What chores should a preschooler do?

Yesterday I talked about the benefits of chores for little ones and gave a list of chores that toddlers can do.  Today we'll talk about what chores preschoolers can do, and why they are at the most important age for starting to do chores.

When toddlers do chores, it's more about helping them to like doing them than actually getting much real help.  When kids get to preschool age, though, they can actually start really helping out.  This is the time when lifelong habits will be established, and studies have shown that kids who start chores in their preschool years have some really big advantages over kids who start later (or never do them at all).

Researchers at the University of Minnesota followed the lives of a group of young adults from their childhood to adulthood and tried to identify what factors led to adult success.  The research showed that the best predictor of children's success was if they began helping with household chores at the ages of 3 to 4. The adults who had started doing chores in their preschool years were less likely to use drugs, were more likely to finish their education on time, and had better quality relationships than the children who started chores later or had no chores at all.

In fact, doing chores during the preschool years was a better predictor of success than either IQ or motivation.

“Being involved in household tasks at a young age is what made the difference for a positive outcome,” Rossmann said. “Through participating in household tasks, parents are teaching children responsibility, how to contribute to family life, a sense of empathy, and how to take care of themselves.”

Parents who waited until their children were older found that the children felt resentful of the chores. Rossman reported that giving responsibilities at a younger age instilled the belief that "we are all in this together."

Here are some ideas for chores for preschoolers:

Feeding pets

Setting the table

Emptying trash

Making their beds

Putting their clean laundry in their drawers

Watering the garden

Helping to fold clean laundry

Sorting recycling

Dusting

Clearing dirty dishes after dinner

Matching up socks

Picking up their rooms

Brushing pets

Using the dustbuster to clean up dry spills or spot clean

Cleaning counters, tables and appliances with a sponge and spray bottle of safe cleaner (we make our own antibacterial cleaner with one cup of white vinegar to 3 cups of water and a few drops of an essential oil for scent)

These are just a few ideas.  Tailor your preschooler's chores to your household needs, along with her preferences and abilities.

Remember to approach chores as a teacher and keep it fun.  Don't get angry if your child does a poor job.  Take it as a sign that he needs some guidance and look for ways to make it easier for him.  Also give kids some say in what chores they do.  Most kids have some jobs that they honestly enjoy.  Try to stack their chore lists with those. 

Most important, remember that you are your child's advocate and teacher, not opponent.  Work together to make chores an easy, natural part of life.

See also:

Chores for toddlers

Next time:  Chores for school aged kids