the living room tidy before they watch a DVD - no tidy, to DVD)

take own plates to the sink/dishwasher

put dirty clothes in the basket

put their bags/shoes/jackets away in their room

They need reminding a lot of the time, but generally do as asked more or less straight away.

They also help for fun - emptying dishwasher, hanging clothes on the line, hoovering...but generally I ask them to do this as a distraction, or they ask because they enjoy it.

I do want start getting them to have some regular jobs though, particularly the 5 year old. I'm yet to decide on what to do about pocket money - not sure I feel comfortable 'paying' for jobs to be done, as I think she should learn to do them as part of the family, rather than for money.

I'm really impressed - my 4 year old is just about managing to dress himself. But he still manages to cause a bit of a stir, to say the least. My 6 year old is much better and will clear up toys, take out rubbish and generally try and get involved in most things!! Often more of a hindrance than a help but I know it is important for them to do it.

My 3yr old DD has 2 "jobs" - when the post comes she collects it and brings it to the kitchen and she gets the laundry from the bathroom upstairs and throws it to me waiting downstairs, we then stick it in the basket making a game and shouting "pooh, smelly socks". DS, 17 months, helps me put the washing in and out the machine and dryer, eeek I feel like I've got them doing too much too soon!!

dd1 is almost 5 and she

has a go at making bed (I normally finish it off)

Lays the table if asks (still mastering getting knife and fork round the right way)

Gets 2 beakers of water at dinner time and put on table (for her and dd2)

puts her dirty clothes in wash basket

Will willingly wash up if allowed (normally only if I have the willpower not to interrupt) and only really allowed to do it woth lunch bits as no sharp knives and use plastic plates then!

Helps tidy up toys (although dd2 who is 2.7 has inherited my anal obsession with tidiness and loves putting toys away)

dd1 also tidies her room once a week (mainly getting rid of bits of paper she has used for various games etc and putting things back in doll house where they belong

Occasionally she'll help me put wwashing on line by fragging a chair over, or load washing machine if pile waiting to go in, help with lunch/dinner but these are only as and when and not expected

my 8 yearold tidies his room and cleans it once a week, i pay him chore money/pocket money for this.

as he shares a room with his 4 year old brother he helps. well puts a few toys a way, enjoys helping me change sheets on beds and dusts.

this is our family routine every sat am so eventually 4 year old will start to ge tpocket money and he wil be expected to do more of the tidying/cleaning. he will be sharing with his new sibling by then tho so his mess.

they both put their dishes in dishwasher and will do any other tasks i ask them to help me with and they are capable of.

Oh blimey, another thing I forgot to do!

OK, dd (3.10) does NOTHING to help. So I'm very impressed (and inspired) by all this pre-school task-setting.

I'll start tomorrow, honest