Is 4 and 6 too young

[ohmygawdman]

To be able to pick up after themselves/clear plates/keep bedroom tidy and things like that. Is 4and 6 too young to start doing things like this?

I would imagine not too young to do those things. But they will need support, directing and reminding. My 2.5 takes off her coat and hangs it up and takes off her shoes and puts them away. She tides up her toys when she has finished.

No, not too young to ask them to do it. DD1 is expected to do all those things, she doesn't always. She's got really lazy/forgetful lately with it.

Interesting! It's not my DC as my DS is a baby but it's my OH DC that don't do anything like this but it's not my place to say I guess so I just wanted some other views

Not too young but don't expect perfection, expect effort rather than results

My 2yo knows to help put things away after dinner - I don't expect him to load the dishwasher but he will bring his plate and cutlery over for me to do it, he also 'helps' tidy his room

I don't expect it to actually be tidy but I do expect him to try.
My 10yo I do expect him to tidy and he's quite capable of doing it but usually needs a nudge or two to do it

It's not too young to actually do it, but too young to just remember and get on with it independently ime. They need to be told, encouraged, reminded every single time

My 3 year old puts his toys away and take plates and cups into the kitchen. I think it's good to learn to tidy up after yourself and once they can walk and carry stuff is when I started encouraging my lo.

@Orlande yep completely agree but they don't get told to do it

Nope.
It's probably quicker to just do it yourself, but they need to partake.
But then I'm the mean Mummy who used to get the kids to drop dirty clothes in the washing basket from the time they had a grasp reflex. So mine were "putting" their first clothes in the washing basket, and "putting" toys away from 6 months.

My 5 and 3 year olds do it, with promoting.

Not on MN.

Too young imo to expect them to do it as a matter of course but not too young to ask them to help

Not too young but they need tasks breaking down at that age. You cannot expect them to manage to tidy up a messy bedroom just off the back of "tidy your room!" You (or their parent) have to stand in the room with them and say "pick up all the books and put them on the shelf properly" wait while they do it... "Now pick up all the Lego and put it in the Lego drawer" wait while they do it ... And so on. Usually works best if the supervising adult helps - so child picks up the Lego while adult picks up the books, or whatever.

Putting plates in the dishwasher is fine but you have to help by scraping the left over food into the compost bin, if relevant (or rather their parent does).

Basic things like putting plate in the sink after eating and tidying up toys shouldn't be too hard.

We were at a friends house yesterday and my DS 4 told my DDs friend who is 9 to our her plate in the sink after finishing her snack in the living room. She just stared right through him and he kept on repeating it until her mother picked it up for her.

I have to ask my kids to help out as there is always so much to do. Basics like putting shoes on the stand and cos away and toys when finished are a great help. They also help with putting away cutlery and laundry.

Mine are 3 and 5 and I am beginning to expect stuff like this from them. They definitely don't always do it but understand that I want them to, and usually will with some prompting.