Age appropriate chores chart
Ages 2 to 12. Free to use and to link to. What most charts leave out is the middle column: what actually changes at that age, which is the reason the jobs change.
Age 2–3
What changes: They want to help. This is the only window where the wanting is free, and it is worth using even though the help is negative.
They can
- Put toys in a named box
- Carry their own cup to the kitchen
- Put clothes in the washing basket
- Wipe a spill with a cloth you hand them
Wait on: Anything with a sequence. Anything they can carry and drop.
Age 4–5
What changes: They can follow one instruction, and they can be beaten by a two-part one. Say one thing.
They can
- Feed a pet from a pre-measured scoop
- Match socks
- Set out cutlery you have counted
- Water plants from a small can
- Make their bed to a duvet-up standard
Wait on: Sorting that needs a judgement. Anything at the cooker.
Age 6
What changes: They can do a chore. They cannot yet remember to do a chore, and those are different skills.
They can
- Clear their own plate
- Tidy to a named box, not to 'tidy'
- Feed a pet from a portioned bowl
- Wipe a table they reach without a chair
Wait on: Sequences over two steps. The dishwasher. Anything judged on 'clean enough'.
Age 7
What changes: Two steps become one instruction. This is when you can leave the room.
They can
- Clear and rinse their plate
- Sort washing into colours
- Empty small bins
- Pack their own school bag from a list
Wait on: Weekly jobs — a week is still too long to hold. Keep it daily.
Age 8
What changes: Capability stops being the limit. A job not done is now a decision, not a memory failure.
They can
- Load and unload the dishwasher
- Hoover one named room
- Fold and put away their own washing
- Make a simple breakfast
- Hold one weekly job
Wait on: Anything with a knife, a ladder or a hot oven unsupervised.
Age 9–10
What changes: They keep score. Fairness between siblings becomes the real subject, and sticker charts start to feel babyish.
They can
- Their own washing, end to end
- Cook one simple meal a week
- Manage their own morning
- Share a rotating job with a sibling
Wait on: Sole responsibility for anything the household genuinely depends on.
Age 11–12
What changes: The commute and the homework arrive. Hand things over before secondary school, not during it.
They can
- Cook for the family occasionally
- Do a full room properly, to a standard
- Take responsibility for a younger sibling briefly
- Manage a budget across a week
Wait on: Assuming the habit will form now if it never has. It is much harder from here.